Take the "Work" out of Networking 217 Leadership pays off. You're likely to be quoted in the trade press. Your peers will see you differently. A leader is in the inner circle--the winning circle. And the bigger the group you lead or the more influential the business group, the more prominent and valuable you will be. You may be invited to participate in high-profile business panels, give the keynote address at your industry conference, and even be invited to Davos, the ultimate global gabfest for CEOs, star entrepreneurs, and world leaders. Your position will be hard to topple, too. As in the product world, personal leadership comes with a halo. When people view you as a leader, they bestow you with a host of positive attri- butes--and that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The perception of success actually brings about more success, because, after all, you must be better than others--you're a leader! brainStormer: What are the key Ï components of your visibility plan? Cast a role for lady luck Luck is the big white lie behind most entrepreneurial success stores. While I believe that you create your own "luck," that doesn't mean you can't add a dollop of luck to your story. People attribute their success partially to luck, because it goes over much better that way than telling people the truth. Namely, that you have been working 24-7 on building the business and have suffered every hardship known to humankind. Luck is a key element in most stories of achievement. Luck makes people look like they had not "planned" their success or used PR or managers to promote themselves. Many people think it is "wrong" somehow to go after success. It just isn't "right." Our motives should be more noble, such as changing the world for the better. (And they might be that, too!) The reality in almost every case is the opposite. Almost no one achieves great things or becomes a well-known brand without wanting it and work- ing very hard toward it. Strategy, creativity, and persistence have more to do with achieving success than luck. People who achieve great things work smart to achieve what they do, often with the help of business coaches, branding experts, and public