Leaders are the ones who
stimulate the change in various fields. There have been many leaders throughout
history who have been responsible for change to happen. Some famous leaders of
20th century are Mahatma Gandhi, A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa,
Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, Dalai Lama, Steve Jobs to name a few. When
you start analyzing the lives of these people you can find certain things
common in them; though most of them are from varied backgrounds. These common
things can be the ideals or traits which these great leaders made it
mandatory to follow in their lives. The word leadership is often related to
politics in the real world. Great leaders can also be a sportsperson, a doctor,
an engineer, a business person or anyone who follows these ideals can be
proclaimed as a leader.
#TRAIT 3: TEAM UNITY
TRAIT #1: AN EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING CAUSE
The primary and the most
important ideal which ordinary people follow to blossom into a great leader is
that; they have a specific goal in their mind and persevere every day to
achieve it. They are laser focused on their goals and keep every step in their
life with a purpose. They constantly keep thinking about their objectives which
at some stage mix with their emotions and mature into an emotionally compelling
cause. If Mahatma Gandhi was not thrown out of the train in South Africa,
Sathyagraha Movement and Non-Violence (Ahimsa) would not have happened. That
insult happened to be the emotionally compelling cause for Gandhi and it kept
reverberating in his mind. When he came back to India he applied the same
concepts and made our independence possible. Great leaders are the ones who
ritualize wisdom and achieve tangible results.
TRAIT #2: HUMAN RELATIONS
When you want to become
a great leader, then managing people is another critical aspect to taste
success. A cordial relation with the people is the fulcrum of good leadership. a leader's character has to
be devoid of any immorality. He has to radiate a lot of enthusiasm and have a
charming personality. A great leader should be an patient listener lending his
ears to all the problems of the people and consistently compassionate no matter
whatever the situation is. Leaders who are respected universally always
maintain their buoyancy by promise keeping, showing compassion and truth
telling. The semblance of these qualities can be noticed in any great leader
and makes him a good people’s manager.
#TRAIT 3: TEAM UNITY
This ritual will be
most appropriate for leaders in business fields and in team sports. In a big
organization where hierarchy exists; unity between top level executives and
bottom level workers is of prime importance. When it comes to sports; games
such as basketball, cricket and football needs a lot of synchronization between
the players to win their game. In a team or in an organization when someone
underperforms, the remaining people have to perform exceeding their standards
to keep their stability intact. Recognizing high performers and rewarding them
regularly will increase the team’s positivity. When an individual performs
well, appreciation comes to him directly. But in a team, every member cannot
perform to his highest standards all the time. The team is mostly rewarded but
individuals who contributed for the team’s success are forgotten. Hence, giving
a genuine appreciation to persons who perform well in a team will boost his
confidence and in turn the team also performs well.
#TRAIT 4: ADAPTABILITY AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT
This ritual is also
about successful leaders in business fields. Getting accustomed to change is
one of the biggest challenges in today’s world. Earlier change was happening
slowly and we had enough time to adapt ourselves to the change easily.
Nowadays, change is happening at a rapid pace and updating ourselves about the
change has become very difficult. Considering all these factors, change
management finds its place in the ideals followed by great business leaders. On
how to recognize the change and manage it let me illustrate with an anecdote.
Cadbury, one of world’s most famous confectionary companies had a sudden
decline in their market shares. Their products were always preferred by people
yet they couldn’t find out the actual reason for the huge drop in sales. When
this thought was bothering the company’s CEO; he gave some money to his
daughter in a supermarket and asked her to buy chocolates. His daughter bought
a lot of chocolates but none was from the brand Cadbury. He’s shocked to see
this and asked if she don’t like Cadbury’s chocolates. The girl’s answer was
“She couldn’t find any Cadbury’s chocolates.” On researching, it was found that
older brands were kept at the top stack in supermarkets which was less
accessible to kids and hence the sales had gone down. The CEO immediately
instructed all his retailers to keep Cadbury’s chocolates at the bottom stack
and then Cadbury regained its dominance in confectionary business. Thus, even a
small aspect can contribute to a big change in business.
#THE
GOLDEN CIRCLE
The
Golden circle is a method which most great leaders follow to win. This
trustworthy method is a recipe for success and has been formulated after a lot
of research. Leaders of all fields especially from business have adapted this
Golden Circle principle to taste success.
Most ordinary people like us focus mostly on
the “What?” while great leaders are the ones who focus on the “Why?” Just like
the above diagram, ordinary people are more in number and people out of the
ordinary popularly called as Great Leaders are very few. The reason for this is
that leaders believe in what they do and also know why they do it.
Scientifically speaking, this golden circle can be correlated with the cross
section of human brain. A cross section of our brain when looked from the top
has two major regions called Neocortex and Limbic region. Ordinary people’s
brain are mostly controlled by Neocortex which is responsible for logical
reasoning, factual thinking et cetera while the brains of great leaders are
predominantly controlled by Limbic region which controls our feelings. It makes
us emotionally attached to a purpose which becomes the driving force for a
leader and makes him attain tangible results. Thus, by doing things with a
purpose; the probability of reaching success is very high.
I’ve explained to you scientifically
about the Golden circle. In the real world, most organizations know what they
do and how they do but not why they do. They think, act and communicate having
the facts in mind but very few organizations know why they do something. These organizations
that follow the Golden Circle inside out; that is from why? to what? are the
ones who become great. The size or the capacity of the organization is
immaterial when they are totally absolutely sure about your purpose. When you
are passionate about something your sustenance in the field is guaranteed
regardless of the competition.
#SUMMARY
“Leaders are not born; they are
made!!” is a popular quote. Every single person on this earth can become a
great leader provided he cultivates certain habits. None can become a leader in
a single day; your attitude, perseverance, resistance will accelerate your
chances of becoming a leader. Hence, try to imbibe these rituals and golden
circle principle in your life and you can see a noticeable change in the way
you approach your life. A President, A CEO of a company or A Captain of a
cricket team are not the only people who can be categorized as leaders. Even a
street sweeper who does his work perfectly and is passionate about what he does
is a great leader. He is an example to others on how a street sweeper should
be. Martin Luther King Jr., once said “A man should do his work so well that
the living, dead and the inborn could do it no better. If it all happens that
he’s a street sweeper then sweep the streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry;
sweep the streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep the streets like
Beethoven composed music.” Thus, whatever you do give you’re best shot at it
which will lead you to the path traced by great leaders.
References: Robin Sharma's Leadership Wisdom and A video from TED Talks
References: Robin Sharma's Leadership Wisdom and A video from TED Talks
In my vision, I think that every company should have a good leader, who to take care of everything related to the business. At a leadership training held at http://www.robinsonleadership.com, I've learned what are the most important skills a leader should have, what's his mission and how to keep a team united for great results.
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