The Magic of Leadership - ConvertingWhat drives success? It is a question that drives people to unwise jealousy. Other times, the answer leads people to a flurry of motion…. commotion really. It becomes a cloud of stirred up dust with no seeds planted in the fertile grounds of momentum and growth.

Let’s declare this the Year of Converting!

Values, philosophy, and vision all play a role in being successful. Having the right content of character makes a huge difference in the outcomes of what we put our hands, mouths, and feet to work in. The ingredient to make our work successful is the magic of converting.

The magic of converting is not about magic, however. It is about doing the work of converting, and it does take work. The magical part is seeing the conversion happen. When it happens, a sparkle appears in the eyes of the people involved, and it becomes contagious in a very good way, in a momentous way.

What can we convert?

Previously, we discussed how information productivity required a step of converting in order to make the cycle valuable and complete. The magic of converting is the step that creates big value when it turns forward.

Let’s look at four points where converting leads to high value and meaningful momentum.

Point 1: Converting information to actionable steps. Information without action just sits in a document, stored away. When information is used to facilitate action, words turn to power of achievement. It is about not being silent in knowing, but active in knowing.

People who can analyze and convert information into actionable plans are the ones we rally behind and, ultimately, admire.

Point 2: Converting thoughts to actions. Similar to the previous, information though sits in our minds. We think it through and through and through and…. We just keep thinking. Continuous thinking keeps our mind active, but it does not lead to meaningful actions.

Thoughtful actions are vital, so put your thoughts into play in purposeful ways.

Point 3: Converting plans to action. Information and thoughts can lead to complete and perfect plans. A logical plan is a good thing only when someone’s passion converts it into real actions. Plans need to come alive through the work we do. It is the only way to move forward in a positive way, making measurable progress each step of the way.

Point 4: Converting actions to results. Taking action in the arena of life and work brings sweat, yet real fulfillment unfolds when results are achieved. Simply illustrated, we can run on a treadmill for 30 minutes, work up a sweat, and be in the same place afterwards. We cannot afford to spin in place. We need to convert our actions to results in a trustworthy and meaningful way.

There are many points of conversion.

Everyone is unique in their gifts and capabilities so what each of us can convert can be as different as who we are. We need to identify what we need to move forward and then practice the act of converting. This expands the list of what to convert:

  • Converting creativity to product or canvas
  • Leads to prospects; prospects to customers; customers to advocates
  • Converting ideas to fundable ventures
  • Converting leadership principles to consistent actions during challenging times
  • Converting life philosophies to life plans

The magic of leadership is converting.

The key leadership trait is to convert. Converting – making a turn of progress – is required to make meaningful progress in our initiatives.

What would you add to the list of items that need to be converted to gain real value? Is there magic to the act of converting?