It's less about what WE say, rather it's how WE say it.

Great leaders have a monumental impact on the people around them, so much so that they can change the trajectory of their careers. Among great managers, it’s incredibly easy to find people on their teams who have fundamentally been transformed. Thus, the prototypical leader of the future will shift from the steely-eyed command-and-control type to one who is more open to feedback….one who specializes in communication, collaboration and co-ordination. To become one of them, there's a few things we could do:

• Articulate a vision that enrolls and inspires the people around.
• Be a role model for those around you and invest in reaching your potential
• Frame your communications in the values of who you are communicating with.

Leadership is not a title, it is about having the attitude of taking responsibility backed up by the willingness to take action. Leaders are prepared to put in the effort and sacrifice short term results to reap dividends in the longer term. Great leaders make a commitment to achieve excellence in all areas of life and regularly invest time and money into becoming the best they can be, taking themselves and those around around them to the next level.

It's vital to understand there are many paths to success. We need to understand that managing by trying to be liked is the path to ruin. As a leader, we need to care deeply, deeply about our people while not worrying or really even caring about what they think about us. However this is easier said than done, but added it's important to avoid simply telling employees what they want to hear.

It's also very important to be transparent; people are always looking at you - Don't lose their trust by failing to provide transparency in your decisions and critiques. The way we build trust with our people is by being forthright and clear with them from day one.

As we can imagine in a startup environment where leadership roles may not be well defined. But if we don't deal with, dysfunction could become embedded in the company. That dysfunction becomes learned and part of the culture of the company and it's almost impossible to eradicate it. Knowing how to effectively project ourselves as a leader and to understand the impact we have on others will define the success as a leader. Employees look to leaders to give them confidence that their organisation is moving in the right direction and that, as employees, that they are part of an important cause. Because they understand the fundamental difference between “Intention” and “Impact” in communications and how to structure their behavior and communication style accordingly to create an engaged, inspired and effective team.

Successful leaders also understand that their team will always be a reflection of themselves. If as the leader, they are not highly organised, the team is unlikely to be either. If the leader does not focus on growing their knowledge and on-going personal development, then it is almost certain that their team will not either. So successful leaders need to be congruent and display the behaviors that they want to see exhibited by their team members.

One true test of a leader is whether their teams and achievements endure after they leave their post. If we aspire for leadership, we need to ensure that we've prepared our team to succeed without us. That means finding or grooming a successor, building processes that can persist long after we transition to a larger role, and creating a culture that embeds the right habits and norms into the fabric of our team.

Top 10 Quotes For Entrepreneurs

Starting a company is a riveting roller coaster of emotions with tremendous highs and at times, difficult lows, but one thing that always helps me through the ups and downs is to connect with some of the greatest minds. Below are just a few of my favorite quotes:

1) “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
- Peter Drucker

2) “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs

3) “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
- Thomas Edison

4) “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
- Albert Einstein

5) “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”
- Napoleon Hill

6) “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can spend the rest of your life like most people cant.”
- Warren G. Tracy’s student

7) “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
- Mark Twain

8) “When you cease to dream you cease to live.”
- Malcolm Forbes

9) “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
- John C. Maxwell

10) “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
- Bill Gates

Feel free to leave your favorite quote below!

Should Everyone Work In A Startup, At Least For A While?

The answer is: It's probably a good thing but it's not about the money.

Certain experiences shape a career. Some are in the "you-will-be-a-better-person-for-this" category. Getting fired and really bad bosses tend to top that list. Conversely, a special relationship with a mentor or time spent in an exceptional training program can propel a career in the positive direction. But mentors and cool training can be hit or miss. The alternative for pure career shaping moments: time at a startup.

Career shaping moments are built on day-to-day experiences where the requirement is to be able to drink from a fire hose. Many would say that time spent in an early stage company is that fire hose. Time spent there beats an MBA, beats any training program and can propel one's career into a leadership role and create wealth (if that's what one wants) more than any thing else. That's what many would say and most in Silicon Valley.

There is a certain cache to working at a startup. Friends are jealous and assume you might be the next Facebook zillionaire. Other friends are always and willing to lend advice - in exchange for equity. Hot new technology abounds and cool snacks might be in the kitchen. You can probably build an entire wardrobe around logo riddled clothes you receive.

But working at a startup can be risky. Pay and benefits can be less than market rate. The CEO might be twenty-five years old and learning on the job. Venture capitalists and bankers might be annoyingly in your way. More conservative friends may wonder, WTF?, You are wasting your talent. But if you are ready to deal with the risk / reward equation and build a career around the experience, it will pay off. Here is why it can be worth it:

You are always dealing with the biggest business lesson of all: Business is about making stuff and selling stuff. If you are not doing one of those two things, what are you doing?

You learn that cash is king and every nickel counts. Any one in a startup knows two of the most feared phrases are "We are running low on cash", or "Our runway is two months". Living with those phrases will definitely shape a career.

You learn that there are lots of details in any enterprise. You might have to name the company, design a logo, find office space, figure out the legal entity, find an insurance carrier and all the thousands of mundane activities that one takes for granted in a larger company.

You learn that meeting payroll is not an automatic God-given right.

You learn that results matter and shape the company. As in, results count, not effort.

You learn that every situation has an upside. You may not get paid a lot but maybe you can take your dog to work. You don't have to dress up and will save money on clothes. Really close quarters could mean really close friends. You see the results of your labors.

You learn that if you don't make coffee or get the dirty dishes out of the sink, no one else will. There is no maid. You learn that if you call in sick your team will suffer because no one has any extra capacity.

You learn that business is sometimes a series of forced choices. Should we have free snacks or revamp the website? Should we have free coffee or hire another engineer? Should we launch early when we are not quite done, or wait?

Maybe the thing about startup experience is that it almost always happens early in a career and the positive shaping can last a long time. You learn that leadership matters, even if you are twenty-four years old.

Working at a startup is a simple equation. The numerator is risky. The denominator is an experience that can shape a career. You make the decision. And there is that Facebook zillionaire thing.