Lead Like a Pro: Strategies for Influence and Impact

March 5, 2025

Lead Like a Pro: Strategies for Influence and Impact

Great leaders grow themselves first, then others. Master vision, resilience, and communication to lead with impact!

Leadership is a journey, one marked by continual growth and transformation. Legendary business executive Jack Welch once declared, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” At its core, this statement embodies the very essence of leadership. The transformation from individual contributor to leader is akin to a seed growing into a robust tree, providing shade and bearing fruit for others to enjoy.

The Pre-Leadership Phase: Self-Cultivation

Before one can effectively lead others, it is crucial to understand oneself. This entails recognizing strengths, addressing weaknesses, and fostering a mindset of continual learning. Let’s look at Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella as an example. Before assuming leadership, he invested in his growth—gaining technical knowledge, understanding the nuances of business, and developing emotional intelligence. His journey demonstrates the vital role of self-cultivation in preparing for leadership.

The Leadership Phase: Cultivating Others

Upon assuming a leadership position, the focus dramatically shifts. The success of a leader is determined not just by their growth but, importantly, by their ability to inspire and foster growth in others. This shift demands emotional intelligence, empathy, and the ability to communicate effectively.

Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs, exemplified this shift. Jobs wasn’t just a visionary—he was a cultivator. He didn’t merely hire smart people; he created an environment where they could flourish. His success as a leader was directly tied to his ability to develop others.

The Hallmarks of Great Leadership

Vision: Successful leaders have a clear, compelling vision. They can see the end goal and communicate it effectively, inspiring others to share in that vision.

Empathy: Great leaders understand their team’s feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Empathy allows leaders to connect with their team on a human level, fostering a culture of trust and cooperation.

Resilience: Leadership comes with challenges. Resilience equips leaders with the strength to face adversity and bounce back stronger.

Communication: Leaders must be excellent communicators, articulating their thoughts clearly and listening attentively. This two-way process fosters understanding and collaboration.

Decisiveness: Leaders must make tough decisions promptly and confidently. Decisiveness helps steer the team in the right direction and maintain momentum.

Cultivating Leadership Skills

So how does one develop these crucial leadership traits? Here are some practical tips:

Prioritize personal growth: Invest in yourself—learn new skills, broaden your perspectives, and nurture emotional intelligence. The better you understand yourself, the more effectively you can lead others.

Seek mentorship: Find a mentor who can guide you in your leadership journey, providing insights, advice, and constructive criticism.

Develop resilience: Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. Resilience is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.

Enhance communication skills: Listen more than you speak. Develop the ability to convey your ideas effectively and absorb feedback positively.

The Takeaway

Leadership is an evolutionary journey. It starts with self-development, morphs into a mission of developing others, and culminates in a collective success that transcends the individual. Challenge yourself this week to nurture it, cultivate it, and witness how it can transform not only yourself, but your whole team.

For Your Agents…

Leadership isn’t about titles—it’s about impact. It’s about how we show up every day, how we serve our clients, and how we support each other. The best leaders aren’t just born; they’re built through experience, resilience, and a commitment to growth.

I want each of you to recognize the leader within yourself. Whether you’re guiding a buyer through their first home purchase, negotiating for a seller’s best interests, or mentoring a fellow agent, you have the opportunity to lead. Leadership is about influence, and influence comes from trust, knowledge, and action.

So, let’s challenge ourselves. Let’s step up. Let’s embrace learning, take ownership of our results, and lead by example. The future of this business belongs to those who are willing to grow into it. And I know, without a doubt, that we have the talent, the heart, and the drive to do just that.

Keep pushing forward, keep inspiring, and let’s build something great together.

Darryl Davis is an award-winning international speaker, real estate and business coach, and best-selling author of three books, all published by McGraw Hill Publishers.   

For more than 35 years, Darryl has spoken to and trained more than 600,000 sales professionals around the globe to more than double their production year after year. His book,  How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate, tops Amazon’s charts for one of the most sold books to real estate agents.   

He was awarded the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation by the National Speaker’s Association, which is given to less than 2% of all speakers worldwide.   

Whether from a stage or Zooming into a virtual room, Darryl’s extraordinary humor, relatability, and natural gift for teaching real-world, results-producing skills and mindsets to audiences have made him a client favorite throughout his career.   

Audiences will laugh, learn, and ultimately walk away better prepared for a changing world, with the tools, skills, and training they need to build their businesses with more ease and less stress and to design lives and careers worth smiling about.   

Bring One of Darryl’s W.O.R.K. Topics to Your Organization!  

By providing your agents with the knowledge and insights they need to stay ahead of the game, you can ensure that they are equipped to handle any situation that comes their way!  Contact us here to learn more! 