CEO Skill

“No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself” - William Penn

A manager needs to have multiple skills to be an effective leader. We can talk about the communication skills, interpersonal skills, motivational skills and so on. At times the multiplicity of skills are covered within the ambit of managerial skills. There used to be some misconception about leadership due to great influence of the concept “born leaders”. As a matter of fact even if we study a human being from psychological point of view with regard to his personality it will be difficult to say that one is a born leader or communicator. These are all arts which needs training and practice to acquire expertise.

Basically leadership is the managerial ability to accomplish group goals by working with or through people. One thing is important that some kind of inherent authority is necessary to justify the concept of leadership. We need to appreciate that the given authority to a leader is enhanced by the respect and trust bestowed by subordinates.

How the leadership is defined by experts?

If we look the literature on various subjects we can observe that every political orator, business executive, scientist, theorist, social worker, educator even the kinds have defined the concept of leadership as per their own ideas and opinions. Let us try to find out as many definitions of leadership so as to understand the concept.

Katz, Daniel and Kahn, Robert L., in their book The Social Psychology of Organizations have observed “In the descriptions of organizations no word is more often used than leadership, and perhaps no word is used with such varied meanings. The word leadership is sometimes used to indicate that it is an attribute of personality. Sometimes it is used as if it were a characterstic of certain positions and sometimes as an attribute of behavior.”

Stodgill, Ralph M. in his book Handbook of Leadership attempted to give most comprehensive definition by using the terms “Group Processes, or inducing compliance or exercise of influence, or a form of persuation or a power relation or an instrument of goal achievement or an effect of interaction, or a differential role or the initiation structure.”

Harsely, Paul and Blanchard, Kennen H., in their book Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilization of Human behavior have stated “Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group towards the achievement of a goal in a given situation. Leadership process is the function of a leader the follower or other situational variables.

Terry, George R. in their book Principles of Management has defined “The leadership in which one person or leader influences others to work together willingly or related tasks to attain that which the leader desires.”

Glover, John G. in the book Fundamentals of Professional Management stated “Leadership is that outstanding aspect of management which manifests ability, creativeness, initiative and inventiveness and which gains the confidence, cooperation and willingness of the people to work by organizing and building employee morale.”

Haimann in his book Professional Management described leadership “It is the process by which an executive and a manager imaginatively directs, guides the work of others in choosing and attaining specified goals by mediating between the individuals and the organization in such a manner than both will obtain the maximum satisfaction.”

Keith Davis in his book Human Relations at Work defined Leadership by saying “It is the ability of persuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates tit towards its goals.”

Tallenbaum, Robert and Massarik Fred in their book Leadership and Organization a Behavioral Science Approach stated “Leadership is an interpersonal influence exercised in situations and directed through the communication process towards the attainment of a specified goal or goals. The leadership always involves attempts on part of the leader (influencer) to affect the behavior of the follow (the influenced) or followers in a situation.”

Dubin, Robert in the book The World of Work, Industrial Society and Human Relations said “Leadership is the ability to cause others to follow willingly, usually in initiating change. The ability to cause others to follow for a common goal is one sure way of recognizing leadership. Leaders initiate change either by making decisions or by encouraging others to make them.”

Bowers, David G., Stanley. E. Seashare in their book Predicting Organizational Effectiveness with a four factor theory of leadership observed “Leadership is organizationally useful behavior by one member of an organization family towards another member or members of that same organizational family.”

Ordway. Tead in the book Human Nature of Management stated “It is the name for that combination of qualities by the possession of which a person is able to get something done by others chiefly because through influence they become willing to do it.”

Howdge B. J., Johnson H. G. in their book Management and Organizational Behavior stated “Leadership is the quality to shape the attitudes and behaviors of others whether in formal or informal situations.”

Koontz, Harold and O’Donnell, Cyril in their book Principles of Management said “Leadership is influencing people to follow you and to work willingly for the advancement of a common goal.”

Bittel, Lister.R. in their book What every supervisor should know stated “Leadership is the neck of getting other people to follow you and to do willingly the things that you want them to do.”

Barnard, Chester.I. in their book The Nature of Leadership in Organization and Management observed “Leadership is the quality of the behavior of the individuals whereby the guide people or their activities in an organized effort.”

Gouldner.A. in his book Studies in Leadership said, “Leadership is a role which an individual occupies in a given time in a given group.

Young. K. in the Handbook of Social Psychology defined “Leadership is one form of dominance in which the followers more or less willingly accept directions and control by another person.”

Richard. Max. D. and Paul. S. Greenlaw in their book Managerial Decision Making observed “Leadership is an influence process the dynamics of which are a function of personal characterstics of leaders and followers and nature of specific situations.

Bennis, Warren.G in the book Leadership Theory of Administrative Behavior said, “Leadership is the process of inducing a subordinate to behave in a desired manner.

Why we need leaders in Managers ?

However, Peter Delisle was of the view that “leadership is the ability to influence other people with or without authority”.

A person who is leader for a particular group can be a follower also in another group because of his position, what he occupies in relation to others. There is always a triangle of hierarchy with broad base and narrow apex.

