#LIKEABOSS??

Everybody loves being the boss – especially in the corporate world, where BOSS = ROCKSTAR, but in the long journey from lackey to lord, one little word often gets sidelined – good, ol’ leadership. Leadership, as every great (and not-so-great) management guru will espouse, is not just about another synonym for managing; it’s something much deeper. It’s a lot like that friend we all had back in college, who entered a room and people immediately started looking at her for guidance, who had the whole class eating out of her (his) hand, heads ferociously nodding in agreement, while she casually flitted from topic to topic, graceful as a dove in flight. The unequivocal leader of the pack, titles notwithstanding.

Leaders are like that friend. They command respect; they bring people together; they move mountains.

Have you wondered what sets such leaders (NOT bosses) apart? In my experience, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few such natural leaders – individuals who command respect and fidelity first, are managers later, and bosses never. As we ring in the New Year, it’s perhaps time to mull over what it is that makes great leaders and how we can all learn from the few that we’ve known.

Here are some things you can do to get started. Easier said than done, of course. But thought-provoking nonetheless.

· Empathy – Such a simple word but so difficult to pin down what it exactly means! The first and foremost commandment of being a leader is that you have to like people! And I mean like them so much that you truly, really want to understand them and figure out what makes them tick. The more you like them, the more you will invest in them and hey presto! you will have crossed the first but most difficult aspect of leadership.

· Find a goal and communicate it clearly and repeatedly – A clear vision is a must. We cannot hope to motivate others if we are confused about where we need to reach. What follows, is how we aim to get there. As a leader, we need to get our team to stay on the same page, through consistent and thorough articulation of our goal, while they also focus on their individual pieces of the pie, which ultimately ties in to the whole. The secret here is to understand that Chinese Whispers is not a game but a reality. Communication down the chain gets twisted so much that it rarely resembles what you said. So repeat, repeat and repeat what you want done as often as possible.

· Make friends with the question mark – Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it goes a long way in making a better leader. First – ask questions. And encourage others to do the same. The best ideas come from the craziest questions. And to create an environment where questions are welcomed, you need to lead by an example.  If you develop an assembly line, you will only get copycats. And we all know that copies are dull. Plus they do nothing for your bottom-line.

· You haven’t a choice, but to choose – Difficult choices cause fear and apprehension within the best of us; overcoming this fear is what makes for a great leader. When leaders shy away from making decisions, especially in cases that beg for a Scylla and Charybdis choice, the problems don’t obliterate. But the leaders do. I have seen so many leaders fail to move strategies forward because they don’t take decisions and then organizations and teams start drifting and losing their purpose.

· Be a badass – It is easy to drift with the tide, but it is important to know when you must change course. Perhaps more than anything else, leadership calls for courage.

· I am the master of my fate –When people are made accountable for their own actions, they not only take pride in their work, but also rub it off on others. And when problems arise (which we know will happen), it’s not a blame game, but instead, a conscious, focused effort towards resolution. So teach people to become masters of their fate and captains of their destiny. All of us are accountable for both our successes and our failures! If we lose the ball, we have to find it!

And before I sign off on what will be my last blog for 2017, here’s my final advice to all you 30-somethings, racing up the corporate ladder – remember the E in CEO stands for Executive, which means implementation. Too many of those who reach the corner office sit on the cushy chair and start focusing on strategy and forget about getting it implemented ! Strategy is a two day off -site, the rest of the 363 days in a year should be about ensuring implementation! Happy New Year!