What traits turn professionals into leaders that every organization needs and who push the company into a self-sustainable cycle of growth?
Covered the essence of #leadership during my recently held training sessions at Stewart Pakistan. Mentioned below are some of the key points discussed:
- A leader always “aspires to inspire”. You only inspire when you lead by example.
- Selfishness, self-doubt and acknowledgement are anti-leadership traits.
- Inclusive leadership calls for facilitating belongingness; it is when each individual takes responsibility of the other.
- A leader makes people feel valued in exchange of no return. He is the first one to take the bullet and the last one to reap the benefits. That is how a leader builds a brigade of ‘believers’ – people who believe in his or her purpose and are willing to do anything within the realm of professionalism to ensure that their leader meets his or her goals.
- Belief and credibility are built over time. Leadership is about how much you are able to take people out of their comfort zones, into their learning and growth zones; and when they fall and the world laughs at them, you hold their hand and push them to run again.
- A leader takes a decision and makes it right. A right decision is one, that takes into account the benefits of others & at the same time ensures that your own self-esteem does not get compromised; is very mathematically calculated & has a 95% probability of success; and feels right.
- Courage is the defining trait of a leader because it helps you fight fear and doubt. The more courage you have, the bigger your dreams get, and the more you fight to achieve those dreams.
- Being brave means taking tough decisions, taking responsibility when things go wrong and the willingness to fix the mistakes.
- Organisations are built by people who are courageous, people who can take tough decisions, who can dream big, and bear failures.
- A leader is driven by ‘purpose’. A purpose is any desire, dream or aspiration that is beyond the existence of one’s own self. It is about a larger group of people who you will not benefit from, get acknowledgement from and who won’t even know that you did it for them.
- Purpose is directly linked to organizational growth. Purpose, as opposed to objectives and goals, is not measurable; it is exhibited in your choices, decisions & courage.
- The bigger the purpose, the bigger is the failure, and the more you fail, the more you learn.
- A leader makes his people dream big, and to ensure they fulfil their dreams he makes them fail for the better so they build perseverance, learn from their mistakes and grow.
- Economies only grow when nations have dreamers because it is them who change things.
Training the Team Leads of Stewart Pakistan was an experience worthwhile. I thank Amin Ansari (CEO, Stewart Pakistan) and Afsheen Iftikhar (Director HR, Stewart) for the support.