The leader’s strength lies in his subordinates. There is a principle of survival of the fittest. Every leader cannot go up. It’s the efficiency, quality of work and managerial skills for achieving the targets which makes him to step up the ladders of hierarchy. He is a leader for the group under his control and on the other hand he is the team member for the leader above him. Its necessary to understand this process because a leader commands leaders. All managers have some leadership abilities, therefore, a person who is supervising can help in achieving the organizational objectives by taping the leadership qualities among the people.

The main question lies as to how to adopt effective leadership styles for organizational development, therefore, it is necessary to define effectiveness in terms of doing the right job, knowing what to do and when to do and investing the time for greatest return. Over a period of time, the concept of leadership styles have changed. We used to talk about autocratic, democratic and leisez faire ledders and they appeared to be quite separate and distinct to each other. Though in practice it was not the case because a leader may adopt a particular style depending upon the instances or he may use the combination of all the three, that is why we used to advocate the concept of situational manager. There were days when leaders used to be considered as powerful persons with great amount of autonomy and authority with them and the leadership was defined as “the ability of one person to tell another what to do”. Later on, the concept of recognized unions came into existence and collective bargaining generated lot of importance when trade union leaders sit across the table with the management.

The managers as leaders are no longer in a position to tell the subordinates what to do in the same manner as before. Accordingly, the leadership styles have also undergone a sea change and the priority of the managers was directed for improvement in the methods of operation for overcoming deficient skills in the employees by imparting training and developing technical and supervisory skills.

The human relations approach also gained considerable importance because the leaders realized the need to motivate the employees for utilizing their full potential. The theories of motivating people by increasing pay and fringe benefits no longer worked since the changing needs demanded motivation by way of group participation , sense of belongingness and other kind of job enrichments. The managers started speaking in terms of group goals and participating management.

Leaders are identified with styles

Before coming to the modern concepts of leadership we need to understand the concept of leadership styles which were in practice for ages.
William Penn said “ No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself”.

The autocratic style of leadership really worked with the title of “Boss” because the leader takes decision alone, the power of decision making is centralized with him and the subordinates do what they are told to do. One good thing is there with autocratic leader that he assumes full authority with a responsibility also. May be the subordinates become insecure and afraid of him. In some cases the autocratic leader can become a benevolent autocrat also to deal with his subordinates in effective manner. The benevolent character in a leader give rise to sense of security and satisfaction amongst the subordinates and strong motivation with psychological rewards. The benevolent autocrat leader normally adopts the styles by simply giving orders, expecting praise and demand loyalty and in some cases making his subordinates feel that they are actually participating in decision making although they do what he wants. Whatever positives a autocratic leader may have in terms of getting things done but we can’t ignore the fact that this style always risk building resentment among the employees.

The second traditional style is democratic leadership which is also termed as participative. As the term signifies the leader shares some of the decision making responsibilities with the group. He consults the group on questions that interest them and to which they can make contribution except some decisions which are to be taken by him only. The leader attempts to develop the sense of responsibility of the subordinates for their accomplishments. He may adopt the theory of punishment and reward. One thing is quite significant here that inspite of sharing the decision making with the subordinates the ultimate responsibility still rests with the leader.

We must appreciate some good points of this democratic style of leadership because it helps in achieving higher rate of productivity in the organization.

The participation of subordinates in problem solving and goal setting contributes a lot in enhancing the image of participative leader. The leader always creates a situation in which the subordinates can learn in natural manner by enabling them to check their own performance. The subordinates are also given the opportunity to set challenging goals for them. The opportunities are also extended to improve working methods. The most important aspect of this leadership style had been the recognition of achievements of the subordinates which in the longer run help them to learn from their own errors.

The laissez fair style of leadership can be termed as free rein as the name suggest the leader adopting this style avoids power by delegating the same to his subordinates. He depends on the group to establish its own goals and solve their problems.

As a matter of fact the entire group feels as if they have no leader except when the leader deals with outside persons to bring necessary information, materials and resources.

The Leissez faire leader gives very little or no direction and allows his subordinates a great deal of freedom. We can well imagine that this style cannot be useful in most of the cases but with whatever deficiencies of effectiveness this style is effective when the subordinates are highly motivated and professional. There are some places like scientific laboratories, research organizations where independent thinking of subordinates is required and the group do not need direction and control but they do have leader as their head so the best style of leadership to be adopted by him can only be the Leissez Faire.

Autocratic, participative and free rain leadership styles are important to be discussed and every leader should have proper understanding of these concepts. It will be quite useful to understand these styles from the flow of influence with these three leadership styles.

Auticratic Leaders followed by different Follower

Democrative or Participative Leaders followed by different followers

Free Rein Leaders followed by followers

Charismatic Style of Leadership

The concept of charismatic leadership assumes that charisma is an individual characteristic. Charisma is a form of interpersonal attraction that inspires support and acceptance and is likely to make a highly charismatic manager more successful in influencing subordinate behavior than a manager who lakes Charisma.

Robert J. House in his book Theory of Charismatic Leadership gave the following characteristic based on his research findings from a variety of Social Science disciplines.

• The followers trust the correctnesses of the leader’s beliefs.
• The followers’ beliefs are similar to the leader’s beliefs.
• The followers accept the leader unquestioningly.
• The followers feel affection for the leader.
• The followers obey the leader willingly.
• The followers have an emotional involvement in the organization’s mission.
• The followers have heightened performance goals.
• The followers believe they can contribute to the success of the group’s mission.

