Leader is meant to walk with the people and still be the one leading the team.

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another” .John C. Maxwell

Leadership is a deeply intricate role, one that is sometimes considered holier and sacred than the person itself. While leaders are not the ‘’know-it-alls” of the industry, they are far-sighted and could evaluate what mixed bag to create to get the desired output and succeed. As a result, this would mean bringing in technically and professionally qualified people, who can exceed the leaders’ standards alongside keeping their own ego in check and work towards a desired outcome. On the surface, it may be considered that a leader’s toughest job is creating and effectively guiding a well-balanced and driven team. One needs drive and motivation to stay upbeat; usually there’s one individual who leads a team towards victory. Effective leadership is when usually you are trusted enough to take the right calls and decisions. However, personally, I also believe that it is integral to bring the team together professionally, technically, and emotionally. This forms the bedrock to lead the team towards a common goal. Not only is the leader meant to walk with people, but also be the one leading the team. Success and resilience comes from having right people with right balance at the right time.

?A leader is thought to be averse to making mistakes and, as a result, it is extremely unlikely that their vulnerabilities would be accepted. However, one leads by example and to close that sacred gap between a leader and the team, it would be better to let the guards down occasionally and come across as someone who gets affected by mistakes or failures. Too much focus has been laid on the perfection of a situation as well as the perfection of a person, but what is largely ignored is the fact that any situation will have multiple options in terms of available solutions, but the question remains do we have the horizon or the capacity to view any situation, cover all the dynamics, and then propose a solution.?

?What we largely ignore is the fact that any reaction or response to a situation, is person oriented, irrespective of the fact whether that situation happened due to factors beyond the control of any individual or due to misjudgment of that individual.?That person will have their own structure, cultural background, biases, thoughts and at times restricting beliefs. In addition, there would be some cultural, moral, and ethical barriers too involved. Hence, by and large, a leader must be devoid of all biases, insecurities, restrictive beliefs about self and at people at large. He must have a compelling reason, a dedicated and determined focused approach to make the company, business or an idea excel.?

Great leaders believe they and the entire team is collaborating to attain a common goal and succeed along the way. Average leaders believe they own the team and hence work can be extracted whichever way they deem fit. Collaboration and coercion are two drastically different things. Collaborative efforts lead to better motivation and inspiring people along the way. Respect shown is also respect earned on the other hand when a leader starts disrespecting the power he has, that is when things start to crumble.

?Staying positive in adverse situations is what will lift the morale of the entire team who is looking unto you as a leader for motivation and positive words. Ever changing environment will bring in any kind of situation be it positive or negative or any business will run into these phases but end of the day it’s the leadership which helps things to sail smoothly during negative situations. Every mistake made makes one more human and thus makes us understand that we are all vulnerable and mistakes made, and consequent lessons learnt add much to the character and our own horizon. So far focus has been only on the positives of success. Not many are confident enough to showcase their mistakes because its largely perceived negative. So what got us here actually was a mixed bag of mistakes and successes and largely some huge blunders which paved the path for success. A true leader would not be ashamed of his failures, ultimately it’s the ability of being able to take a chance which is also a defining trait of a leader.

?The entire idea of having a leader is someone who sees the bigger picture and knows for his vision to come into being he needs a well accomplished team. Thus in all likelihood the team would know more than the leader in their own field. It is this humungous task of bringing all these accomplished people together and then moving towards the same goal which will define a true leader.?How well a leader is able to keep his own ego in check for the bigger picture involved is actually what is a greater challenge. How well a leader can groom his team without letting insecurities fall in between is also a challenge that will differentiate a true leader. A leader who is committed to not only making his goals and success look great but also at the same time make his people achieve greatness in some way or the other, knows the true essence of being a leader. His responsibility is also to groom the next rung of leadership while laying down solid base of ethics, values and most importantly long term vision, ?without letting insecurities and personal biases come in between and work cohesively towards the benefit of the company or business.