3 Things You Must Do Before Becoming Your Own Boss

If you’ve recently been downsized from your corporate job

Or

If you’ve been downsized several times during the past few years

Or

If you have a job, but it’s a lousy one

Or,

If you work for a jerk

Know this:

If you really want to be your own boss...I want you to know that I’m behind you, 100 percent.

THE DECISION TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS

It’s a biggie. Don’t kid yourself.

Talking about being your own boss, and writing a check-and/or taking out a small business loan to do so, are two very different things. So, weigh this decision carefully. There’s risk involved.

There’s actually risk involved no matter what type of business you end up becoming the owner of. That’s right; franchises are risky, too. Forget the statistics.

But, if you’re doing enough things right...things that can lower your financial risk, the rewards are yours for the taking. Do you know what the right things to do are?

DO THESE THINGS TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS

It’s time for you to find out how just bad you want to be your own boss...how bad you want to escape the “working for someone else” syndrome. Ready?

1. Conduct a family meeting

Do this before anything. Don’t make the mistake of spending weeks...maybe even months looking around at “business opportunities” only to find out that no one in your family supports your idea of being the boss....of owning your own business.

Now, if it does turn out that some or all of your family members aren’t as enthusiastic as you are, you have a couple of choices.

You can listen to them, and forget “this crazy idea of yours.”

Convince them that you’ll take it slow and do great research on the opportunities you find

Dual-track it; conduct a search for a new job and at the same time, look for a franchise opportunity or business opportunity that will allow you to be your own boss.

If you ultimately decide to pursue business ownership, do whatever it takes to keep those around you comfortable with your decision. They need to feel confident that you’ll do the right things. Maybe working with someone knowledgeable about business ownership will convince them that you really are focused on doing this right.

2. Go Through Your Financials

Before you start searching for franchise or business opportunities that could make sense for you, figure out where you stand, financially. And, don’t guess.

Do a net worth statement. Subtract all of your liabilities from all of your assets. The difference between the two is your net worth. Figure out how much liquid capital you have access to. That’s what today’s franchisors tend to focus on.

For example, I’ve worked with people that have had net worth’s in the $500k range, but who’ve had most of their assets parked in retirement funds. If that’s the case with you, talk to your financial advisor. Some of my clients even do this-and I’m fine with it as long as it’s a perfect or nearly perfect situation.

3. Meet The Real You

Another thing you need to do before spending hours and hours online searching for that “perfect” opportunity is to get offline. While search engines like Google are great, if you don’t learn how to do focused searches, you’ll end up being on your computer a lot longer than you need to be.

Do you want to spend hours on end looking for a business or do you want to be in business?

What you need to do-before you start your search for a franchise or business opportunity, is to get to know the real you. Decide what skills of yours could be best utilized for a business of your own. Look at some of your dominant personal traits. Most people don’t do this. They just start looking at franchise websites...dozens of them, and they end-up more confused that they thought possible.

If you don’t want to be like most people who are looking to be their own bosses, start-off on the right foot. I know that you’re excited to get started with your search. Some self-control is warranted here. Do the work necessary so you won’t have to do work that’s unnecessary.

If you’d like to learn how to avoid doing the things that most people who want to be their own bosses do, I have a way for you to avoid a lot of the common pitfalls that exist. Grab my eBook, which is an easy to follow, step-by-step guide on choosing, researching, and buying a franchise.

“Joel is providing the benefit of his decades of franchise experience through his eBook that’s available for instant download. Believe me; spending a few bucks today can save you a fortune in the long run. If you’re considering a franchise, invest in the expertise and guidance that will help you find, choose and research the right franchise. As the clich? goes, you can’t afford not to. “

-Sean Kelly, Franchise Marketer

PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF

If you’ve done the three things that I’ve outlined here, it’s time for you to start your search for a business to own.

And, while there many more steps that you’ll need to take as this process evolves, like researching the opportunities you find, choosing the best one, writing a business plan, obtaining financing, and getting the proper legal advice, at least you’ll be starting off on the right foot.

So you can be your own boss.

From Entrepreneur

Are You a Good Leader? (Infographic)

Once, it may have been enough for a company to find something that works and keep doing it over and over again. Today, in a marketplace of continual innovation and change, a company needs strong and strategic leadership to truly thrive. But what does strong leadership mean?