Stanford P. Sherman in his article Donald Trump just won’t die suggested emphasized the behavior and traits of charismatic leaders. According to him these leaders have lot of self confidence firm conviction in their beliefs and ideals and they have strong need to influence people. Donald Trump was given as an excellent example of Charismatic leader he has been viewed as Larger Than Life. He tend to communicate high expectations about follower performance and express confidence in followers.

Every style has got its own importance

If we analyse the above three most talked about styles the autocratic gives dominance to the boss and the democratic somehow gives equal weightage to the leader in the group and Leissez Faire as we know now is free rein where there is total freedom to the subordinates. One way or the other these three styles have got their own importance depending upon the situation. As a situational manager these styles are important to be adopted by the leader as the situation demands. Let us see how it comes in practice.

A General Manager in a manufacturing unit may give orders for getting certain information from all the units of the plant and in order to plan the future strategies he may call a meeting of concerned unit heads to discuss relevant details and also to seek their suggestions. Finally, after planning a new line of action he may leave it to the unit heads as to how they implement the policy with no control from his side. Now in this case we can observe that all the three styles are there. We can say that the skills of leadership lies largely in knowing when to use a particular style. The basic issue before a leader is how to vary styles to fit in the changing conditions under which the subordinates are working.

Its no denying that a leader can affect the performance, satisfaction and motivation of the group by offering rewards for achieving the goals, clarifying the ways and means for achieving those goals and removing the obstacles in performing the tasks. We have learned about directive, supportive and participative leadership styles. However, there is another concept which speaks about achievement oriented leadership where the leader sets very high goals and expects from subordinates to have high level of performance. When we are talking about the choice of leadership style we must understand that a lot depends on the personality of subordinates and also the leader because a participative leader is suitable for subordinates with internal locus of control whereas a directive leader is suitable for the subordinates with external locus of control. When the subordinates feel self perceived ability they may not like these styles of leadership and may go for Leissez Faire management.

Seven Habits Model teaches a lot

The seven habits model of management and leadership guru Stephen Covey is a theory that is applicable to our personal, social as well as in our working life. The seven habits framework is highly applicable for leaders and managers. A good leader must examine his own character first. The seven habits are ;

I. Be proactive : This is the ability to control one’s environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. Managers need to control their own environment, using self – determination and the power to respond to various circumstances.
II. Begin with end in mind :. This means that the managers needs to be able to see the desired outcome and concentrate on activities which help in achieving the end.
III. Put first thing first. : Managers need to be personally manage themselves and implement activities which aim to achieve the second habit.
IV. Think win win. : This is the most important aspect of interpersonal leadership because most of the achievements are based on co-operative efforts, therefore aim needs to be win-win solutions for all.
V. Seek first to understand and then understand. : By developing and maintaining positive relationship through good communication. The managers can be understood and can understand the subordinates.
VI. Synergies. : This is the habit of creating cooperation – the principle that collaboration often achieves more than could achieve by individual working independently towards attaining the purpose.
VII. Sharpen the saw : Learning from previous experience and encouraging others to do the same

The above seven habits advocated by Stephen Covey are most talked about because of their universal character in all spheres of life. The leadership enhances motivational performance of the team which finally leads to greater satisfaction.

Let us talk about attributes attracting leadership. Basically, we think about the following words which come to our mind

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Curiosity
• Risk
• Listening
• Dedication
• Passion
• Charisma

Attributes attracting leadership styles from A to Z

Sometimes we play with alphabets to find number of words. It was interesting to make effort for having different attributes of leadership style coming from each alphabet which makes useful vocabulary too for leaders.

A - Accelerator, achiever, ambitious, appeaser, autocratic,
aristocratic.
B - Benevolent, bureaucratic, boastful, boring, bookworm, bully.
C - Calm, clear thinker, capable, compassionate, compromiser,
considerate, consultative, converger, creative thinker, crisp,
catalyst, charitable.
D - Decentralizer, decision maker, delegator, demanding,
developer, diverger, disciplined, docile.
E - Encouraging subordinates, enhancing potential, enlarging
scope, ensuring results, enthusing people, example setter,
exploiter, egoist.
F - Fabricator, facilitator, formulator, free thinker
G - Germinator, goal-seeker, go-getter, gracious
H - Habitual, hobnobber, honest, hostile, humble, humane,
hypocrite, holistic.
I - Inaccessible, independent, indifferent, indiscriminate, integrator,
involved, indecent.
J - Jack of all trades, jolly influencer, jovial, jubilant, judicious, joker,
jester.
K - Keen, kind, kinetic, kleptomaniac
L - Law maker, learned, lovable, lukewarm, loathsome, lethargic
M - Magnifier, manipulator, manoeuvrer, mediator, mixer, modest
N - Naïve, noble, nymphomaniac
O - Obedient, obsolete, omnipotent, omnipresent, optimizer,
optimist.
P - Performer, pessimist, potent, progressive, promoter, propagator,
pace-setter.
Q - Quest for performance, questioner, quick decision maker, quiet
achiever.

R - Realist, reformer, regulator, remedier, replenisher, retarder, risk
averter.
S - Sagacious, saver, selfless, simplifier, starter, summarizer,
sustainer, sycophantic
T - Talented, tenacious, trouble shooter, tiresome
U - Unifier, upgrader, utilizer, usurper
W - Whimsical, whisperer, workhorse, workaholic
X - Xenophobic
Y - Yes man, yardie, yeoman, yogi, yuppie, yankee
Z - Zeal, zealot, zealous, zest, zingy.

