The fourth attribute of Positive Leaders is that they possess an understanding of the process of success along with a commitment to the relentless utilization of that process.

People dream about success and about doing great things. Many young people fantasize about winning the lottery or making millions of dollars as a professional athlete. Few of these young people know how to convert their dreams to plans to action. Many adults think that success is a state of perpetual affluence. These men and women do not realize that affluence is nothing more than a possible consequence and not the essence of success.

The vast majority of you who are reading this page have the ability within you to succeed right where you are, just by doing things differently, by learning the process of success and by rededicating yourselves to positive values. You can improve your performance on the job, enhance your career, have a more satisfying marriage, and get more joy and meaning out of life. These things can happen, now! Success can be personal, interpersonal, or organizational but it is always tied to clearly delineated objectives and is always measured through our relationships with other people.

What, then, is this process of success? It includes a mission in life, rooted in positive, life-affirming values; a positive attitude and approach; passion; a vision of how things can be; specific goals and objectives; an implementation plan; and finally, action. It is that simple but it does not stop there. Action creates change. Change requires that the vision be re-examined, that the progress is measured, that the goals and objectives are adjusted, that the action plan be re-engineered, and that our actions themselves are modified accordingly. The process is repeated until we have converted the dream to reality; until we are satisfied. But satisfaction does not come easily if it comes at all.

The more we accomplish, the more we learn, and the more we learn, the more we imagine. What is vital is that our values, those core principles that sustain us, are not altered but remain rock solid.

It is the positive leader’s propensity for action that distinguishes them from men and women who simply manage. Positive Leaders make things happen. These individuals are at the peak of their art or craft. How do they do it? Well, of course, they have talent – but then lots of people have talent. The world is full of talented people who think back on opportunities in their lives and say, “with a little luck I might have made it!” But, many talented people do not make it and luck may or may not deserve the credit for their outcomes. We all have good luck but not everyone is prepared to capitalize on it when it comes.

It is said that winners make their own breaks and this we have found to be especially true. Those of us who blame everything on bad luck are not accepting reality. If we reflect on the opportunities that have come our way, we discover that they came unexpectedly, often catching us off guard and unprepared. We might say it was bad luck that good fortune, in the guise of opportunity, called upon us when we were not ready. More often than not bad luck is little more than lack of readiness or preparation.

Understand your purpose and mission and re-examine them routinely. Establish goals and objectives for yourselves. Make a commitment to those goals and dedicate yourself to doing everything in your power to facilitate them. Work hard to develop your skills and discipline yourself to a regimen that will maximize your talents and energies toward that end.

Be persistent in spite of the obstacles that present themselves and the setbacks that befall you. Follow the Boy Scout motto and “Be Prepared.” Know that all the work and effort you put forth is preparation for the time when opportunity knocks. When opportunities do present themselves, take positive action using all the skills and abilities in your arsenal and all the energy at your command.

Taking action is the key. Even the ideas of an Einstein or a Jefferson have little value until they are acted upon or communicated.

Positive Leaders employ the tools of success: action plans and action proposals. Action plans are nothing more than a list of the things you plan to do to breathe life into an idea. Action plans may be sufficiently brief that they can fit on the back of a business card or they can require several pages, depending on the complexity of the specific goals and objectives.

An action proposal is a special kind of action plan that is utilized when its originator lacks the authority or power to act on the idea. Action proposals are submitted to the decision-maker(s) appropriate to the specific situation. Action proposals contain, at a minimum:

• A statement of purpose – what do we want to accomplish and why (how does it serve our mission)?
• Specific and measurable goals and objectives;
• A delineation of the specific activities needed to achieve those goals and objectives and in what time frame;
• The resources necessary, which includes the people whose participation will be required, the non-human assets, the estimated cost of the endeavor, and also any recognizable opportunity costs;
• How the results will be measured?
• What next steps are anticipated?

An effective action proposal contains everything the decision-maker will need in order to say “Yes.” In fact, the idea is to make it as easy as possible for someone to say “Yes.” Very often, a “No” is the default response when the action proposal leaves too many unanswered questions and requires the decision-maker to do too much.

Positive Leaders rarely complain about things because complaints are powerless and are little more than a form of whining. Positive Leaders offer alternate solutions – what can we do differently in order to produce a more desirable outcome. If we think back to our fundamental definition of leadership, it is acceptance of responsibility for increasingly more desirable outcomes; for continuous improvement. This is what Positive Leaders do.

Does utilization of this process guarantee success? No! There are no guarantees. It does, however, improve the odds of a successful outcome so dramatically in one’s favor that success moves from possibility to probability. Teach yourself the process and make success a probability in your life!

Do not wait and hope that success will happen in your life, some day. Take action now! Make it happen and “put wings on your dreams.”