Fifty-three percent of corporations placed growth as their number one priority in 2013. To achieve this growth, companies have turned to ethical leaders to pave the path of innovation. Eighty percent of top-quintile companies aim to adapt ethics to changing business needs, while only 36 percent of bottom-quintile companies do the same.

Along with ethical leadership, companies are in pursuit of leaders who can use their power wisely, manage crises and cultivate a culture of change. The infographic below, compiled by NEC's Online Master of Science in Project Management, offers key data and statistics on leadership in an evolving marketplace.

Check it out.

From Entrepreneur

10 Things The Most Talented People Do At Work

Talented employees are resourceful and prepared at all times.

Finding amazing talent is a tricky process.

Making talent recruitment a top priority can multiply the success of an organization.

To recognize great talent, hiring managers can look for the following signs instead of paying attention only to resumes and cover letters.

Here are 10 things people possessing great talent always do:

1. They talk about their long-term goals.

Talented candidates aren't afraid of their future. In fact, they're excited about their career and what's in store.

Ask candidates about their long-term goals during a job interview. Those with great talent will talk about their prospective future with the company and what they plan to accomplish if hired.

2. They're resourceful and prepared for anything.

Great talent is prepared for any situation. The ability to think and act on the spot is a quality few people have.

People with top-notch talent know their resume inside and out, have their portfolio ready and can answer interview questions without stumbling over their thoughts.

3. They display confidence in any situation.

There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance when identifying top talent. Confident individuals, however, can handle any situation and accept the reality that it's OK to be wrong.

During the interview, ask candidates about their weaknesses. Look for a candidate who can confidently speak about weaknesses and explain the lessons they have learned.

4. They market their versatility.

Individuals who are truly talented possess a wide range of skills and can transfer them to different roles and succeed.

Ask candidates about a time when they had to try something new or apply their skills in an unusual situation. A good candidate will be able to share an experience or two.

5. They prioritize results.

Talented people care about results. They have a burning passion to accomplish their goals, both in their personal life or career.

Those who possess top talent will talk about what they want to accomplish once hired without the interviewer having to ask.

6. They ask smart questions.

Bright individuals are curious people. Because of this, they'll ask questions to learn more about an organization and how it functions.

During the interview, a talented candidate will ask questions about what he or she is expected to accomplish if hired. They will inquire about the attributes of the top performers at the company and about what it takes to drive results.

7. They're extremely flexible.

Many organizations continuously update their goals and implement new strategies. Top talent can adjust to such changes without becoming derailed from success.

Ask candidates about a time when they had to quickly adapt to a new situation and what happened.

Talented people aren't afraid to take risks and push the envelope.

8. They're comfortable with taking risks.

Risk taking is involved at any business. Talented people aren't afraid of pushing the envelope to discover new ideas.

Ask candidates about a time where they had to take a risk. Their response should provide enough insight about whether they can take big enough risks.

9. They bring passion to the position and organization.

This might seem like a cliché, but passion is a quality that sets apart those with great talent from lackluster candidates.

When a talented person is passionate about what he or she does, that individual is not afraid to tell a prospective employer. In fact, when someone is truly passionate, a hiring manager can see it in the individual's personality and previous experience.

10. They communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders.

Strong communicators have the ability to take organizations to the next level.

When speaking to candidates over the phone or in person or exchanging emails, pay close attention to how they communicate. This gives employers a better indication of their communication skills.

From Business Insider

4 Employees Who Are Secretly Toxic

These four employees fly under the radar, but they're secretly making your team fail.

My recent post, "Don't Fire Difficult Employees," pointed out that sometimes the most obviously difficult employees--like drama queens and nonconformists--just need some management attention to fulfill their potential.

There are, however, four types of employee who truly drain productivity, not because they demand attention, but because they typically fly under the management radar. These are the employees that really do need to be fired ASAP:

1. The Chameleon

In the animal kingdom, the Chameleon changes color in order to escape notice. In the business world, the chameleon changes roles in order avoid work. He volunteers for (or gets himself assigned to) multiple teams and working groups.

He then uses that fact to justify never taking an action item within any of the teams because he's "stressed to the max" due to the "huge workload" that he's taken on...in other meetings.

When salary review comes, the Chameleon claims credit for "helping" all those teams achieve their goals.

I worked with a Chameleon whose only contribution (as far as I saw) was to give a 10-minute presentation comparing business problems to different sizes of rat dropping. (He had a slide.) His point: Sometimes you've got to deal with the big heaps, and sometimes you've got to deal with the little heaps.