Proverbs From A King Gives Food For Thought

King Solomon son of King David of Israel had the reputation of being a wise man. It is said that he spoke 3000 proverbs and men of all nations came to hear Solomon’s wisdom. He was wise about almost everything. As a ruler also he proved his excellence since there was no war during his 40 years rule. The concept of leadership was described as Solomon in the following words

“ If you want to become a leader, you must work hard. Lazy men never succeed. If you become a leader before you are ready, your short term of leadership will end in disaster. Trust God and he will prepare you for the job. First of all, you must be wise. And your right to lead will depend on your fairness. In order to bring stability to what you are leading you must be kind, honest and sensible. But most importantly, you must learn to use God’s help to lead. Use his strength and trust him to direct your thoughts and guide your decisions. If you do this, there will be no reasons for mistakes. And the people you lead will rejoice in your leadership”

Normally, the proverbs are not followed strictly but in the context of leadership styles. It is relevant to mention about various profiles relating to personality of a leader as created by King Solomon in his proverbs. Let us study them one by one. He has described various leadership traits in unique manner.

What makes a good leader

• He hates dishonest and bribes
• He leads with the help of wisdom
• He leads with fairness
• He rejoices in having faithful servants
• He has God’s help so he can judge fairly
• He rejoices when people are truthful and fair

A wise man is someone who …

Listens to others
Is always thinking ahead
Knows how to hold his tongue
Is glad to be taught
Loves someone who gives constructive criticism
Saves for the future
Stays cool when he is insulted
Is eager to make hay while the sun shines
Learns lessons from nature
Accepts the advice of older people
Has other wise people as friends
Is cautious and avoids danger
Is praised for his wisdom
Knows how to control his temper
Is hungry for the truth
Speaks carefully and persuasively
Speaks few words
Overlooks insults
Obeys the law
Makes his parents happy.

A foolish man is someone who ……

Idles away his time
Tries to live without God’s help and falls flat on his face
Blurts out everything he knows
Says bad things about other people
Provokes his family to anger and resentment
Thinks he needs no advice
Is quick- tempered
Puts his foolishness on display
Doesn’t think ahead
Won’t face facts
Won’t listen to his father’s advice
Lets his mouth get him into many fights
Repeats his mistakes over and over
Trusts himself instead of God
Quarrels with his neighbours
Spends whatever he gets and doesn’t save anything

A man is successful when he …….

Obeys God’s Word
Works hard
Commits his work to the Lord
Puts God first in everything
Consults others when making plans
Loves wisdom
Can admit he makes mistakes and doesn’t repeat them
Works steadily
Trusts God
Seeks something in life besides pleasure
Is humble
Accepts criticism
Speaks gentle words and doesn’t gripe

A hard worker………

Doesn’t need someone to make him work
Doesn’t oversleep
Gets rich
Is not too proud to get his hands dirty
Brings many blessings
Becomes a leader
Prospers
Makes a profit
Doesn’t go hungry
Works even when conditions are bad
Works steadily
Is energetic
Carefully watches over everything he is in charge of

An angry man ……..

Is quick-tempered
Can’t control his tongue
Doesn’t keep his cool when insulted
Is a fool
Has no self-control
Hates a man who has patience
Doesn’t know that anger causes mistakes
Causes quarrels
Bears his own penalties
Endangers others
Is as defenseless as a city with broken walls
Gets into all kinds of trouble

A man with self-control ……

Does not act in anger
Can control his tongue
Is better off then someone who controls an army
Is not defenseless
Puts an end to fights
Holds his temper in
Keeps his head when he is insulted

What happens to a proud man……..

He ends in shame
He may end up starving
He has his possessions destroyed
He ends up punished for his pride
He is worse off than a poor person
He brings financial trouble on himself
He finds himself in many arguments
He suffers a great fall
He ends up worse off than a fool

We get into trouble when we …….

• Can’t keep our mouths shut
• Are suspicious of everyone else
• Don’t listen to wisdom
• Get involved in the finances of strangers
• Blurt out whatever is on our minds
• Don’t have wise leaders
• Tell lies
• Behave wickedly
• Pay no heed to God’s word
• Communicate badly
• Are lazy
• Boast and argue
• Lose our tempers

What happens to liars……

They will be suddenly destroyed
They will be caught
They have other liars as companions
They come to shame
They are exposed in time

What a good friend is like …….

He is always loyal
He sticks closer than a brother
He does not abandon you in time of need
He criticizes for your own good (but in a loving way, Not to be mean)
He never gives up on you
He gives good advice
He overlooks mistakes
He is honest about his true feelings

A lazy man ……….

Sleeps his life away
Always has an excuse for himself
Is destroyed by poverty
Is a pain to the people he works for
Never succeeds
Wants a lot but gets little
Has trouble all through life
Is more eager to get than to give
Thinks he is smarter than anyone else

What a generous man is like ………

He honors the lord by giving him the first part of his income
He uses his earnings to advance the cause of righteousness
He gives to others, but still gets richer
He doesn’t hold too tightly to what he possesses
He doesn’t hoard what he has
He is not jealous of what others have
He does favors for others
He has many friends
He pleases the Lord by helping the poor
He is just and fair
He feeds the hungry
He has his own needs taken care of

What wisdom is like ………..

