Mastering the Details: Leadership Attributes That Are Critical to Your Success in Business

domain of detail It may seem very complicated, but it is a key leadership quality that you must develop. Your choice is to master the details or let the details master you. Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” discusses this as one of eleven critical attributes in leadership development. If we were 200 miles apart and we started walking towards each other, you’d only be 1 degree off target. You can say you’re just a little off, no big deal, but I say we’d never end up in the same place.

If you lack the leadership quality to control the details, then you had better find the right person to take on the task. A businessman will fail in the long run if he always overlooks minute details. The big picture is normally easier to deal with overall, but when you get to the heart of the situation. If he fails in any aspect of the task at hand, it could be the difference between continuing as a leader or being discarded down the road.

For example, if you have the following 4 step system to sell a product.

1. Generate leads using different marketing strategies

2. Have a conversation with a potential business partner

3. Invite a potential business partner to get the information needed to start a discussion

4. Follow-up of the final decision

You will fail in this model if you don’t have clues to call out an important detail. You might have a little bit of success if you just did 1-3. The minor thing is follow through, but that’s the difference between being truly successful and getting lucky once in a while. The leader who masters the details in a business transaction will truly be more successful than the one who simply improvises. For example, if your customer is vegan, but orders a meat entree for lunch, that little detail could be the difference between keeping or losing that person as your customer. You need to be the person who has the upper hand on the detail or hire someone who can. We live in a society where you can choose who will be your leader.

There are two types of leadership, leadership by consent and leadership by force. When you look at the history of any civilization with leadership by force, you see that it didn’t last. The best leadership style is consent leadership, if people like what you stand for and believe in your ideals, they may be more inclined to follow you. As a leader, you are being evaluated and reassessed throughout your tenure as the one in charge. Your followers may not follow you if you don’t handle all the requirements in your tenure as leader.

domain of detail As I described above it is very crucial in building a successful career in business. I have written articles on only nine of the leadership attributes so far, I will discuss the last two attributes in future articles: willingness to take responsibility and cooperation.