Driven by a Clear Vision

To be a good leader you must 'be the change you wish to create'. - Mahatma Gandhi.

Leadership is a way of life and it is all consuming. The best leaders are those who know themselves, their employees and the needs of their organisation. As a leader you should be able to inspire and give your subordinates a reason to get up in the morning and come to work with enthusiasm.

A person who reminds you of such leader ship traits is Padmashree S R Rao, who as the municipal corporation chief of Surat, led an inspired team to successfully tackle the plague crisis during the 90s.

One way to motivate employees is to show that you trust them by delegating various jobs to them. You can succeed only if you have a clear vision and mission of the organisation.

Vision - It is the drive and energy that you put into your organisation. It is important to have a clear vision for inspiring subordinates and for the smooth functioning of an organisation. However, to inspire others you must be self-motivated. Here are some tips to do that:

a) Gather information about the future needs of the organisation.
b) Create a collage of the information.
c) Analyse it for motivation.
d) It would help you to create a new vision.

Stress - All leaders carry excess baggage: stress. There are at least five interesting ways to tackle stress:

Put the problem on a backburner.

Hyperventilate.

Workup a sweat in the gym

Then, tackle the stress-causing problem head on.

Delegation - It is all about trust and time. It is also the most effective leadership tool. A true leader will limit himself to preparing strategy and giving inspiration to subordinates. The rest of the tasks he will delegate and just monitor.

Taking responsibility - As a leader you are responsible for everything that happens in your organisation. You have to take the flak that would hit your subordinates and redirect the praise that might miss them.

Personal development - The more fully developed you are as a person, the more you will act as an inspiration to those you lead. Development is a never-ending process. It need not always be job-related. Here are some tips:

Identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Work on your weaknesses.

Look beyond your job for your all-round development.

Murli