It is available to everyone
It is a gift from God
It saves aman from evil woman
It is more valuable than jewels
It gives peace and a long life
It brings honor and riches
It walks hand in hand with good judgment
It hates pride and arrogance
It is rooted in the fear of god
It makes the hours of the day profitable
It comes easily to anyone with good sense
It is mightier than strength

OPINION LEADERS AS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

In every organization there are managers who served for decades but could not rise in the ladder of hierarchy. Most of these managers are discarded as disgruntled lot. Because of their frustration they develop negative feeling towards organization.

However, among these managers we find some dedicated persons with a unique knowledge bank with them. They master in acquiring knowledge relating to all spheres of the organization. They may belong to a particular technical or non-technical area but if you talk to them you will find that their awareness level is too high from all angles. The information with them is not only relevant but authentic too.

Sometimes they are gossip mongers also. They love talking and interacting with the people and are in the habit of involving themselves in participative manner for any problem whether it concerns to them or not. These managers prefer to come in limelight in all matters of punishment and reward. Their indepth knowledge matured thinking and grasp towards organizational rules and regulations added with sharp memory makes them real advisors to the subordinates as well as peers and superiors too.

The managers possessing the qualities as envisaged above cannot be categorized by giving the name of any leadership style to them for their actions specially when they advise people but their importance and necessity cannot be overruled. They are in fact opinion leaders helping the organization and the employees in decision making. How do we identify these leaders well it is their caliber, knowledge level and maturity which makes them as distinct group. They are few in numbers and mostly in their late 40s. We are not covering the union leaders under this category intentionally because their role is different. We are only talking about opinion managers who form the intellectual property of the company. They are the knowledge bank.

Let us see how the existence of opinion managers becomes relevant and how they are recognised and approached. We may also see their usefulness. When a major decision is to be taken with regard to the change in the strategic policies or line of action, the top management conducts meetings to analyse pros and cons. A great amount of study is done to understand the pitfalls encountered during the past. Now, at this stage the views and suggestions of these opinion managers come quite handy and useful. They are given the opportunity to digest the proposed changes with complete information so that they may give their opinion with regard to feasibility and future prospects of the proposed change. On the other hand, when an employee is in problem because of some disciplinary action or otherwise he looks for union leaders first and if it is not suiting him he looks for these opinion managers seeking their advice as to how to proceed in the matter to safeguard his interest.

The opinion managers are named and become famous by word of mouth publicity. You may see that at times these people are called by name when the majority view says let us call him to have his opinion. Their rank and position and the position in the ladder of hierarchy does not matter for these opinion leaders. Sometime we find that an Asstt. Manager is being called by General Manager seeking his opinion over an important issue bypassing hierarchial barriers or ego levels. These opinion leaders are considered as experts as far as their matured opinion over a particular issue is concerned. We can find them in every organization. They are named when the necessity arises.

It is their sharp memory, knowledge level, analytical ability, recollection of past incidents, grasping power and indepth study of organizational policies which makes them as knowledge bank making them important for the management as well as employees.

A question comes that if they are so intelligent and knowledgeable why they do not rise up in the ladder of hierarchy. The answer is quite understandable because they suffer with the problem of stubborn attitude, straightforwardness and attitude of calling a spade a spade which generally invite anger of superiors and result into spoiling their performance rating. The result comes in the form of not getting promotions for want of required performance ratings. But these opinion leaders are not bothered and continue to survive because of their knowledge.

Its really a dilemma as to whether we may call this opinion leadership as a style though we cannot ignore the existence of these managers in almost all organizations.

EVERY LEADER NEEDS MULTI SKILLS

We have already talked about the definition of leadership and styles but the question remains how to become an effective leader for the team and what skills make a leader effective. Basically, the job of a leader is to enhance motivational performance of his team leading to greater satisfaction. A leader understands that success does not mean the absence of failure. As a leader the following questions quite often come to our mind.

• What he wants to achieve ?
• How he expects to achieve it ?
• When he plans to achieve it ?

Every leader wants to achieve success by way of achieving his goals leading towards organizational objectives. The most important factor in this direction is the attitude of leader because positive attitude contributes to success. The positive attitude is dependent on factors such as environment, experience and passion. Now, again the education part of a leader is a matter of great debate. In the Indian scenario the history says that there are large number of business houses which were run by leaders who had no formal education.

It happened because they were having the following five C’s.

• Commitment
• Conviction
• Character
• Courage
• Courtesy

In today’s competitive age the things have changed and we need to discuss about the skills needed to be a effective leader because we all know that due to globalization, new technology, culture diversity and growing human capital an effective leader has a biggest challenge before him to maintain a balance between knowledge, competence, perception and authority. The nature of leadership has also changed dramatically. Earlier days it was synonymous with authority. A leader had the power, title and a corner office with perks but know its no more a title but a set of behaviours.

Today the leaders cannot automatically apply what worked for them previously. Today’s leader is dependent on the team work and his basic task remains to stimulate team work so that it stimulate creativity and finally give rise to greater capacity and innovation.

Some of the skills needed for effective leader are summarized.

• Management of diversity
• Change in attitude
• Executive education
• Conflict management skills
• Stress management
• Professional operative skills
• Innovative recognizing skills
• Modesty
• Supporting skills
• Recognising skills
• Social skills
• Team work spirit
• Security of tenure
• Performance management

The above skills need no explanation since these concepts are self explanatory and well known to every manager.

