Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golachieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavaledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode four seventy two. You've probably heard of the
Speaker 2: concept of six degrees of separation, the idea that everyone
Speaker 2: on this planet is connected to anyone else through six
Speaker 2: or fewer people. It's fascinating, it's gone viral on social media,
Speaker 2: and it's fun to think about who you might be
Speaker 2: connected to through just a few handshakes. For this episode,
Speaker 2: I want to flip that concept and introduce you to
Speaker 2: what I call the six degrees of leadership. These aren't
Speaker 2: about how many people connect us. They're about the levels
Speaker 2: of impact we as leaders create, sometimes intentionally and sometimes
Speaker 2: without realizing it. So if you stick with me for
Speaker 2: the next few minutes, I'm going to show you why
Speaker 2: understanding these six degrees will change the way you think
Speaker 2: about your role as a leader. Degree one is direct influence,
Speaker 2: and this is the obvious one. These are the people
Speaker 2: you talk to every day, your team, your staff, your
Speaker 2: immediate circle. They hear your tone, They watch your body language,
Speaker 2: and they respond to your decisions. The first degree is
Speaker 2: about your direct impact. What you say, how you say it,
Speaker 2: and what you choose to do in front of these
Speaker 2: people sets. The foundation degree, too, is indirect influence. The
Speaker 2: second degree are the people who don't interact with you
Speaker 2: daily but still feel your leadership through the culture that
Speaker 2: you've built. Maybe they hear stories about how you handle
Speaker 2: the situation, or they work under a manager that you've trained,
Speaker 2: and they might not know you personally, but they experience
Speaker 2: your leadership DNA every single day. Degree three is the
Speaker 2: organizational echo. At the third degree, your influence becomes an echo.
Speaker 2: This is where your words and actions are retold in meetings,
Speaker 2: in training sessions, or in casual conversation. Your staff says, well,
Speaker 2: the boss always says this, or our leader expects that.
Speaker 2: At this point, you've moved beyond the room and into
Speaker 2: the hallways, into the emails, and into the breakroom chatter.
Speaker 2: Degree four community impact. Now we're stepping out of your building.
Speaker 2: The fourth degree is the community around you. Your customers, clients, patience,
Speaker 2: or anyone who interacts with your organization. They might not
Speaker 2: know your name, but they feel the ripple of your
Speaker 2: leadership and how your team treats them, how your company
Speaker 2: responds in what your brand stands for. Degree five is
Speaker 2: industry reach. The fifth degree is your industry word spreads.
Speaker 2: If you're building leaders, developing talent, innovating, or even making mistakes,
Speaker 2: it becomes a story in your field. Other organizations watch
Speaker 2: what you do. They adopt your best practices, or they
Speaker 2: learn from your failures. Whether you like it or not,
Speaker 2: your leadership creates a case study that others in your
Speaker 2: industry will notice. Degree six is legacy. And here's the
Speaker 2: final degree, the one that outlives you. This is legacy.
Speaker 2: It's the culture you leave behind, the leaders you've developed
Speaker 2: who go on to lead others, the standards you've written,
Speaker 2: the lessons you've passed down. This degree is bigger than you.
Speaker 2: It's the ripple that continues years from now, long after
Speaker 2: you've left the organization. So let me ask you a
Speaker 2: tough question. Which degree are you leading for? Are you
Speaker 2: just concerned about the first degree making sure your immediate
Speaker 2: team respects you, or are you thinking all the way
Speaker 2: out to degree six, realizing that every decision, every word,
Speaker 2: and every action could echo into the future long after
Speaker 2: you're gone. So here's today's takeaway. Great leaders don't just
Speaker 2: play the short game. They understand that leadership isn't about
Speaker 2: one meeting, one day or one quarter. It's about the
Speaker 2: ripple effect. This six degrees of leadership. So your challenge
Speaker 2: is to start thinking bigger. Every interaction you have today
Speaker 2: isn't just about that person in front of you. It's
Speaker 2: about who they'll impact and who they'll tell and the
Speaker 2: culture that will outlast you. Leadership doesn't stop at your door.
Speaker 2: It extends six degrees out and that's the difference between
Speaker 2: being a boss and being a leader who is remembered.
Speaker 2: This has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast and I
Speaker 2: thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com