You are "NOT" a "LEADER"

You are not a leader!

Do you “Lead” a team of 10, 20 or 100?

Or do you lead an entire organisation?

Are you a CEO?

Or a king?

You don't lead anyone? ( That's impossible )

Everyone leads, but everyone is not a “leader”

Then what’s the reason few people excel whereas few don’t?

Even if you are not into leadership, you lead yourself right? ( you ought to)

Why am I even talking about leadership?

Before we start, I want you to be very clear with what “Leadership” means and what “Management” is,

Most of us have seen managers doing stuff around the corporate world, The difference lies here: Manager is someone who wants to follow a direction with utmost speed and maximum profitability, a leader is someone who decides this direction,?

Imagine you are a software firm building a social media platform, a manager would be focusing on developing features in a scalable, reliable and efficient way, the leader would determine what feature to work on, leaders have to make decisions which may sometimes affect millions of individuals.

We covered the difference, but why do we even need to discuss leadership?

The simple answer,

It's scarce!!!!!!

Very few know what leadership is, but everyone wants to be a leader, industries need them, people need them, nations need them!

What's the relationship between demand, supply and price?

K being a constant which is dependent on various aspects of industries ( I would leave this to you for research )?

Ok Om, I know leadership is important but why am I reading this? I am a student!!?

If you do not lead someone hierarchically, you ought to learn what leadership is, cause you would first lead yourself and then others would follow, take charge of yourself, master the skill of leading yourself and see world revolving around you, it might not be digestible in the first go, but the moment you give a hard thought around this, you would start connecting doubts, ( I would recommend you to write down your thoughts on a paper, or maybe the comments ?)

Now that I have convinced you ( or at least tried hard ) to learn leadership, what steps to follow?

Leadership can’t be taught. Take any example from history, leaders are never taught to lead but they themselves evolve the habit to do so, how?

I call this the “E” principle, I have researched about a dozen of these top notch individuals from various aspects of the society, be it Alexander the great or someone like Elon musk, all of them had these three “E”s as their major driving force

1. Environment?
2. Experiences
3. Eager

I always push my readers to get their paradigms right on the concepts i introduce, and I want you to do the same with these three words, Environment leading to experiences concluding up to Eager. Think!!

Keep all these things in your mind and be open to learning new stuff, feel free to tweak this definition and use it “YOUR” way.

This reminds me of Stephen covey’s Mission statement principle where the author asks us to build a mission statement for your life and tweak it whenever needed, ( You may skip this part if you already have a mission statement )

Stephen Covey's Mission Statement Principle

Stephen Covey, renowned author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," introduces the concept of a personal mission statement as a fundamental principle for effective living. A personal mission statement is a concise declaration of your purpose, values, and goals. It serves as a guiding light, helping you navigate life's complexities and make decisions that align with your deepest desires.

Key aspects of Covey's mission statement principle:

1. Personal Purpose: A mission statement articulates your unique reason for being. It goes beyond your career or achievements and delves into what truly matters to you and your firm.
2. Values: It reflects the core principles that guide your actions and drives the organisation. These values could be honesty, integrity, compassion, or any other qualities that are essential to you.
3. Goals: A mission statement outlines your long-term aspirations. These goals can be related to your career, relationships, personal growth, revenue, profits etc.
4. Flexibility: Covey emphasizes the importance of revisiting and refining your mission statement as your life circumstances and priorities evolve. It's a living document that should adapt to your changing needs and goals.

Benefits of having a personal mission statement:

• Clarity and Direction: A well-crafted mission statement provides a clear sense of purpose, helping you stay focused on what truly matters.
• Decision-Making: It serves as a compass, guiding your choices and ensuring they align with your values and goals.
• Motivation: A personal mission statement can be a powerful source of motivation, inspiring you to overcome challenges and strive for excellence.
• Alignment: It helps you align your actions with your deepest desires, leading to greater fulfillment and satisfaction.