LISTENING IS AN ART

Listening is an art and every manager knows about its importance. A lot of description is given about listening while studying the process of communication. However, in the context of leadership style we need to understand about listening with a little difference. Today, when expectations from a leader in the organization have increased manifold. Therefore, it is imperative for leaders to listen very carefully to what their people want. The listening is to be understood in two ways – “listening to respond and listening to understand”. An effective leader needs to imbibe listening to understand for having a sense as to what his people need because “people don’t leave companies they leave bosses”.

A good leader needs to understand the meaning of good listening for which the following explanation comes quite handy

• Nature gave people two ears but only one tongue which is gentle hint that they should listen more than they talk.

• Listening requires two ears – one for meaning and one for feeling.

• Be sure brain is engaged before putting mouth in gear.

• Hearing is by ears when listening is by mind.

An effective leader needs to change the attitude according to circumstances, he cannot afford to have the attitude of school master.

Today organizations are buying creative brain power. The human capital is more important for corporate success, therefore, people oriented and knowledge based organizations are to be led from the centre rather than from the front. It is run by consent through respect rather than by command.

NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS

If you really wants to succeed, form the habit of doing things that failures do not like to do. A lot research has been done on the subject of success & failure. The secret of success can be learnt from the life of successful people. Successful people have certain common qualities no matter which period of history they lived, and no matter what was their field of operation.

Success leaves clues, and if we identify and adopt the quality of successful people, we too shall be successful. Similarly there are characteristics common to people who are not successful, and if we avoid those characteristics, than we shall not encounter failures.

Let us ask the following questions to ourself :-

• How do we define success ?
• What makes a person successful ?
• How do we recognize success ?

Success might mean wealth to some people, to others it is recognition of their deeds, for many it may be good health, good family, happiness, satisfaction and to many it could be peace of mind. What does this really conveys to us. The message is that success is subjective.

Success means different to different people. In fact, success is “progressive realization of worthy goal”

After we reach one goal journey begins for the next goal and the next and so on. Out side forces cannot make us to feel the taste of success. You have to feel it within yourself. It is internal and not the external. In fact, “Success is journey and not the destination” where we never arrive.

Worthiness determines the quality of the journey, which way we are heading – Is it towards the negative goal or positive goal? Worthiness refers to our value system without which goals can be unworthy. Goals are important because they give us direction. Success without fulfillment is empty. Let me share and repeat a important saying “i do not know the key to the success, but the key to failure is trying to please every body”.

Success does not mean being liked and accepted by every one; We should prefer to be criticized by fools than appreciated by unsavory who are Morally offensive and distasteful in character. One should never desire to be accepted by such character.

We must see success as a manifestation of good luck that results from the following in sequence ;

• INSPIRATION
• ASPIRATION
• DESPERATION
• PERSPIRATION

Success and happiness go hand in hand. Success is getting what you want and happiness is wanting what you get. Existence alone is not success. It is lot more ;
• Do more than exist ——————- Live
• Do more than touch —————– Feel
• Do more than look —————— Observe
• Do more than read —————— Absorb
• Do more than hear —————— Listen
• Do more than listen ——————Understand

There are some obstacles to success. They are either imaginary or sometimes real. Let us remember them one by one :

• EGO
• FEAR OF FAILURE
• LACK OF SELF ESTEEM
• NO PLAN
• LACK OF FORMALIZED GOALS
• PROCRASTINATION (Habitual carelessness, laziness, delaying)
• FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY
• LACK OF PRIORITIES
• FINANCIAL SECURITIES
• LACK OF FOCUS
• DOING TO MUCH ALON
• OVER COMMITMENT
• LACK OF COMMITMENT
• LACK OF PERSISTENCE

LEADER NEEDS CHARACTER AND POSITIVE ATTITUDE

While discussing various leadership skills we have mentioned about the character and positive attitude as required attribute for a effective leader. As a matter of fact character is some total of a person’s belief, values and personality. It is a combination of integrity, unselfishness understanding, conviction, courage, loyalty and respect. The character brings positive attitude also. To understand this aspect of leaders personality we need to recognize that “the absence of ill-health does not equal to good health”. In the same manner “the absence of negativity does not make a person with positive attitude”.

A leader with positive attitude will have certain personality traits to be recognized easily such as caring, confident, humble and patient. These leaders have high expectations of themselves and also from others. They always anticipate positive outcome.

There is a saying “ A person with positive attitude is a fruit of all seasons and is always welcome.” Positive attitude makes a leader to think positive and his focus is on the following :

• Always have positive mental outlook
• Forget dejection, despair, failure and powerlessness.
• Avoid negative suggestions
• Focus on strengths
• Look for opportunities
• Beware of weaknesses
• Make a change by seeking positives
• Make stress a learning experience

A manager adopting effective leadership style always have firm belief that analyzing a situation before taking decision is essential.

He follows certain value system which makes him to believe in the sayings :

• We can only Control our Efforts but cannot control the Results.
• We only Give Power To our Fears.
• We all have the ability to change but not to the same degree.
• Sometimes the questions are more important than the answers.
• There is a difference as to where we are and where we want to be?
• We must consciously change thoughts, words, and actions to match our vision.”

