Shop owner Louie Sharp says to know your values, and strong leadership will follow.
No one should wonder how to become a better leader. According to Louie Sharp, owner of Sharp Auto Body in Island Lake, Ill., says everyone is already a gifted leader with different skills, talents, and gifts because everyone is leading somebody, somewhere.
Better leadership relies on the ability to develop values and live by them. He says developing a list of core values is a process that will help inform you through making decisions to lead a team.
“The power of values is that you get to pick them, and then by picking them, you get to start becoming them,” Sharp says.
He relies on six core values; excellence, service to others, fun, integrity, creativity, and solutions. “When I make decisions or I think about who I want to be, and I review them, my values, on a regular basis, I go back to them when I need to make decisions, and that becomes my compass,” Sharp says.
Sharp developed his list throughout his life by reading, learning, and through 20 years of experience in the U.S. Marines.
“The times when I have led my very best through the hardships have been when I have been on track and stayed true to my values,” he says.
Sharp encourages reviewing your list of positive values and finding what best supports your leadership style. There is no one-size-fits-all list.
“Great leaders aren’t born, they’re developed. As a leader, we are all responsible for developing leaders,” Sharp says.
