We all aspire to be leaders from the time we realise the value and significance of a leader in the world of today. While some say leaders are just born, which may be true because some people are born with talents and aptitude but even they need to train and then shine. Developing your desired mindset is a solution to achieve almost anything in life. As human beings we use a very small percentage of our brains. With determination and sincerity of purpose, you can almost achieve anything. Leader mindsets can be developed by evolution and change by doing some things better and not doing some things at all!
You may be a leader in any field, domain, profession or even of a community service or a music band. There is a new emerging expectation from the humans you lead. You need to earn your leadership every day. This kind of leadership needs a new approach which I call the ‘leader mindset’. Like all other mindsets, you will need to make fundamental changes in how you do things to be followed and valued. These really become your second nature or habit. Here are some easy ways to develop the ‘leader mindset’.
Leaders know the way, show the way and go the way
This is the primary evolution in leadership today. Earlier a leader would give directions to his subordinates and monitor progress as it was reported to him periodically. A leader would do reviews in regular intervals to check direction and sometimes even call a meeting to review and change strategy midway. Well, all this goes on in various ways today too. But a leader is expected today to roll his/her sleeves and work shoulder to shoulder with the team. Earlier leaders used to sit in their plush cabins and call their team members to talk to them. Nowadays, leaders are hardly seen in their cabins, they are seen hot desking with their team members, except when they need to confidentially talk to their team members or reprimand them. It’s all strategic execution today in the true sense, it’s about rowing the boat together with your team
Today’s leaders literally lead by example
The generation today, respect knowledge implementation. It’s not about screaming at your team saying “This is rubbish, go do it again and come back”. You are expected to add value real time. Show and guide your team with the changes you want, that too with best version logical reasons. If you think time management needs greater focus in the organisation, you should become an example of time management and deadlines with the highest quality of output. Another example, if you strongly feel that the market will be better impacted if your team does deeper research, when you interact with them you table the deepest research yourself. If it’s about following your organisation culture, you should be the best brand ambassador of your culture. This works anywhere. Say you lead an NGO you will need to do most of the work yourself in an exemplary manner, so that your team respect you and follow you. Always remember, well done is better than well said
Leaders make their team look forward to come to work
In my decades of experience in India and abroad I have actually seen office environments where employees come to fun and not to work. The leader mindset makes you conscious that even if your team comprises of professionals who come to work to earn a livelihood, they are not robots but they are human beings. As a leader, go out of your way to create a supportive work environment. Yes, you need to show your care for your team members, but please don’t fake it, it gets picked up very fast. When individuals succeed, it’s a high of a different kind, they feel terrific. Enable them, guide them and bring out their best version. Then when parties are to celebrate these successes you actually will raise the bar!
“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – President Theodore Roosevelt
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