A GOOD LEADER IS AN EFFECTIVE APPRAISER

Leadership styles can’t be isolated with performance management. As a matter of fact effective leadership is the key for appraising performance in the most objective manner. It will not be out of place to emphasise that like motivational skills, communication skills, leadership skills also plays vital role in managing the performance.

Let us debate as to what do organizations work for. The answer will be profitability and if we take it in question answer form one thing will lead to another. See how it goes. Profitability makes us think what brings profitability. Then it goes to process and product then we need to think as to what is needed to run the process effectively. The answer is very clear and sound “people” or we may call as “Human Resource”.

Now, a leader in you can pose a question. Can every employee in the organization has got impact on product sale and the process in positive manner. Naturally, the answer will be ‘no’. But the matter is not ending here. We are bound to think as to what kind of employees make the difference.

An effective manager will visualize for committed and engaged employees but the task before an effective leader is to find out ways and means as to how can he ensure that his subordinates are committed and engaged. Linking the leadership style with performance management the answer will be fair rewards and recognition for the purpose of measuring results, carrier development and acknowledgment.

Let us discuss a case study of a leader adopting particular style. This case study will give enough food for thought to analyse the situation from different angles giving relevance to various styles of leadership we have just discussed.

Richard Lobo is Vice President of a medium-size manufacturing and service organization. He is 40 years old and labeled early in his career as “a bright young executive on the move”.

A go-getter, Lobo is usually the first to come for work each morning, generally arriving by 8 am. His employees, whom he always refers to as “my team” don’t arrive until 9 O’clock, by that time, Lobo used to accomplish a great deal, and he often made this point clear to his people. Not only does he arrive early, but he always stayed late, so he never thought of calling a management meeting at 4.30 or 5 pm. He also worked every Saturday and measured the dedication of his secretary and managers for their willingness to do likewise.

Most of the managers, aware of the need to demonstrate enthusiasm and commitment, comply by coming in one or two Saturdays a month. Aware of resentment, Lobo said from time to time that no one is forced, or even pressurized to work on Saturdays. Yet those who came in every Saturday received considerable praise and reinforcement from him. The others felt that his recognition is unfair, especially since many of them were convinced that they owe their families at least part of their time. But their real complaint centered on their lack of accomplishment and their need to cater to Mr. Lobo’s ego.

Let us find the solution in terms of the fault where it lies. Like any other case study there cannot be a perfect answer to be acceptable to all it all depends from person to person for analysing the situation to find the best solution. However, the key lies in self realization. It will be relevant to have some food for thought in the form of guidance and direction not only for the manager but the subordinates too.

ONE KNOWS NOT AND KNOWS THAT
HE KNOWS NOT IS A FOOL – SHOW HIM.

ONE WHO KNOWS AND KNOWS NOT THAT
HE KNOWS IS HUMBLE – TEACH HIM.

ONE WHO KNOWS AND KNOWS NOT THAT
HE IS KNOWN IS ASLEEP – WAKE HIM.

ONE WHO KNOWS AND KNOWS THAT
HE KNOWS IS A WISE MAN – LEARN FROM HIM.

PERFORMANCE DEPENDS ON RIGHT KIND OF LEADERSHIP STYLE

As an effective leader the focus should be on getting top performance from employees. The employees need to realize that their performance not only counts but it is important for making the difference. There are ways and means which can help a leader to get top performance. Some of them are summarized in brief to be taken as guidelines.

• Performance need not be dependent on efforts if it is procedure oriented
• Performance needs to be measured in terms of results
• All performances needs reward
• Performance relates with objectives
• Performance need not have the quantum of pain for negative outcome
• Counselling is the best tool for improvement
• Mistakes and non-performance needs proper monitoring
• Delegation is necessary for generating self confidence
• Suggestions leading to improved performance to be rewarded
• All rewards should be related to performance measures
• The performance should be made as satisfying experience
• Performance should not be judged by comparing behaviours.
• Team work needs to be recognized for group performance
• The individual contribution needs to be monitored in the group

BOSS MANAGEMENT IS NECESSARY

We have already discussed that a leader also acts as a member of the group when he is accountable to his boss as leader. In the triangle of hierarchy the managers pay different roles. They act as subordinates and leaders too depending upon their place in the hierarchy. One thing is common for all leaders i.e. their right of assertiveness. Assertiveness is a great quality which should be possessed by every leader. In order to practice this important attribute a leader needs to assert by speaking himself in the following manner :- “I have the right”

• To ask for what I want
• To believe that other people have the right to say no
• To express my own opinions and values
• To change my mind.
• To make my own decisions to face consequences.
• To decline responsibility for problems of others.
• To be successful in life.
• To privacy, to be alone and to be independent.
• To say “I don’t know” and “I don’t understand”.
• To change myself and to be an assertive person.
• To say “No” and to “Yes” without feeling guilty.
• To relate to others without being dependent.

Its not necessary that every leader should get convinced for adopting the above rights because the idea is not only to give emphasis on assertiveness but it is for self control also so as to ensure that practicing these rights in day to day work life are not offending others.

