Leadership Secrets

1. Leadership Secrets From Attila the Hun Presented by Mark Buckner and Terry Cook

2. ADVICE AND COUNSEL • A leader whose subordinates always agree with him reaps the counsel of mediocrity. • A wise leader never berates those bearing bad news, but removes those who fail to do so. • A leader who asks the wrong questions will get the wrong answers. • A wise leader never asks a question for which he does not want to hear the answer.

3. CHARACTER • The greatness of a leader is measured by the sacrifices he is willing to make for the good of the people. • A leader must always rise above pettiness, and encourage others to do the same. • A leader cannot succeed if he loses his nerve. He must be self-confident, self-reliant, and willing to take risks. • Self-centered, conceited, self-admiring individuals are seldom great leaders.

4. CHARACTER • Great leaders never take themselves too seriously. • A wise leader knows how to adapt and how to avoid compromise. • Weak leaders surround themselves with weak people; strong leaders surround themselves with strong people.

5. DECISION- MAKING • Every decision involves some risk. • Time does not always bring solutions, nor does it always improve a situation for a leader’s people. • Quick decisions are not always the best decisions. On the other hand, neither are unhurried decisions.

6. DECISION- MAKING • Errors are unavoidable when the unqualified are allowed to exercise judgment and make decisions. • Leaders should not rush into confrontations. When victory will not be sweet, a leader must keep the people out of battle. • The ability to make difficult decisions is a defining factor in leadership.

7. DELEGATION • Leaders are only necessary when someone is responsible to see that actions are carried out and directions followed. No king, chieftain or subordinate leader should ever be allowed to serve who will not accept full responsibility for their actions. • Wise leaders never place people in positions where their weaknesses will prevail over their strengths.

8. DELEGATION • A wise leader never expects the people to act beyond their wisdom and understanding. • Abdication is not delegation. Abdication depicts weakness. Delegation depicts strength. • Delegation, like decision-making, always involves risk.

9. DEVELOPING LEADERS • Strong people have strong weaknesses. A leader's duty is to help a person's strengths prevail. • People learn less from success than they do from failure. Therefore, people learn much faster when faced with adversity. • A good leader risks delegating to an inexperienced person to strengthen that person's leadership abilities. • The experience of people must be structured to allow them to broaden and deepen themselves to develop the character they will need when appointed to leadership.

10. DEVELOPING LEADERS • Without challenge, a person's potential is never realized. Thus, people are best prepared to become leaders when given appropriate successively higher levels of responsibility. • Two types of people gravitate toward leadership, those who are motivated by principles, and those who are motivated by self-interest. A wise leader will select and develop people motivated by principles. • Appropriate stress is essential for developing new leaders.

11. DIPLOMACY • Diplomacy is the art of saying “nice doggy” until you can find an adequate stick. • Conflict is a natural state. • People should not apply force when they can gain through diplomacy. • Do not consider all opponents, or everyone you argue with, as enemies.  These are accidental enemies.  Choose your enemies with purpose. • Hospitality, civility, and courtesy can captivate the most oppressive foe.

12. GOALS • Superficial goals lead to superficial results. Leaders should always aim high, going after things that will make a difference rather than seeking the safe path of mediocrity. • Critical to one's success is a clear understanding of what the leader wants. • A Hun can achieve anything for which he is willing to pay the price.

13. GOALS • As a group, we will achieve more if we behave as if the group's goal is as important as a personal goal. • A person's conformance does not always result in desired performance. • Written reports have purpose only if read by the King.

14. LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP • Never appoint acting leaders. Put the most capable in charge, give them both responsibility and authority, and hold them accountable. • A wise leader never depends on luck but trusts the future to hard work, stamina, tenacity, and a positive attitude. Strong leaders stimulate and inspire performance from their people. • Being a leader is often a lonely job. • A wise leader knows they are responsible for the welfare of others, and acts accordingly. Shared risk-taking will weld the relationship of a leader with the people.

15. PERCEPTION • A person who takes themselves too seriously has lost perspective. • A person's perception is their reality. • People who appear to be busy are not always working.

16. PERCEPTION • It is good if your friends and foes speak well of you; however, it is better for them to speak poorly of you than not at all. When nothing can be said of a person, they have most likely accomplished nothing very well. • Contrary to what most chieftains think, you are not remembered for what you did, but for what most people think you did. • If all people were blind, a one-eyed man would be king.

17. PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT • There is more nobility in being a good person than in being a poor leader. • Great leaders accept failure at some things in order to excel in areas of greater importance. • You must not let your desire to lead take the form of over-eagerness. You must be willing to temper your thirst to lead with preparation, experience and opportunity. • You must be willing to remain your natural self and not take an aura of false pride in your countenance.

18. PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT • You must be willing to accept the simple fact that you have flaws and will need to work every day to become a better chieftain than you were yesterday. • Be marked with armament that distinguishes you from the masses. Own the biggest horse and sword. Be first in everything, but never appear pompous. • Every person is responsible for shaping their circumstances and experiences into success. No other person, and certainly no adversary, can do for a person what they neglect to do themselves.

19. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS • People should be taught to focus on opportunities rather than problems. • Harness your peoples' desires for short-term gains.  Grant small rewards for light tasks. Reserve heaps of booty for other times, and be generous with items that hold a value to yourself. • Disagreement is not necessarily disloyalty. A Hun who, in the best interest of the tribe, disagrees, should be listened to. • Some people have solutions for which there are no problems.

20. TOLERANCE • Suffer long for mediocre but loyal people. Do not suffer for competent but disloyal people. • Every person has value. With some, it is to serve as a bad example. • To benefit from the strength of leaders we must tolerate some of their weaknesses.

21. TRAINING • It is the responsibility of all Huns to choose and fellow only those chieftains who demonstrate a desire to lead. Such leaders will be of no composite character. They will be as different from one another as one Hun is different from another. They will not be laden with all human virtues, nor will they possess a flawless character. • Teachable skills are for developing people. Learnable skills are reserved for leaders. • The consequence of not adequately training your people will be their failure to accomplish what is expected from them.

22. TRAINING • Learning by observation and through instincts sharpened by tested experience, chieftains must anticipate thoughts, actions and consequences. Anticipation bears a level of risk that is willingly accepted by a chieftain who will excel when others turn to the comfort of personal security.

23. A Final Word from Attila Those of you who are overly ambitious may attempt to acquire these qualities over a short period. As I, Attila, have found in my own life, these qualities of leadership simply take time, learning and experience to develop. There are few who will find shortcuts. There are simply rare opportunities to accelerate competence, and without paying the price, no matter how great or small, none will become prepared to lead others. Learn these leadership qualities well. Teach them to the Huns. Only then will we expand our ability to lead our vast nation in pursuit of world conquest.