Top 10 Virtues of a Leader

Top 10 Virtues of a Leader

Attention to Details
A white tablecloth with one tiny ink spot on it is more than 99% clean. But every person who sees it will remember the stain, not the cloth.Do the people you most admire have a habit of being thorough? Ask them how they do it.Choose one detail from your list, whether its checking spelling or stock returns and concentrate on it for a week.Don't underestimate the value of checklists. Aren't you glad pilots have to check over 100 items before take off?"If you measure it, it get's done."-Tom Peters Does your company have small benchmarks it can measure itself against? Does your staff know what they are?

Balanced Lifestyle
A balanced lifestyle doesn't mean less work and more play. It does involve caring for yourself on every level: body, mind, heart, and soul. Because caring for yourself makes you a more interesting, interested person-and a better employee."The workaholic will burn out and ultimately cost us more money in the long run."-Brook Smith, First Vice President, RPR Corporate Finance.Make a list of all the things you do on a weekly basis. Now can you break the list down into family, work, physical, and spiritual headings?Are you happy with your list? Are you spending your time the way you want to or the way you have to? Try to add or subtract activities until each of the four sections represent its actual importance in your life.

Fearlessness
In business you cannot discover new heights unless you have the courage to leave the ground.If you focus on the negative outcomes of every action, you're certain to become paralyzed by fear. If you want to take a risk, think in terms of worst-case scenarios. If you do X, what's the absolute worst thing that could happen? Once you've written down your worst outcome, it's easier to focus on the benefits of your actions.Nothing is as powerful as the condition of nothing to lose. If you've got no downside, why not give it a try?Make a list of three ways you could be more fearless at work. What's holding you back? Write down all the obstacles or bad consequences of your actions. Now, write down the costs of being fearful.

Grace under Pressure
How does an NFL referee cope with the pressure of 80,000 screaming fans? By keeping his perspective. He knows that fans won't injure or kill him just because he made a bad call. Everyday, managers, executives and referees face more pressure than you could imagine, yet they don't crack.When stressful circumstances mount, try to think about what will be important in five years, not the next five minutes.Emulate the most dignified courteous people you can think of, such as Nelson Mandela or Fred Astaire. Imagine how they would behave in the situation.Sports often have moments of high stress, yet players virtually always survive. Find a game like tennis or fencing that will allow you to train your mind to transcend intermittent periods of high stress.

Hard work
Tom Pavela often arrives at Apple Computer long before anyone else, so he can get serious work done in the quiet morning hours. He points out that staying late implies that you couldn't finish all your work during the day, while coming in early means you just want to get a jump on things.Just for one week, try being the first one in the office in the morning and the last one to leave at night.It's easy to tell how hard your body is running by taking your pulse. But how do you measure how hard you work at your job? You can't measure only in hours can you?Do you procrastinate? What percentage of your time at work is spent on lunch, on personal calls, or zoning out in between tasks?Make a list of nonrequired work activities that will help you in the long run. Get at least one article published per year that will garner recognition in your field. Speak at a convention. Attend a seminar.

Initiative
Senior executives fall into three categories: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.Listen to yourself speaking, both out loud and internally, for one day. How often do you use the phrase "If only" or "I can't" or "I don't know, there's nothing I can do about that?"Now, for one day, practice substituting "I will" or "I choose" or "I'm going to look at alternatives" Can you hear the difference? Do you notice the difference in your own actions?Make a list of ten actions you could take at work that aren't part of your job description but that would contribute something positive.

Persistence
Winston Churchill, asked to give a graduation speech at Oxford University, stepped up to the podium and said, "Never, never, never give up." Then he sat down.Mountain climbers are testimony to the power of persistence. Even Mount Everest can be climbed, as long as you concentrate on taking one step at a time and don't stop until you get to the top.If one out of ten sales calls leads to a new business, a pessimist would call that 10% a success rate. A successful salesperson realizes that all he has to do is be turned down nine times before he's virtually guaranteed a sale. By viewing rejection as a stepping stone to acceptance, salespeople are able to persist until they reach their goals.Rank yourself: On a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to stick with a project instead of giving up? How do those you admire rate when it comes to persistence?The number one enemy of persistence is procrastination. Try keeping a log of projects you're working on to make sure you're spending enough time on projects that need you the most, not just the easy ones.

Intelligence
Some people are born smart, but intelligence is acquired. You can't be intelligent without knowledge, and knowledge comes from research, education, and access to data.What are the hardest questions facing your division and your industry? Write them down. Just identifying problems is a big first step toward solving them.Read, and read some more. Reading is the single most effective way to gain knowledge, which turns into intelligence.The informational review isn't just for job seekers. Find experts in your field and take them to lunch. Pick their brains, then pick up the check.

Responsibility
Sucessful individuals assume responsibility. If you owned the company where you worked, would you behave differently?More often than not, individuals are not given responsibility. They take it.List all the areas you are directly responsible for at work. Do you feel you are really responsible in these areas? Do you avoid making excuses, whining, or blaming others?Think about the people you have to hire, from babysitters to house painters to secretaries: How do you judge them on responsibility? Would you pass your own test?The most difficult part of freedom is that everything is up to you. Were you late for work? Is the way you treated that client something you're proud of? Do you make enough money? Is your education and training state of the art? If you take control of your life, and take responsibility for all of your actions, your life will change.

Self motivation
All motivation is self-motivation. Your family, your boss, or your co-workers can try to get your engine going, but until you decide what to accomplish, nothing will happen.Do you need alot of outside feedback to get your job done? Or are you able to succeed because of the inner satisfaction you derive?Do you wait for instructions?List three areas in which you receive external recognition for a job well done. Now think about how you could shift your focus from that monetary reward to inner motivation. Feel good about proving to yourself that you can top yourself.

GAURISHANKAR YADAV
PGDM IIIrd SEC-A