Jibrael Jos, Ash Wednesday 2009
Leadership and Followership are connected, if you do not believe in the system, your company, your practice how do you expect your team members to believe in you.
If you do not follow the strict path ( I do not think we need to) but then why do we expect others to toe the line we draw.
If you do not stand up to change the things you want changed you should not expect your team members to take onus.
Leadership is 90% Action and the remaining 10% is thinking what else to do.
Steven Covey puts forward seven traits of a leader
They are continually learning:
Subroto Bagchi, a major percentage of the books in the library are from his collection and the collection is not random one, it shows the person is a thinker and innovator (or is striving to be one). Closer home there is our very own Srikanth, Derick and Senthil who show the same trait. Learning is not just from books it comes from experiences, people you meet and concepts you develop. It is from both eyes and ears !!
They are service oriented:
Leaders see life as a mission. Ashok Soota comes to my mind but my favorite is definitely Mahatma Gandhi, people followed him by the thousands not for his oratory skills or for his style or for his looks. I believe a good leader needs to be closer to reality (real world) rather than lofty words and high altitude have to the point words and positive attitude.
They radiate positive energy:
Krishnan is a very good example as when he is around rarely does one feel any negative vibe. I remember once I approached with a serious problem of something which I thought we have “committed and we could not technically deliver “. I had been fretting on this problem along with the team for more than a month. But talking to him I was able to abstract the problem and within next couple of days had a meeting with customer and they agreed that yes this same problem was definitely not in scope!!
Siva Vajjala is another person who has impressed me a lot for those who have interacted with him I do not need to elaborate and those who have not I do not think my words can be the paint or this document a canvas to capture the person.
They believe in other people
This according to me is the key to Radha leadership style, she puts immense trust in the people who work under her and once she gives the task she is not trying to guide them, check on them or show them the way. She intrinsically makes the person in front believe he can do it.
They lead balanced life
I have not come across many who does this ! The best people who comes close to this in my experience in MindTree is Suresh H P and Raju Dani
They see life as an adventure
Some people may think that I am a maverick who does 18 trips in 18 months fits the bill but actually Steven Covey is talking about people like Sanjoy Roy. He is my role model when it comes to this trait as I chickened out with TPM role he has moved from Manager to Pre Sales (US) to Operation to Pre Sales (Proposals) to Account Manager. What a journey and behold the trail he set ablaze.
They are synergistic
This is closer home to what I see myself as a leader, I have found that a team of ‘n’ minds are much-much stronger than ‘n’ independent minds and once you get the chemistry going miracles are sure to follow.
They exercise for self renewal
Exercise four dimension of human personality
· Physical
· Emotional
· Mental
· Spiritual
Most of us are playing the role of leader but I am sure none of us can say we are there yet
Why don’t you get the feedback from your team (anonymously) working with you on these seven points and see where your rating stands against theirs. If you are married get it from your spouse and you may discover a new dimension to leadership and followership
On a scale of 1-10, where 10 is Excellent, Rate the following for Mr. Zing Wing
· Learner
· Service Oriented
· Radiate Positive Energy
· Lead Balanced Life
· Synergistic
· See life as an Adventure
· Exercise for Self Renewal
