If you lead a team, start asking questions and really listening. Start valuing the contributions of your teammates ahead of your own. And remember that when the best idea wins, so does the entire team.

You will never achieve a dream or vision unless you own it. Furthermore, as a leader, you will not be able to get others to buy into a vision that you do not own.

When leaders fail to empower others, it is usually due to three main reasons: 1. Desire for Job Security 2. Resistance to Change 3. Lack of Self-Worth

People who never see it—they are wanderers. People who see it but never pursue it on their own—they are followers. People who see it and pursue it—they are achievers. People who see it, pursue it, and help others see and pursue it—they are leaders.

List the names of the members of your team. Next to each person's name, write a sentence or phrase that describes that person's perspective or outlook. The sentence must be positive, giving the person the benefit of the doubt for how he or she sees the world. If you're having difficulty describing someone's perspective, you need to get to know him or her better so that you can articulate the person's point of view.

Goethe recommended, "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.

Find someone to mentor. Once you reach a certain level in your leadership, the most valuable thing you have to give is yourself. Find someone to pour your life into. Then give him time and resources to become a better leader.

Successful leaders help their people find their right seats. Sometimes that requires moving people around to find where they make the greatest contribution. Sometimes it means trying and failing. As a leader, you have to take it all in stride. Positioning people correctly is a process, and you have to treat it that way.

If you really want to be an uncommon leader, you're going to have to find a way to get much of your vision seen, implemented, and added to by others.

But empowering others by giving them your authority has the same effect as sharing information: You haven't lost anything. You have increased the ability of others without decreasing yourself.

Every person has a longing to be significant, to make a contribution, to be a part of something noble and purposeful.

If you want to succeed at Level 4, you need to become an investor in people. This means adding value but also expecting to see a return on your investment—not in personal gain but in impact.