3 Leadership Qualities Driven By Experience : Part 1

There are many books, materials and a lot available on the internet on the do’s and don’ts of leadership. However, everyone has a story and a personal experience. Not all principles work the same for all.

There are 3 lessons I have learnt that have helped me and I would want to share them with you today:

1. Inclusive management — As a leader you need not know everything. But you need to learn to tap into the potential of the intelligent and smart people around you. You need to do it together. This is a no-brainer, but at times, we forget this simple principle and feel that we need to have all the answers. I strongly believe 1+1 will become 11 if we practice inclusive management.

2. Team members are humans and not just bodies — This is such a fundamental principle. You might be wondering what is new with this…yet, this is such a profound yet a very difficult thing to practice and get right. It is very easy to get transactional and give the team instructions. They might probably follow it due to hierarchy, but that is not sustainable. Treat your team members as “PEOPLE” with emotions. Connect with them at the emotional level, then the team will catapult and perform at its highest level of productivity.

3. Failure is an option — Often as leaders we have the apprehension that we cannot make mistakes and that we MUST always be right. This actually sets us up for failure. If we do not allow ourselves to fail, then we are not learning and not ready to take risks. The allowance to fail makes us fearless in our decisions and gives us the strength to grow and move forward. The failure of fear is dangerous for leaders, as it will then make them risk-averse and also over time, bring the career growth to a standstill. Look out for this and take action.

None of what I have stated is new, but surely for me, these were the guiding posts that have helped immensely.