Author: @dm1n

Traits of a Successful Leader

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Garrison W., best-selling author of “Speaking of Success” and owner of Wynn Solutions, notes that the average IQ of top performing leaders is 104. This is a remarkably low IQ point and makes when question the misconstrued notion that leadership is all about intelligence and charisma. However, if intelligence doesn’t make a good leader then what does? Here is what the top management leaders have to say on the subject –

  • Good leaders understand the importance of ideas and are driven by novelty. They are inventive and are also open to new ideas which come from their team. As an extention, they have a vision for their team or organization which underlines all team efforts, decisions and policies. “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion” notes Jack Welch, former GE CEO.
  • Successful leaders lay emphasis on people, since their team is the key force of execution of these their ideas. Harvey Mackay, who wrote Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive (Ivy Books, 1995) says “A colossal business idea simply isn’t enough. You have to be able to identify, attract and retain talent who can turn your concept into a register-ringing success”.  As an extension, it is as important to understand what drives your team to be able to get the best results.
  • The Transactional v/s transformational leadership theory developed by Burns (1978) still holds true.This makes leadership less about ‘getting work done’ and more about ensuring that one’s team develops the ability and desire to ensure that the work is done. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves”
  • “Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can’t get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn’t even matter.” — Gilbert Amelio, President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp. It is also absolutely vital to establish effective communication channels within the team to foster accountability and transparency.
  • Egocentricity is the possibly the worst trait that can be commonly found in people in managerial roles. It is important to give credit or simply show gratitude when it is due. Humility and good humor go a long way in retaining the right talent. “Exemplary leaders reward dissent. They encourage it. They understand that, whatever momentary discomfort they experience as a result of being told they might be wrong, it is more than offset by the fact that the information will help them make better decisions.” — Warren Bennis New York Times, 2/17/02
  • Having a good judgment is importance and must go hand in hand with ensuring that one is not judgmental. It is important to be open and inclusive. However it is also important to understand when to take in new ideas and when to apply one’s own experience. This demarcation can be made only when can do a swift and accurate risk-analysis, which is the hallmark of good judgment. Good judgment also includes foresight and the ability to make fast decisions.
  • Consistency of character and of communication is underestimated. Charisma only attracts talent; it is consistency that retains it. “Highly charismatic people with emotional instability that keep their people wondering ‘What kind of mood is the boss in today’ are simply the worst leaders”- Garrison W, best-selling author
  • “Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.”― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince. Leaders portray themselves well and understand the importance of presentation. They not only, lead by example, but to do it in a visible manner.
  • “Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood” is one of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (a book with 25 million copies sold) by Stephen R. Covey. A good leader is always a great listener and also understands the current industry dynamics in great depth
  • As an extension, a great leader would never cling to the past.He/she would be dynamic and learning oriented. Industries evolve at a fast pace and one must be acquainted with the changing realities of one’s field.”Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”— Niccolo Machiavelli

What do YOU think makes a good leader? Feel free to share your opinions here!

Conversations with Dr. Aditya Dev Sood on Leadership & Innovation

leadership At a recent conference that AIESEC India hosted, we had the pleasure to meet Mr. Aditya Dev Sood – Chairman of Adainta School for Leadership & Innovation. Here’s a conversation we had with him.

Question: What is your company all about?

“Adianta School for Leadership & Innovation is a new institution that promotes a radical new approach to education. Project based, hands on, through industry partnerships, learning by doing through simulations and not in classrooms & lecture halls. Our thinking is that this kind of approach is really required in the Indian context where people are in college but not necessarily learning.”

Question: How Relevant is the organization to India today?

“We see there’s a huge gulf between the needs of industry and the way our higher education is working. And we hear this from the HR departments of large industries all the time that they end up hiring smart people who have zero experience, zero skills, zero capacity and they have to do a tremendous amount of training in house, once they’re on board. They don’t come with the ability to do a task analysis, manage their own time, manage anybody else’s time use HTML or social media effectively. They don’t come with an array of skills that make them valuable. And forget about large companies, in the case of start ups people need to do a lot of different things reasonably well. So we need multiple different kinds of skills – some of them being very basic and some of them are more sophisticated and all of these kinds of abilities are only acquired by learning by doing, solving problems & addressing challenges. They aren’t learnt by giving examinations and skill concepts. The difference between skill & skill concepts is the difference between theoretical learning & hands on learning.”

Question: How important are having these skills in the world today? How important is leadership today?

“Even those of us who are involved with leadership, understand that it is a very subtle concept. But when people start engaging the question, it grows in the mind & the consciousness to the point where one understands that one has responsibility for the world around us and this world is not going to run itself.  It requires us to take initiative, own problems, build solutions to those problems and along the way make these things into sustainable business models and business plans that will make these initiatives viable for the future. Leadership too often gets compartmentalized into either govermentality or else into management. Leadership is something above and beyond these two kind of dichotomies and yet it cross cuts and informs both of these areas. We have an approach to leadership that involves self discovery, enhances approaches to communication and better interactional skills. In some ways you might say this is the surface of leadership but in some way because we treat the same surface, what happens inside grows as well.”

