LEADERSHIP

Insights

Leader

Each one of you can be a Leader, Just that you have to work towards it!

Leadership is a skill that can be acquired with the implementation of carefully thought of steps!

SIX QUALITIES OF A LEADER Vision Drive Inclusiveness Ethics Communication Creating Leaders

FOUR VISION-LEVELS OF PEOPLE Some people never see it

(wanderers)

Some people see it but never pursue it on their own (followers)

Some people see it and pursue it (achievers)

Some people see it, pursue it, and help others see it (leaders)

APHORISMS There is no such thing called us boring

job,there is a boring way of doing job. There is no constraint of leader Credit is not a fixed quantity

Inspirational leader such as K V Kamat: Functional expertise is good for entry

level and leadership qualities helps you to climb the ladder

Leaders have weakness , realize your gaps and addresss it,sharing feedbacks with everyone

Theory of constraints: solution orientations: you will come out stronger : challenging times are best times

If it is a talent then leadership is an inborn quality as talents are innate by nature. If it is a skill, then it can be acquired by voracious reading, learning, continuous practice, by training and by experience. If it is a talent then the leaders are born if it is a skill then the leaders are made.

Leadership is more of an action rather than by preaching.

Traditionally there are three types of leadership - Dictatorial leadership, Democratic and Delegative

In the case of the autocratic leadership, the leader takes decisions of his own based on his gut feeling and intuition and orders the execution of his instructions. And the followers have to accept and execute whether they like the same or not. There are no consultations or discussions with subordinates in this style. And in the case of any debacle he is held solely responsible for his actions and instructions. That is the reason it is also called as dictatorial style and it is unique in military organizations.

In democratic leadership, the leader consults with his subordinates on various occasions and takes them into confidence. A consensus is generated after weighing the pros and cons of the matter. Entire team is held responsible either for success or failure of the decision making. Since many key heads are involved in decision making it is called as democratic type of leadership

Thirdly, in the delegative style of leadership, the decision making is delegated by the leader to his subordinates. The second in command takes the decision and executes. Even if there is any failure, the leader is held responsible as he delegated the decision making power to his lieutenant. It is also known as free reign leadership. All leaders make use of all the three styles and types as per the situation. It is not prudent to declare that a specific style is wrong

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD LEADER:

First and foremost quality of any leader is to have passion to lead the people and the passion to serve the people. Passion is nothing but a burning desire to contribute his best for the people without expecting any returns. Only when he is passionate he can ignite passion amongst his followers

He should have a vision and a common goal or objective for which people should have interest to come forward to realize the goals and objectives. Only when the vision is strong then the mission can be strong. He knows ‘where to go’ and he directs his followers continuously by showing ‘how to go’

He should be a self-motivator and only self motivators become self starters. He should be filled with strong convictions and should be highly motivated so that he can maintain higher levels of energy amongst his followers.Zig Zigler Zig said, 97 per cent people live in comfort zone and only 3 per cent of the people live in effective zone. The leaders always live in the effective zone and they get excited by being always in effective zone. They love to face challenges continuously. They continue shifting from one orbit to another at ease

Leaders always look for excellence not for perfection. They always look at the things positively and are firm optimists.

They experiment a lot and make many mistakes and learn a lot from the same and for them every big fall is a big rise. They rise like phoenix. Robert Francis Kennedy rightly quoted, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly”.

They are excellent networkers and thrive on network. Even if they fall they rise because of their strong network. And the network helps either because he has helped them in the past with altruism or because their network is fascinated with his altruistic and leadership style.

They are men of integrity and strong character. They are very firm in their commitments and convictions. They have higher tolerance levels and have a positive bent of mind towards other people’s sentiments and cultures.

They maintain stoic silence and display mental and emotional stability even in extreme provocations or failures. They are excellent listeners and listen to different people with different dimensions and yet maintain independent thinking in arriving at solutions

Good leaders always talk of positive things and make positive statements like ‘you can do it’, ‘it is possible’, ‘you will achieve big’ and so on. And they never make negative remarks like ‘it is impossible’, ‘it is doubtful’, ‘you can never improve’ etc

They are open to change and they know very well that change is always constant. They become the champions of change and are very effective change masters

For them, success is not outsmarting others but setting their own goals and touching their upper limits. Once they reach their upper limits they raise the bar automatically and again touch their upper limits

They never beat around the bush and always stay focused. Neither can they be neither distracted nor diverted from their cherished goals and objectives. They know how to hit the bulls’ eye

They always radiate positive energy and are expert at visualizing opportunities from threats. They know how to capitalize on their strengths, how to overcome from their weaknesses, manage both the internal and external threats effectively and effectively and last but not the least they are good at spotting the opportunities

They strongly believe in others and trust their subordinates or followers. As trust begets trust, the leader in turn is trusted by his followers

They always look at the big picture. If a lay man thinks about the repercussions, implications and complications of a decision making just after a step. The leader thinks, imagines the same, number of stages and steps ahead based on his abilities in problem solving and also because of his experience

All great leaders are strong at communication skills. They mesmerize their followers with their oratorical skills and abilities and they continuously ignite and excite their followers to reach their goals

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other”, quoted John F. Kennedy. They learn and grow continuously. They regularly update their skills and abilities. Most of the great leaders are great readers.

Leaders create their own set of advisers and consult them whenever they are confronted with complicated situations. Their team of trusted advisors provides various comments and after having brainstorming discussions the right solution is arrived and the leaders adopt the same.

They find out the unexplored and unexploited areas and they build up mindset, skills set, tools set so as to excel in those areas and people follow them as they are specialist in those area. They rarely follow the road and rather they make a road for their followers and leave a mark behind. In this context, it is apt to quote, “Don’t follow where path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”.Leaders are sound at judgment. They know the strengths and weaknesses of their subordinates and utilize them according to their skills and abilities so as to meet the desired goals and objectives. They are smart at converting ordinary people as extraordinary people.They know how to balance their lives and good at leading balanced life. They have self discipline and do the things proactively without prompting of others. They move like a clock in a systematic and organized manner and are competent time managers.

Good leaders are effective motivators and they understand the gravity of the situation and don the hat as per the situation and give their best to provide win-win situation for all without hurting anybody. They are excellent in persuasive skills, goal setting skills and soft skills.

Thank You