5 Tips On How You Can Be A Good Leader
Timeless Secrets of leadership
“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have never been.” -Henry Kissinger
People think that a leader is a man or a women with the title of CEO or president. Actually, leadership is not about position, it is about action. Your programmers can be great leaders, managers can be great leaders, caring teachers can be great leaders or even committed scientists can be great leaders. Leadership is not just about managing different things in a business, but it’s about having the ability to inspire people to reach their highest-potential while working towards a vision that you have convinced them is worthy.
Failure in leadership can lead to failure in business. Companies and people don’t perform well when their leaders are unskilled or unwise.
Leadership is a craft and the best leaders constantly work on refining there craft. Great leaders live and act in the present while having a crystal-clear blueprint for the future.
Here are a few secrets of leadership:
- Invite co-operation from others, rather than demanding their obedience
Have a vision that will excite the people of your organization. We see that people who have interesting hobbies that excite them, stay late night painting, writing poems, playing an instrument, etc. Just like that, leaders need to get their teams excited and motivated about their vision. Win others to your ideas by the joy you yourself feel in them.
Here is an example, Herb Kelleher, the leader of Southwest Airlines, which has been consistently one of the most successful airlines, didn’t define the vision of the airlines as “ being a great airline” or in terms of numbers. He defined it in a way that truly connected with people. He explained that Southwest was a very special airline run by very special people. He showed how low fares can help people who cannot afford the airplane tickets can take international trips. This means that grandparents could now visit their grandchildren more frequently. He showed his employees how their work will help people fulfill their dreams and make their lives better.
2. Love others and lead by heart
To explain this in few words, let people get off their guards. Show empathy towards them. Show them that you care about them. Take some actions to help them grow. Offer them some courses or books.
A top-performing company in Singapore has an unusual practice. Every Friday afternoon they shut down their factory for two hours and their teams discuss about latest management bestsellers. This not only helps them to strengthen their bonds, but also keeps them updated with latest trends.
You don’t need to do things that you can’t afford to. Lorenz’s theory of Butterfly effect which states: the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Singapore could affect a hurricane in North Carolina. It reminds that minor acts of caring have big consequences. Just asking people about how their family is doing, personally messaging them on their birthday, or personally calling them when they are ill can do world of difference.
3. Team is more important than the product
A good team can develop many products.
Confucius quoted, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ Good leaders strive to bring the best out of their employees.
Hunt for good behaviour in your organization and reward them. Because, this lets them know what you want you want from them. Praise the good work more often and you will get more of that. There is a quote which says, ‘Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated.’
Let people get to know one another and let their hair down. Share your goals and ideals with others and include them as your friends in the journey.
4. Make vision your ‘Polestar’
Keeping your goal in mind, be flexible to change other things.
No one can anticipate all the challenges that can come while walking the road. This often demands being malleable to adapt to the changes. Lao-Tzu said, ‘Softness triumphs over hardness. What is more malleable is always superior over that which is immovable.’ It is required to know how to control things while going along them. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. There is a quote by Einstein, ‘The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.’ Embracing change and becoming good at tolerating ambiguity and uncertainty is the only way out.
5. Do willingly what needs to be done
‘Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.’ said Thomas Henry Huxley
It’s important to keep putting your knowledge into action. Never make a mistake of asking others what you would not be willing to do. But at the same time its important to encourage the employees to become extremely competent. A competent employee will not wait for the management to hold their hand and guide, instead if a problem arises in a department then he will start thinking about the ways to fix them.
Final Thoughts
As a leader its very important to be loyal to those under you without demanding it first of them. Have allegiance to the truth. And concentrate on what you are doing and your vision without thinking of your position as a trumpet call to self-importance.
