The A-Z of Leadership

I had the privilege of taking a Leadership Masterclass for the students of SCORE who started their first day of the program online. Being part of the academic committee, it is my pleasure every year to interact with the students and take a course on Integrated Marketing Communications and oversee their community engagement and social impact course. I make it a point to go over and meet them all in person and engage with each of them in their first week. Today, the circumstances are different, and we are in times when everything touch, and feel has been replaced by everything virtual. In a way, I am still glad, I was empowered by technology to still be able to talk and engage with these young, sharp minds. 

The masterclass was on Leadership and it is never to early to start in this context and as we see the world shape-shift and change, we need more able leaders who can make the paradigm shifts that we need to get this planet into a safe and sustainable space. 

As we wove through the nuances of leadership, I thought I would compile today, inspired by my dear friend Amith Prabhu, my A-Z thoughts on being a leader and leadership… 

A – Agile, Authentic, Able, Accountable 

B – Balanced, Bold, Brave, Believer 

C – Compassionate, Confident, Communicative, Competent

D – Driven, Decisive, Diverse, Determined

E – Empathetic, Energetic, Empowered, Evolved

F – Fearless, Firm, Focussed, Flexible 

G – Grateful, Genuine, Global, Guiding 

H – Honest, Humble, Helpful, Humane 

I – Inspiring, Inclusive, Industrious, Intelligent 

J – Jocular, Judicious, Just, Joyful 

K – Kind, Knowledgeable, Keen, Kindred 

L – Loyal, Listener, Lasting, Loving 

M – Magnanimous, Motivated, Maverick, Modest 

N – Nurturing, Natural, Noble, Nimble 

O – Organised, Open, Obsessive, Opportunist (positively)

P – Personable, Passionate, Persevering, Peaceful

Q – Qualified, Questioning, Quality – obsessed, Quirky (positively) 

R – Reliable, Resilient, Responsible, Risk-taking 

S – Simple, Strong, Strategic, Supportive 

T – Transparent, Trustworthy, Tactful, Tactical 

U – Unbiased, Unwavering, United, Uncompromising on ethics 

V – Visionary, Vocal for Social Impact, Vested, Visible 

W – Wise, Well-rounded, Wilful, Worthy 

X – X-factor, X-Gen, Xanadu, Xenial 

Y – Youthful minded, Yearning to learn, Yardstick for measure, Yogic by nature

Z – Zeal for growth, Zest for life, Zen-like, Zealous in approach 

Here’s my mix of the adjectives across the alphabet that makes a leader. A right mix of a set of these traits will be a leader who is empowered to shape the world. 

I hope this helps as you create your own personality trait goals that you want to build as you grow. 

Wishing us a world full of committed and engaged leaders who want to be the change they want to see. 

The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Shreya Krishnan

Vice President - Marketing and Communications at Aon India Insurance Brokers

Shreya is a CSR Specialist and Corporate Grooming Consultant. Her interests lie in Activism, Dance, Theatre, Poetry, Blogging, Modelling, Acting. She considers herself an Earth Warrior and is an Event Anchor and Trainer. She is a Pageant Winner and public speaker.