Over the six years I knew this guy, he was probably paid over $200,000 per year and he managed to leave the company via golden parachute.

The best way to deal with a Chameleon is to assign specific projects that require the Chameleon to work solo and have ambitious deadlines. Use surprise "status update" meetings, to prevent the Chameleon from getting other people to do the work.

2. The Ornament

In the day-to-day world, an ornament, of course, is something you put on a Christmas tree or car hood. In business, Ornaments are people who get by on their looks rather than on their contribution. There are two types:

Female Ornaments tend to be model-esque, in a "Victoria's Secret" way. Men are so fascinated by the Ornament's appearance that she can get them do to anything she wants. (There was a Seinfeld episode about this phenomenon.)

I once knew an admin who couldn't type, couldn't file, and could barely answer the phone. However, she was extremely "easy on the eyes," (as they say) in a company where the eyes were mostly male. She kept her job ever through a couple of layoffs.

Male Ornaments have the tall, square-jawed, perfect-hair, perfect-suit appearance that immediately identifies them as authoritative and business-like. (Think Mitt Romney, but without the high IQ.)

I knew an "empty suit" Ornament who managed over about a decade to get himself assigned upward into a top management position. Guess which organization he "worked" inside: 1) Engineering, 2) Manufacturing, 3) Finance, 4) Sales, 5) Marketing.

If you can't fire an Ornament, put him or her in a "face the public" job where good looks are actually an asset to the company. For example, both the female and male Ornaments mentioned above were quite effective as "demo dollies" at trade shows.

3. The Ball and Chain

In history, a ball and chain was a weight clamped around a prisoner's leg so that he couldn't run fast enough to escape. In business, a Ball and Chain is a person inside an organization whose job is to ensure that the company never takes risks, a.k.a. a corporate lawyer.

When asked whether or not the company should try something new, a corporate lawyer will always say no, because if things go right, the lawyer gets no credit, but if things go wrong, the lawyer gets blamed.

Corporate lawyers are also adept at creating legal red tape, ostensibly to lessen risk, but also to strengthen their stranglehold over the organization. If left unchecked, they can gum up the works so that it becomes impossible to do anything at all.

I know of one social network that requires half a dozen documents to hire an outside contractor, even if there's only a couple of hundred dollars involved. Frankly, that bodes ill for the company's long-term survival, because once the lawyers are running the show...

Ball and Chains can be difficult to fire, because they've got the legal savvy to sue if you don't have a good reason for letting them go.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to limit their toxicity: Treat them as consultants, not decision makers. Let them assess risk, give you an opinion, and then YOU decide what to do. Ball and Chains only weigh you down if you take their advice as gospel.

4. The Vampire

In fiction, a vampire appears to be human but thrives on the blood of others. In the workplace, a Vampire appears to be a contributor, but thrives on the emotions of others.

In big meetings, workplace Vampires are always "helpful." They help people understand what could go wrong. They help people see that disaster is inevitable. They help so much that everybody leaves the room feeling drained.

Vampires are equally "helpful" when meeting one-on-one. They get friendly with multiple co-workers and then turn them all against each other. Vampires are always ready to hear complaints, especially those that will foment more conflict.

A Vampire will create major discord without anybody being fully aware that the Vampire is responsible. The Vampire so cleverly foists negativity into the situation that everyone assumes that the negative feelings are genuinely their own.

I once saw a workplace Vampire reduce an entrepreneurial marketing manager into a paranoid ghost of his former self. The energy-suck was so subtle that the manager didn't understand what had actually happened until a decade after he'd left the firm.

The difficulty with firing a Vampire is that usually he or she is quite popular, since almost everybody in the organization thinks of the Vampire as a friend and ally. Nevertheless, this is one type of toxic employee for whom the only cure is to hand out a pink slip.

From Inc. Magazine

Why the Empathetic Leader Is the Best Leader

Expert in inspirational leadership Simon Sinek explains our biological need to be part of an altruistic organization.

Simon Sinek had penned a best-selling book on team-building and given a TED Talk seen, to date, by 17  million people when he discovered the secret of leadership that now governs his philosophy.

