Welcome to the I Am A Leader blog series, featuring leaders who make a difference. Today’s guest blogger is Chuck Siegel. Chuck lives in Waco, Texas with his wife Wrendy and youngest daughter, Marissa. Their oldest daughter, Kelsie, lives in Bryan, Texas where she attends community college. Chuck is the CEO and founder of two companies: Lionheart Assurance Solutions, LP (an employee benefits agency), and Rule Your Kingdom, LP (an Internet marketing company).

Keep in touch with Chuck via:
http://lionheartassurance.com
http://ruleyourkingdom.com

Hello, name is Chuck Siegel.

The most important leadership roles in my life right now are as an ambassador for my G-d, as a husband to my wife and father to my two daughters, and my leadership role as CEO of my two companies.

When our first daughter was born (Kelsie), that was probably the first time it dawned on me that I was a leader. As a young man, I remember that first time I held our new baby girl at the hospital. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I’m responsible for another human life!” It was time to grow up in a hurry, and being a father gave me no choice BUT to grow up.

In the years that followed, I discovered that leadership meant many things. It meant sacrificing what you may want at the time for the good of others. It meant considering the influence your words and actions have on others. It meant investing time in others to help them become something more than they could become on their own.

There is no better model for developing the character of leader (in my view) than to be a parent.

Of course, I’ve led teams of people over the years in my business, both large and small. What I’ve learned is that leading others begins first with cultivating a relationship with them to learn what is truly important to them. Unless you clearly understand the goals and aspirations of those you are to lead, you have no basis for leading them.

Those who have become the most productive members of my teams are those with whom I have developed the closest relationships, on purpose, and with whom I have the deepest mutual trust. These top performers know that they can call on me whenever they have a need, and I will do my very best to make helping them a priority. They know I’ll treat them with respect and keep their confidence no matter what information they divulge with me.

The role that brought about the most personal growth for me (and continues to do so) is my role as an ambassador for G-d to others that he leads in my path.

I don’t go looking for people to talk with about my relationship with G-d, but he will sometimes bring them to me. To my way of thinking, my highest responsibility is for my life to bring honor to him.

Each day, I have the opportunity to either lead others away from their relationship with G-d or inspire them to trust him more with my conduct in the little affairs of my life. I don’t see it as my job to evangelize others. Rather, I see my responsibility to make it known (when appropriate) that I walk with G-d, and then let my actions and decisions show what that means to me and, more importantly, who G-d is to me.

I want my legacy of my life to be that I brought glory to my G-d. My hope would be that others would see in me a man that walked with G-d and trusted him in everything.

A special thank you to Chuck Siegel for sharing his insights about leadership with us today! Stay tuned every Friday as the I Am A Leader blog series continues. Please share this blog post via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Let’s continue the conversation on Twitter using the #iamaLEADER hash tag! You can connect with SOS Leadership on Twitter here.

Check out all of the I Am A Leader blogs here!