We’re sure you’ll have some questions to ask him as well and for that, we’ve organized a tweet chat only for you! Some questions that will be addressed in the chat include:

  • Is youth the solution to the leadership need of Indian Politics?
  • What do you think makes a good leader?
  • What do you think are the biggest problems faced by today’s youth?
  • What kind of leaders does the country need in the present circumstances?
  • In the wake of the country’s socioeconomic condition, what can the youth of today do to make a tangible difference?
  • What sort of education does the youth of today need to be equipped with to be better and more responsible leaders?
When: Friday, 22nd February, 2013 at 4 pm IST
How: Follow and tweet with #adiantas to be a part of the conversation.
Tweet Chat

Take A Seat…Make A Friend

When you’re a kid, you can connect with almost anybody. But as you get older, friendships can be harder to find. A lovely initiative called SoulPancake built a fun space on a busy street corner where people could take a seat and make a new friend.

When was the last time you made a new friend? Go out there and try to make one today!

Last Lecture

In September 2008, a previously unknown computer science expert by the name of Randy Pausch addressed a university with his famous “Last Lecture”. Diagnosed of Pancreatic cancer, this man was given 3 to 6 months of healthy living. Later in his life he co-authored the book “The Last Lecture” on this same theme, which became a New York best seller.

He starts his speech by clearly stating that he would not be talking about death but about life and how to achieve ones childhood dreams. In present times, most individuals envision that when they succumb to the unavoidable and utter what must be their “final expressions”, they will have room in the schedule for small more than a short, wavering sentence. Provided that they are lucky, it could be imparted to a couple close relatives.

Because of the marvels of engineering, the hour-long address did not vanish into the ether, however went onto be caught by millions. It has since modified lives, touched American legislative issues, and is going to bring forth a producing wonder.

Soon, the video of the entire, hour-long talk was available online. More than six million people have watched the life-affirming lecture in full on YouTube. Pausch was invited to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he gave an edited reprise of his talk to Winfrey’s 10 million-strong television audience.

Watch this post here.

Getting to know Anubhav Razdan, the President (elect) of AIESEC India

Anubhav Razdan23 year old Anubhav Razdan won the elections for the position of Member Committee President of AIESEC India on the 30th of January 2013. Anubhav is currently the Regional Director for the South Region of AIESEC India and won the election standing against 4 capable candidates from the current Member Committee of AIESEC India and a Local Committee President. His application theme was based around the concept of “Transformation” and he envisions for AIESEC to transform the experiences it provides, these experiences then transform people and the people transform India.

Here is a candid discussion with Mr. President (elect), AIESEC India.

Tell us something about your Delhi roots, your educational background and family.

I did my schooling from Amity International School, Noida. After that, I went on to pursue a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Indraprastha University in Delhi. I am ethnically a Kashmiri and my family consists of the mother, sister and grandmother. I had lost my father at a young age and it was my mother who brought up both me and my sister, with not many resources but very strong values. I have some extremely vivid memories of my younger days in New Delhi.

What are your interests and hobbies?

I like reading about global and national issues, technology, design and philosophy. I am very fond of sports – love to watch and play football and swim. Also, as is evident from my Facebook page, Travel & Photography are two passions that I’ve recently discovered.

What is your vision for AIESEC India? What would be your key role?

I can see a transformation – a rebirth of sorts – letting go of the past to strive towards a bigger and better future. My key role here will be helping our membership reconnect with their individual and the AIESEC values, to use them as an anchor for future actions and innovation.

What is the kind of leadership you think AIESEC India requires in the coming year and correlate it with your style of leadership?

I think AIESEC India and the world at large needs daring and value driven leadership. It is our individual and collective values which guide our actions. Once we identify a strong set of values, they can act as an anchor and at the same time propel us further to take risks & try new things in our journey through this organisation. AIESEC gives you the platform to take those risks, explore those new opportunities which progress the individual and hence the organisation forward. Nowhere else will we be presented with the option of doing the kind of things we do here, at such a young age. The only question that remains is if we take those options.

How is AIESEC India contributing to India’s development and future?

AIESEC India contributes to India’s development & future by providing individuals & organisations an opportunity to engage with our purpose. India as a country needs young people who don’t just talk, but take the initiative and bring about CHANGE. A continuous stream of passionate young Indians must go out and get things done – in politics, in social set-ups, in corporations, in education, in research, in medicine – EVERYWHERE. AIESEC India provides India with this breed of young Indians who have spent their formative years in an extremely dynamic and challenging organisation.

What do you want to do after AIESEC? How do you think AIESEC will help?

I want to work in the sphere of human capacity development and start my own enterprises – one of which will be a restaurant. I want these ventures to also present enriching employment opportunities for the urban poor.

Through AIESEC, I seek to become more independent and interdependent, by taking back a network of driven and committed individuals. AIESEC till now has made me a lot more confident, broad minded and entrepreneurial.

What is your parting message to our readers?

I would like to revisit what Charles Darwin had concluded that it is not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable of species that survive. The world that we live in requires us to be constantly changing and evolving. It is here that the youth have a pivotal role to play, spearheading the transformation through their proactive initiatives.