The revelation occurred during a conversation with a Marine Corps official about what makes the corps so extraordinarily tight-knit that Marines willingly trust each other with their very lives. Go into any Marine Corps mess hall, Lt. Gen. George Flynn told Sinek, and watch the Marines line up for their chow. The most junior eat first, followed in rank order, with the leaders eating last. This practice isn’t in any rulebook; the Marines just do it because of the way they view the responsibility of  leadership.

Whereas many people think leadership is about rank, power and privilege, Marines believe that true leadership is the willingness to place others’ needs above your own. For that reason Sinek titled his 2014 book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t—a follow-up to his powerhouse Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.

In Leaders Eat Last, the 40-year-old Sinek proposes a concept of leadership that has little to do with authority, management acumen or even being in charge. True leadership, Sinek says, is about empowering others to achieve things they didn’t think possible. Exceptional organizations, he says, “prioritize the well-being of their people and, in return, their people give everything they’ve got to protect and advance the well-being of one another and the organization.”

Whether we’re leading armies, multinational corporations or a fledgling home-based business, Sinek’s message is the same. “We all have the responsibility to become the leaders we wish we had,” he says in a phone conversation from his New York home.

A Biology Lesson

As it turns out, humans come equipped with a built-in chemistry set that gives us incentives to protect not just ourselves but also others. Four primary neurochemicals—endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin (all essential to normal healthy brain function)—contribute to our positive feelings of happiness, pride, joy, achievement and fulfillment. And beyond just making us feel good (when properly balanced), they ensure our long-term survival. 

Endorphins and dopamine are what Sinek calls “selfish” chemicals; they’re released so we’ll persist in the tasks we need to accomplish as individuals. Endorphins mask physical pain with pleasure. They can produce the euphoria of the runner’s high or—as in the Paleolithic era (Old Stone Age)—give us the strength to track prey miles and miles so we have enough to eat. Dopamine is behind the warm flush of satisfaction we feel when we complete a project or reach an important goal en route to an even larger goal. The feeling of satisfaction we get when we cross something off our to-do list is dopamine-fueled, and the release of dopamine increases as we take on larger challenges. “The bigger the goal, the more effort it requires, the more dopamine we get,” Sinek says. “This is why it feels really good to work hard to accomplish something difficult. Something quick and easy may only give us a little hit, if anything at all. There is no biological incentive to do nothing.” 

Serotonin and oxytocin are the “selfless” chemicals. Serotonin is the molecular manifestation of the feeling of pride—we get it when we perceive others like or respect us. On a deep level, we need to feel that we and our work are valued by others, particularly those in our group. This compound reinforces the bond between parent and child, teacher and student, coach and player, boss and employee, leader and follower. At the same time, oxytocin is working to promote empathy and trust, allowing those bonds to deepen—unlike the instant-gratification rush delivered by dopamine, oxytocin has long-term effects that become amplified the more we bond with someone. As we learn to trust them and earn their trust in return, the more the oxytocin flows. This is the chemical manifestation of love. “It’s responsible for all the warm and fuzzies,” Sinek says. When we’re in the company of friends, family members and close colleagues, a flush of oxytocin propels acts of generosity that strengthen the connections. 

Homo sapiens developed a herd instinct; thanks to those cooperative chemicals, we find comfort when we’re part of a group. “Our confidence that we can face the dangers around us literally depends on feeling safe in a group,” Sinek says. “Being on the periphery is dangerous. The loner on the edge of the group is far more susceptible to predators than someone who is safely surrounded and valued by others.” 

Beyond the Reptile Brain 

If you were driven only by endorphins and dopamine, you’d have a reptilian brain. Crocodiles, Sinek says, act completely on “me-first” instincts. When two hungry crocodiles spot the carcass of a wildebeest floating down the river, both will lunge at it. The faster and stronger of the two will consume every last bit, leaving nothing behind for his fellow croc. “There is no part of the reptilian brain that rewards cooperative behavior,” Sinek says. 

Sinek admits there’s an awful lot of reptilian behavior at the top of companies these days—many corporate environments short-circuit our capacity for cooperation and compassion, instead promoting paranoia, cynicism and self-interest. “In the military we give medals to people who sacrifice so others may gain,” Sinek says. “In business we give bonuses to people who gained when others  sacrificed.” 

Crocodile behavior works for a very few people in an organization, at least for a while. “You can absolutely have success when leaders eat first,” Sinek says. “But that success is going to be short-term and less able to weather hard times. In hard times people will not rush to the aid of a leader if they’ve never felt that he or she had put their interests first. You can get a lion to do what you want it to do by whipping it, but at some point it’s going to come back and bite  you.