Coming back to the boss management a leader must understand that if he is boss for his team there is another leader who is boss to him. Behind every successful career there is good boss management. The key lies in pro-activeness by taking initiatives. There are certain important issues which need great importance for having effective boss management. Let us take them as guiding principles for having good Boss Management. Every manager should follow these guidelines while dealing with the boss.
• Match your goals with his goals
• Give positive strokes
• Help him coverup his mistakes
• Give support when he needs it
• Don’t bitch behind his back
• Decrease his level of anxiety
• Keep him informed about happenings
• Confront issues without affront
• Clear misunderstandings promptly
• Know what he expects from you
• Ensure absolute privacy
• Soften the blow with a kind word
• Know your own shortcomings
• Criticise the act not the person
• Provide the answer to his questions
• Make successful criticism
• Look at him while listening
• Stick to his subject and don’t interrupt
• Node your head and make sounds like “hmm”.
• Give advise sparingly
• Do not criticize unnecessarily or pass judgement

A leader needs to understand that one needs the help of others to reach his goal. None can achieve the objectives without the support of others. The golden rule says “Treat others first the way you want them to treat you” It is needless to emphasis that a leader has to realize that others have the same needs, doubts, fears and uncertainties as he has, therefore, while handling the people one should have self control. No useful purpose can be solved by raising the voice or showing temper.

The self analysis is necessary by way of knowing your rough spots, weaknesses, shortcomings since it will make you more tolerant of others. Always treat others in a manner that they will want to be with you.

LEADERSHIP NEEDS PASSION

Every leader needs to ask question as to whether he is living with passion because if he is not living with passion he is not living but he is merely existing, therefore a leader has to chose to live with passion.

There are ten simple secrets that guarantee the success as advocated by Peter L Hirsch.

• Challenge : Life can be a rocky road.
The challenge is not to let it grind you into dust, but to polish you into a brilliant gem. J.M. Fogg
A routine of constant challenge builds strong beings,
Much as a good gym workout builds strong bodies

• Belief : What you believe
Yourself to be, you are ……….C.M. Bristol
Your beliefs shape your actions
Your actions create your results
And those results, when stretched out over a lifetime
Are what’s called your destiny

• Purpose: Everybody acts not only under external compulsion
& Values but in accordance with inner necessity …Albert Einstein
Every person, all the events of your life ar there
because you have drawn them there. What you choose
to do with them is upto you. ………….Richard Bach

One must have the reason to do something with strong determination. It must have a standard of behaviour

• Conquering : The key to conquering fear lies in mastering belief.
fear Failure and success are just one of those things
we make up. All fears, including those most
destructive such as fear or failure, are nothing
more than a state of mind.
And if you want to walk around in a powerful state of mind that will have you on top of the world, bringing you great results you never dreamed were possible - Fear kills creativity and imagination
The true warrior is one who has the courage to do battle with the enemies within.

• Attitude: Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude
toward it, for that determines our success or failure.
N.V. Peale
Positive attitudes create positive results
Remember, before people buy anything you’re offering
They buy your attitude – no matter what you’re selling.

• Focus : Focus point at which an object must be situated so that a
well defined image of it may be produced.
When you master the ability to focus on anything, you will
master that thing itself.
Focus your thoughts – you master your mind.
Focus your emotions - you master your heart
Focus your attention – you master your imagination
Focus is simply a matter of practice

• Commitment : A chicken and a pig were having a discussion. The
chicken said
“I am committed to giving one egg every day.” “That’s not commitment,” the pig said. “That’s just participation. Giving bacon, now, That’s commitment!” Nothing happens without commitment. Commitment is as simple as giving and keeping your word. Doing your best. Commitment is doing what you said you would do – whether or not you feel like it today. If you fail in a commitment, take another look at it and ask yourself, “Did I quit too soon?”

• Desire : Ignore what a man desires and you ignore the very source of his power. …………W. Lippmann

If you’re going to succeed, you’ve really got to WANT TO, not just wanting to want to.

• Goals : The purpose of goals is to focus our attention. The mind
will not reach toward achievement until it has clear
objectives. ……………………..Compiled by W.Davis

You will encounter people who react negatively to your goals. The truth is, your goals scare the heck out of them. If your goal makes you sweat a bit, then chances are it’s really good goal – one that will stretch you.
“People don’t plan to fail – people fail to plan.”

• Choice : The greatest power a person possesses is the power
to choose. ……………..J.M. Kohe

We are all in possession of the power to shape our destinies moment by moment, with choice. The choice to live with passion is a moment by moment opportunity. You will be presented with the choice again and again and again, throughout your entire life

APPRAISAL LEADS TO DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE

We have discussed almost all the dimensions of leadership and its styles. The role of a leader in enhancing performance of the team has also been discussed at length. We have also seen as to how various personality traits affect the quality of leadership. An effective leader can make lot of difference in enhancing the performance of his group. One more dimension comes in the form of human resource development by way of appraising performance in an effective manner by the leader. Some of the key areas relevant to the manager are summarized here.

As an effective leader adopting best kind of leader style one should develop the human resource by way of doing the following :-

1. Understand difficulties of their subordinates and try to remove these difficulties.
2. Understand strengths and weaknesses of subordinates and help them realize the same.
3. Help subordinates to accept more responsibly and challenges
4. Help subordinate to acquire new capabilities
5. Plan for effective utilization of the talent of subordinates.

Author: Prof Dewakar Goal, a management scholar and with a successful professional accomplishments as top notch administrator in public sector.

If you liked this post, subscribe to Wpdesigner's RSS feed.

Filed under: CEO Talks