You may be a good leader,but how do you go about becoming a great one Yasmin Taj discovers a few quintessential questions every leader should ask oneself to assess the path to great leadership success
1. DO I HAVE THE VISION TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE WITH EVERYONE'S ACCEPTANCE IN THE ORGANIZATION
Having a vision to bring about a change is an important trait of a leader, asserts Chander Agarwal, executive director, Transport Corporation of India Ltd. This vision helps subordinates to keep up with the times, remain motivated and stay inspired with the company's growth, he says.
2. HOW CAN I SERVE MY CUSTOMERS BETTER
A good leader will do everything within his/her power to ensure that the customer - the most important stakeholder, remains delighted, believes P Sridhar Reddy, founder & CEO, CtrlS. By effectively addressing customer grievances, anticipating customer expectations and letting them know that the company is genuinely grateful for their business,one would evolve into a better leader.
3. DO I HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ABOARD
Most teams struggle to align to goals because they don't know what they should be aiming for or what they have even signed up for.Just writing a purpose on the wall or project charter is not enough to set the direction. I think that reminding people about the purpose and value of their work needs to be done on a regular basis to get everyone working together, points out Shireen Alam, director, Sapient Global Markets. She further explains, It is important,when hiring that along with our focus on core skills, we do not overlook the soft skills. We should be sure that the people we are looking to add to our team are aligned to the company's values, purpose and goals.
4. HOW CAN I CONVERT CRITICISM INTO A LEARNING LESSON FOR MY WORK
This,according to Agarwal, is another very crucial thing to ask yourself. Leadership comes with great responsibility and people follow you as their guide and admire you for your work. However,there are times when you are equally criticised for something. A good leader is not shaken by unforeseen situations or criticisms and instead focuses on his/her larger vision, he expresses.
5. CAN I PRODUCE RESULTS, EVEN DURING UNCERTAIN OR TROUBLED TIMES
There's no leadership if you are not in a powerful or an influential position to help and lead people, right This can only be achieved by producing results to your shareholders and delivering value to customers. You need to be able to achieve this, even in troubled times, to stay in a powerful position and lead people, asserts Reddy.
6. HOW DO PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT BEING ON MY TEAM
Fostering employee morale is not just the HR managers responsibility.It is very important to know how your team feels about working with you and with each other,states Alam. It is also important for leaders at all levels to have one-on one feedback with each person, not only to chart out their growth, but also understand how they are feeling,what challenges they face and how they would like to interact differently with you, she explains.
7. DO I HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED TO CREATE A VISION AND MAKE MY PEOPLE SEE IT
Reddy feels that without this, you won't be able to inspire people to follow you and achieve the results. They will like you but not follow you if you lack clear vision and the means to achieve it, he says.
8. HUMBLE
This is certainly a quintessential question not only for a leader,but also any human being. There are all kinds of people in the world - rich, poor, intellectuals and ignorant. But all of them have self-respect and won't follow you unless you are a humble person. You will never be able to create a good team to achieve results if you don't respect people, especially the under-privileged ones. You need all kinds of people to win, stresses Reddy.
So, if you haven't yet asked yourself these questions, it would be a good time to start now and also put the answers into action. These questions, if acted upon, can be a great facilitator in making one a leader par-excellence.
1. DO I HAVE THE VISION TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE WITH EVERYONE'S ACCEPTANCE IN THE ORGANIZATION
Having a vision to bring about a change is an important trait of a leader, asserts Chander Agarwal, executive director, Transport Corporation of India Ltd. This vision helps subordinates to keep up with the times, remain motivated and stay inspired with the company's growth, he says.
2. HOW CAN I SERVE MY CUSTOMERS BETTER
A good leader will do everything within his/her power to ensure that the customer - the most important stakeholder, remains delighted, believes P Sridhar Reddy, founder & CEO, CtrlS. By effectively addressing customer grievances, anticipating customer expectations and letting them know that the company is genuinely grateful for their business,one would evolve into a better leader.
3. DO I HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ABOARD
Most teams struggle to align to goals because they don't know what they should be aiming for or what they have even signed up for.Just writing a purpose on the wall or project charter is not enough to set the direction. I think that reminding people about the purpose and value of their work needs to be done on a regular basis to get everyone working together, points out Shireen Alam, director, Sapient Global Markets. She further explains, It is important,when hiring that along with our focus on core skills, we do not overlook the soft skills. We should be sure that the people we are looking to add to our team are aligned to the company's values, purpose and goals.
4. HOW CAN I CONVERT CRITICISM INTO A LEARNING LESSON FOR MY WORK
This,according to Agarwal, is another very crucial thing to ask yourself. Leadership comes with great responsibility and people follow you as their guide and admire you for your work. However,there are times when you are equally criticised for something. A good leader is not shaken by unforeseen situations or criticisms and instead focuses on his/her larger vision, he expresses.
5. CAN I PRODUCE RESULTS, EVEN DURING UNCERTAIN OR TROUBLED TIMES
There's no leadership if you are not in a powerful or an influential position to help and lead people, right This can only be achieved by producing results to your shareholders and delivering value to customers. You need to be able to achieve this, even in troubled times, to stay in a powerful position and lead people, asserts Reddy.
6. HOW DO PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT BEING ON MY TEAM
Fostering employee morale is not just the HR managers responsibility.It is very important to know how your team feels about working with you and with each other,states Alam. It is also important for leaders at all levels to have one-on one feedback with each person, not only to chart out their growth, but also understand how they are feeling,what challenges they face and how they would like to interact differently with you, she explains.
7. DO I HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED TO CREATE A VISION AND MAKE MY PEOPLE SEE IT
Reddy feels that without this, you won't be able to inspire people to follow you and achieve the results. They will like you but not follow you if you lack clear vision and the means to achieve it, he says.
8. HUMBLE
This is certainly a quintessential question not only for a leader,but also any human being. There are all kinds of people in the world - rich, poor, intellectuals and ignorant. But all of them have self-respect and won't follow you unless you are a humble person. You will never be able to create a good team to achieve results if you don't respect people, especially the under-privileged ones. You need all kinds of people to win, stresses Reddy.
So, if you haven't yet asked yourself these questions, it would be a good time to start now and also put the answers into action. These questions, if acted upon, can be a great facilitator in making one a leader par-excellence.
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