The idea is to use a small amount of your own money, levered with a large amount of other people’s money.

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The most obvious example is making a small down payment for your home and then borrowing the rest. Over time, you pay off the mortgage and you own the home outright. You’ve used OPM to add a significant asset to your Balance Sheet.

Of course, with our homes we have to work to pay off the mortgage. It works even better with a business or a piece of investment real estate.

All we have to invest is the small amount needed to get started. If all goes well, our customers or tenants pay off the loan for us. Now that’s a deal!

The second form of capital

We can also use human capital to create wealth. It’s kind of the Cinderella of the capital world – it doesn’t get as much focus as money as a form of capital.

But other people’s labor, or OPL, is also a way to build wealth. Of course, by “labor”, we mean time and talent. Instead of levering money, we lever time and talent.

OPL is more important going forward

OPM and OPL are the two ways people have traditionally created wealth. OPM has received more focus because we’ve relied heavily on investments in assets and infrastructure to create wealth.

But for small business owners today, the model for building wealth in the future is likely to rely more on OPL. Thanks largely to technology, we can start businesses with less money than it used to take.

Here are three guiding principles for using OPL to build wealth:

You must consider all peoples’ interests equally.

This is the principle of equal consideration of interests. It’s all for one and one for all. As the leader, you have to consider all people in your charge equally and then do what’s best for the collective whole.

So we think going forward, the people who create the most wealth will not be focused solely on their own self-interest. You have to think about what’s best for everyone who is part of your team.

Think win / win or wait.

If you’re going to work with someone, you both must win or you should wait. A win by one is a win by none in the long-term.

As bigg goal-getters, we’re always looking for ways to add value which creates opportunities to create wealth.

Your people must buy your vision.

If you have to sell your vision, the game is over before it’s even started. You want people to see how your idea benefits them. But it has to be bigger than that. It also has to serve society in a larger way – it needs to improve people’s lives. And your people must see it.

It’s a higher form of salesmanship – of leadership – that leads to bigg success today.

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Thank you so much for reading our post today.

Next time when we’ll talk about what a popular HBO show has to do with organizational structure in the years ahead. It’s related to this post so please check back in with us.

Until then, here’s to your bigg success.

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00416-061509.mp3

Related posts

How the Rich Make Money

Getting Aggressively Passive: Creating A Passive Income That Sets You Free

(Image in today's post by lusi)

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Bigg Question

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Renee called us with her bigg question. She’s been a manager for a few months. She’s having trouble getting all of her work done because her employees keep coming to her with problems that they could easily solve themselves. She feels herself getting more and more stressed about this situation. She wants our suggestions.

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Results, not tasks

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Renee, you’re not alone. This is a common problem with first-time managers. I’ve fought this myself. We’re told, “If you want the job done right, do it yourself.” So we don’t empower people like we need to so they feel comfortable making decisions. We need to help our people build their personal leadership skills.

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You do that by focusing on the results, not the tasks. It’s a conversation about the “what”, not the “how”. What are you trying to achieve as a group? Then break your overall plan into who is to do what by when.

Now every individual in your charge knows for what they’re responsible. Be sure they (and their peers) know they have the authority to do what needs to be done to reach the desired result.

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Guiding principles

Let them know you believe in them. Tell them you’re there to help them when they run into something they can’t solve on their own. However, there are two guiding principles when they think they need your help.

1st – If we’ve discussed it before, follow the precedent.

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There’s no need to rehash old turf. I want my people to show me that they can learn. I’ll tell them exactly that!

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You don’t want to hit your head into the same wall again and again. There will be challenges. Let’s make them new ones! I’m here to help you as long as we aren’t just dealing with the same old problem stated in a different way.

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2nd – When you present a problem, offer a solution.

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I remember discovering this principle, for exactly the reason Renee is saying in her question. I had to find an answer for people constantly bringing up problems without taking any responsibility for the solution. This guiding principle took care of that.

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Helping your people develop their personal leadership skills leads to bigg success … for them and for you!

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What have you done to get your people to take a leadership role?

Please share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 888.455.BIGG (2444) or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

Thanks so much for the gift of your time today. Please join us next time when we talk with a person who used vision boards to reach bigg success. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00402-052709.mp3

Related posts

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7 Steps To Lead Your Troops To Victory

(Image in today's post from Rbut)