” Putting profits before people was one reason so many banks and mortgage companies needed to be rescued with huge government bailouts after the stock market crash of 2008, Sinek says. Contrast that, he suggests, with big-box retailer Costco. “People sometimes criticize Costco because of its flat stock performance, but that’s only true if you evaluate on a quarterly basis. If you look over the course of a couple of decades, what you see is slow, steady growth. If you invested a dollar in Costco and a dollar in, say, General Electric in 1986, you would have made about 600 percent on your investment in GE up to now, and 1,200 percent on your Costco investment.” 

When the economic slowdown rocked the retail world in 2009, Costco’s then-CEO James Sinegal approved a $1.50 hourly raise for employees, insisting that in a bad economy “we should be figuring out how to give [workers] more, not less.” Today, paying its employees an average of $21 an hour compared with Wal-Mart’s $13, Costco has extraordinarily low turnover—less than 10 percent for hourly employees. 

It’s All About Empathy 

Sinek says researching his latest book has even changed the way he conducts his own life and business. “The lesson I’m learning is that I’m useless by myself. My success hinges entirely on the people I work with—the people who enlist themselves to join me in my vision. And it’s my responsibility to see that they’re working at their best capacity.” 

Empathy—the ability to recognize and share other people’s feelings—is the most important instrument in a leader’s toolbox, Sinek believes. 

It can be expressed in the simple words, “Is everything OK?” It’s what effective leaders ask an employee, instead of commanding “Clean out your desk” when he or she starts slacking off. It’s what you ask a client when a once-harmonious relationship gets rocky. “I really believe in quiet confrontation,” Sinek says. “If you had a good working relationship with someone and it’s suddenly gone sour, I believe in saying something like, ‘When we started we were both so excited, and it’s become really difficult now. Are you OK? What’s changed?” 

Sinek has been training himself to be more empathic by paying attention to everyday gestures, such as holding elevators for others or refilling the coffeemaker. Even small acts of kindness release a tiny shot of feel-good oxytocin. What’s more, “These little considerations for others have a building effect,” Sinek says. “The daily practice of putting the well-being of others first has a compounding and reciprocal effect in relationships, in friendships, in the way we treat our clients and our colleagues.” 

If Sinek sometimes sounds like someone singing “Kumbaya” around the campfire, he isn’t embarrassed. 

“I’m the first to admit that I’m an idealist. Leaders Eat Last is a vision for the future. It offers some explanation of how we find ourselves where we are today and what we can do to change it.” He pauses, then—sounding like anything but a Paleolithic caveman—offers some parting words. 

“True leadership isn’t the bastion of a few who sit at the top. It’s the responsibility of anyone who belongs to a group, and that means all of us. We all need to step up, take the risk and put our interests second—not always—but when it counts.”

From Success Magazine

The 4 Basics of Making Money on the Internet

The Internet is the hot ticket. Entrepreneurs everywhere want to exploit it to drive sales and grow their businesses.

Used properly, it can be an important part of your marketing mix. Used improperly, it can be a black hole -- one in which you dump tens of thousands of dollars without results. To maximize the return on your Internet-marketing dollars, follow these four tips:

1. Real-world basics still matter, so get them right. To get the basics right, we suggest answering three questions:

• Why would a prospective customer buy my product or service rather than the offerings of a competitor?
• Is there a segment of the market that would value the things that differentiate my product or service and is it large enough to support my business?
• What is the most cost-effective way to reach this segment with the message that my product or service is different?

You should only launch an Internet-marketing campaign if it is the most cost effective way to reach your specific target segment with your message.

2. Choose the right social media. Not all social media is equal. For example, Pinterest, which is image based, may be great for a jewelry designer to showcase his works. It would probably be less useful for a criminal-defense attorney.

In fact, depending on the target market segment, social media may not be appropriate at all. Launching a Twitter campaign to reach septuagenarians may not be the best use of marketing funds.

Choose the right platform for reaching your target market segment. Spend some time on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn. Do your research before choosing where to spend your time and efforts.  

3. Offer content. Going out on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn with a message that says, “Buy our product” will be ineffective at best. We have found it far more useful to offer something of value to prospective customers. Your posts can feature a link to an article, an assessment, a blog post or a video. You can use other people’s materials with permission and proper attribution. However, if you author the material, it positions you as an expert.