Example of a personal mission statement for your firm:

“To empower organisations to create a sustainable and equitable future by providing innovative solutions that drive positive change, protect the environment, and enhance the well-being of communities.”

Change this as the market changes, add stakeholders, diversify, evolve and excel!!

You have a mission statement, you know the three main driving forces and you are open to adding more parameters in your equation, what’s next? You know the Dos, what about the counterparts? Even if you do these mentioned things and fail at some others, it would result in your team’s poor performance and subsequent replacement by better competitors, what all should you avoid?

?If you read my blogs regularly you should know Ascend’s primary focus, “Learning from others”

Here we go,

Do not do this if you want to be a “LEADER”:

• ?Mix Strategies with Tactics

??????Strategy, This is the most misunderstood word in today's business scenario. Many managers ( leaders ) cannot differentiate between 'strategy' and 'tactic'. But there are some basic differences — strategy is long-term, while tactics are short term. Strategy is forward looking, tactics are situational. Strategy is vision-based, tactics are need-based. Follow a mission statement and tweak your tactics!!

• Make Enemies

Most of us must make resolutions every new year. But do we contemplate how to better our dealings with others and be a winner in the game of life?

This is an extremely important art in today's corporate world where one should not only win and make friends, but also win over enemies.

And above all, ( don't ) be the reason for the dissatisfaction of subjects,

Subjects? What do you mean by that?

In simple terms, your team members, employes or even house helpers ( Anyone working for you ), cause these are the people who either make or break you, the moment you realise this you would stop doing these mistakes:

A leader is a protector

He can be compared to a shield that saves the subjects from external enemies. But, what would happen if the protector himself became the destroyer?

First and foremost, a leader should not do anything that will harm people or the organisation. Also, beneficial things should not be destroyed. For example, destroying respected religious symbols can lead to problems.

Secondly, a leader should protect the subjects from robbers or any other external factors that can erode the wealth of the people, the state, or the employees of an organisation. Most importantly, he should not rob them himself!

?What to do in times of conflicts?

1. Never hurry decisions ( Especially at times of conflicts ).
2. Listen to both parties, together and Separately
3. Announce the verdict Unemotionally : Be just, But more than anything else, be unemotional and support your decisions with logic, even while punishing wrong, give a scope for improvement.

• Complacency is parasitic, so are your actions, Leader should be very alert and vigilant about his own actions.
• There are leaders who try to suppress the good deeds performed by others. What rightfully belongs to the subjects should be given to them—be it their salaries, incentives, or promotions. Even a pat on the back is a great reward for juniors.
• Finally, the leader should not try to get for himself that which he does not deserve. He should only take his due share.

Misuse fear

?In the movie Troy, an officer tells the general, "Sir, the army is under fear that you may punish them." The General adds something very important, "Fear can be constructive if you can manage it well."

Men are managed by the fear of punishment. It is because of the fear of the police that the crime rate is controlled. It is because of the fear of losing the job that employees become productive. It is only because of the fear of punishment that children are controlled by teachers and parents.

However, managing someone's fear is an art, do noy misuse it!

Do not Instigate, Inspire!

High attrition rates are a major problem in the IT, ITes, BPO, and other sectors. The reasons why people leave a job could be anything :? the lack of incentives, or better offers from rival companies who are luring away the employees to deal with their own shortage of manpower.

But regardless of such external conditions that the current employers can hardly do anything about, the fact remains that employees are motivated or demotivated by the way their employers treat them.

There are three ways of getting work done from your subordinates— instigation, motivation and inspiration. Instigation is the way terrorists are made to work. Motivation involves incentives and promotions, whereas inspiration comes from within the self, which is eternal and everlasting.

The real challenge for an employer is to take his employees from motivation to inspiration.

Easiest way to do this is to have “A HIGHER PURPOSE” for each employ working

After you do all this, you would still feel you are not a leader, if you do so, you are actually on the path of becoming one, and of you feel you are one, then?

“YOU ARE NOT A LEADER”