Leaders are visionaries – What separates a leader from a manager is an audacious vision. Only leaders have vision and vision is something that can get us out of bed and into the market to deliver excellent value. Let’s consider the vision of JFK to land a man on the moon. It was clear and audacious. Clearly set the vision for your life and enterprise.
Leaders are trend spotters – We have been talking about change since time immemorial. Since the brief time I have been on earth every era said that is the most gut-wrenching time. Unemployment has always been an issue. Luddites feared their jobs going but facts say that more jobs were created during the industrial revolution. Now we may see more jobs disappear but let’s not give up hope that great leaders can still find new jobs for humans to bring their imagination and unleash the latent talent in people. So be a trend spotter and align your enterprise to move with the times showing increased agility while inspiring people to bring their best selves to work.
Leaders are people builders – Leaders build people and they never bring people down. The job of a leader is to inspire people to live their best lives providing their best service in the progress of the organizations. Organizations are never going away but hierarchy is. Promotions will never go away but the way performance appraisals are done may go away.
Leaders are decision makers - A strong leader is decisive and takes decisions quickly. I love this quote by Adlai E. Stevenson “On the plains of hesitation lie the blackened bones of countless millions who at the dawn of victory lay down to rest, and in resting died.” So, leaders don’t hesitate to take tough decisions.
Leaders are flexible – In the current business environment all bets are off and what you think worked yesterday is no longer in play. To stick to something just because it worked yesterday is no longer viable. Being flexible and nimble is the name of the game. We should all be ready to change our decisions when we get new and better information. Leaders should keep their ears open to innovative ideas and accept that change is the only constant. I like this quote by General Eric Shinseki “If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more.”
Leaders are talent spotters – You can have the greatest and grandest vision but if you don’t have the right people to execute the vision it is dead in the waters. No one can say it better than Jim Collins when he said, “Get the right people on the bus in the right seats and get the wrong people off the bus.” The time spent in hiring is the most valuable time of a visionary leader.
Leaders are generous with appreciation – Appreciation is oxygen to the soul. Everyone wants to feel important. If you want to keep the best people then it makes sense to keep appreciating people for the excellent work they do. Praise in public and share any criticism in private.
Leaders are brutally honest – This means they are not afraid to be unpopular without being pushy or aggressive. Yes, the leader cannot always be praising if things are going wrong. There are some decisions of a leader that not everyone is going to like but as Jack Welch said in his book Winning someone made you a leader because you know not only the short term but also think long term.
Leaders are quitters– The best example is Jack Welch as he got out of every business where GE could not be Number one or Number two in that specific market. In your personal life, also you can learn to quit things where you cannot be great. If learning the piano is painful please do quit it and apply the same pain to an area of life where you can make a true difference in your life.
Leaders are committed to winning – Every leader wants to win and strong leaders are committed to winning. The team that has an overwhelming desire to win will always outperform the team which does not care about winning. Leaders know exactly what a win looks like and they do everything to ensure the team is equipped with the best resources to enable the winning. Commitment to winning inspires the team to reach greater heights.
Leaders are resilient – The only sure defense is offense. The only the sure thing in a leader’s life is a crisis. A leader needs to have a strong resilient mindset to traverse and navigate the turbulent markets. Resilience can be built by having a strong mission statement, strong core values, clear goals, maintaining good attitude, being physically agile and sleeping well. Resilient organizations are built on the back bone of strong leaders.
Leaders are disruptors – It was the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter who coined the term “creative destruction.” This was when an existing industry or product is disrupted with a superior product. Digital photography replaced film photography. Then there was disruptive innovation where a company comes with an inferior product which is cheaper and it is ignored by market leaders. This is what happened to the disk drive industry. Now in the blue ocean shift the authors talk about something called non-disruptive creation. For example, Tony Robbins created the life coaching industry when it did not exist. The point is leaders need to be disruptors and they can choose either of the methods.
Leaders are relationship managers – Business begins and ends with relationships. Emotional intelligence is more important than IQ. Self-awareness is one the of the keys to be a successful leader. A leader needs to manage both the internal and external stake holders. Give people the respect they deserve and treat everyone equally.
Leaders are continuous learners – As I mentioned earlier all bets are off. Unless leaders keep up to date with their industry and related industries it is next to impossible to lead effectively. Keep reading across all sources. Read books, listen to podcasts, read the blogs, connect with the experts, document what you learn and share what you learn with others.
Leaders are responsible – Leaders take responsibility for results. They never engage in the blame game. They take blame personally but give credit generously. As Harry Truman said, “The buck stops with me.”
Leaders are great at networking – Your success as a leader is directly related to the strong network you have built. So, keep building your network and share great content to your network. Networking is a must for the 21st century leader. You will grow in direct proportion to the strength of your network.
Leaders are legacy builders – Leaders are very aware of the legacy they want to leave. You can only leave a legacy by living it. Constantly think of how you want to be remembered and align all your activities to reflect your deepest convictions. Leaders know that by living their legacy they are building a great platform of excellence and purpose that will hold them in great esteem well into the end of their lives.
Leaders are right brain evangelists – As the need for creativity elevates and with machines also taking over some of our jobs the need for right brain leaders is even more prevalent. Great leaders tap into their intuition and bring their right brain skills to win in a marketplace that is craving for newness and ingenuity. Develop your right brain skills through remarkable story telling and building a team of great designers.
Leaders are high on self-care – Great leaders take care of themselves well. Focus on your mental, physical, social and spiritual self. Exercise regularly, eat well, sleep well and keep recharging your batteries on a regular basis. I just read recently that Jeff Bezos likes to get eight hours sleep as this enables him to make better decisions. Leaders need to be fresh in their thinking and self-care is the name of the game.
Leaders are customer centric – Great leaders know that only by building raving fans can a business survive in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Even in an era of deep commoditization it is only the leaders and organizations who treat customers like royalty that really win in the long run. So, take care of your customers well and the business will automatically flourish.
Leaders are trust builders – Great leaders build trust at every level of the organization. This trust serves them well when there are setbacks. If you want your team to rally behind you then trust is the currency that will help. Maintain an open communication channel with all the key stakeholders and ensure unwelcome news is shared as importantly as the good news.
Leaders are passionate – Finally leaders ooze passion. They are totally sold out to their vision and are committed to winning. The passion rubs off on the team as well. Passion starts with the leader and ends with the team.
As I said these are musings from me on what leaders can do to win in the marketplace. There can always be many things a leader can do but one thing is for sure leaders must embrace the paradox. Sometimes you should be flexible and sometimes you should be stubborn. Sometimes you should think big picture and sometimes you should think of the day to day activities. Only when a leader embraces the different paradigms of action can they truly lead and win in the new ever-changing business landscape. What is needed is a cool head with a calm reassurance that everything will turn out all right. This balancing act is not easy but necessary to overcome the enormous headwinds that face every leader in a turbulent environment.
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