Once you have provided something of value and positioned yourself as an expert, you are much more likely to build the trust necessary to sell something. You can feature your products or services with a banner ad on your blog or by inviting the prospect to click through to the ecommerce portion of your website.

4. Focus on sales, not clicks. One huge problem with many Internet marketers is misalignment of objectives. You want to sell your product or service. They measure success in clicks, friends, followers or some other metric that does not equate to sales. Our advice: If your goals are not aligned with the company you are paying for marketing services, run fast.

Interim goals are fine. Gaining a certain number of followers or obtaining a target click through rate can be wonderful short-term objectives. However, the final objective of Internet marketing is sales, full stop. Don’t lose sight of this.

The Internet in general and social media specifically can be wonderful tools for generating sales. But, like all tools, they have to be used properly to produce the desired results. The four tips above will help you choose the right path.

From Entrepreneur

How LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony Lead By Example

If you want to stay successful, you must be willing to make necessary changes--even when it seems like you're at the top of your game.

By losing weight, both basketball stars have sent a very visible and vulnerable 

public message that they're not resting on their lucrative new contracts

Sometimes even successful professionals have to change. Recently, two of the world's greatest basketball players--Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony--dramatically illustrated their willingness to embrace change by modifying their diets. 

James, a four-time MVP and two-time champion, cut carbs and looked visibly skinnier, reports Ben Cohen in the Wall Street Journal. "He cut weight so quickly that he was visibly thinner in photos he shared online this month," he writes. As for Anthony, his trainer, Idan Ravin, told ESPNNewYork.com that the seven-time all-star has been "very meticulous about his diet and his workout" throughout the summer. 

As it turns out, the two stars have far more in common this summer than a weight loss:

• Both lined up big paydays. James signed a 2-year, $41.2-million deal to return to the Cavaliers after four seasons with the Miami Heat. Anthony signed a 5-year, $124-million deal to stay with the Knicks. 

• Both received these contracts despite disappointing seasons. James and the Heat lost in the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, James notoriously cramped up in the first game of the Finals, and was unable to play in the last four minutes. The Heat lost and the Spurs never looked back. Meanwhile, the Knicks drastically underachieved, amassing a 37-45 record and missing the playoffs. It was the first time in Anthony's career that one of his teams missed the playoffs. 

• Both are getting ready to work with new colleagues. James switched teams entirely. Anthony remained in New York, but the Knicks hired a new coach and revamped the roster following the disappointing 2013-14 season.

James' and Anthony's behavior provides a great window into the concept of leading by example. In business, the overall idea of leading by example is simple: You can't expect or request your employees or partners to behave a certain way if you, yourself, aren't also living up to the standard.

In basketball terms, James and Anthony are being role models for a standard of offseason fitness and team-first focus. In addition to slimming down, neither player opted to play for Team USA in the 2014 FIBA tournament (which is, essentially, the World Cup of basketball). Instead, both stayed focused on preparing for the upcoming NBA season. 

But here's what else they're embracing as role models: vulnerability and accountability. Each player could easily have passed the buck to their teammates, ascribing last year's shortcomings to their scrubby supporting casts. Instead, each took a look in the mirror and realized: I could be in better shape. 

In business, leading by example is also largely about showing your willingness to embrace vulnerability, accountability, and standards of fitness. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinardhas famously led the $540-million company by doing what he believes is the right thing, even if it means looking in the mirror and not liking what his company looks like. Last year, he told Liz Welch about one way Patagonia needed to get in better shape: 

Recently, animal-rights activists in Germany accused us of getting our down from geese that were being live plucked. We sent two people to Hungary to check it out. They said, "The good news is, we're not live plucking geese. The bad news is, the geese are being force-fed for foie gras." We didn't cover that up or spin it--we told the truth and found another source of down. It doesn't work any other way. Plus, we want other companies to be more transparent. The only way to lead is by example.

The overall idea is simple: You'll be more respected as a leader if your own organization--or your own body--is in order. And the act of humbling yourself, and admitting you need to shape up, is all the more potent when it comes from a living legend who's already earned plenty of money--be it Chouinard, James, or Anthony. It's more inspirational that way too.

The Spurs are the defending champions, but James and Anthony are clearly primed to bring it next season. Their teammates won't be far behind. 

From Inc. Magazine