Leadership in everyday life

Leadership is romanticized. No doubt about that. We have been fed with images of leaders addressing large teeming crowds:

Lenin addressing crowds in 1920

OR

Martin Luther King with a large gathering

We go gaga (no, I'm not referring to the lady here) over quotable quotes oft repeated, like JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" or Mark Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears".

Any why not? After all every person has some idol whom he/she looks up to and wants to follow. And if one has to follow someone, then why not such charismatic personalities who can sway crowds with just a nonchalant wave of their hand.

But let's pause here to do a reality check. Do you know why Maslow's Needs Hierarchy Theory was criticized. Because the poor fellow, when asked what he meant by self-actualization, said that when Beethoven was composing the 9th Symphony, he was self-actualizing. This was enough for the critics to came after him all guns blazing - Just how many times in a lifetime does a person get such a chance and You mean to say that ordinary people can't even think of self-actualization? Then what good is this theory for the common man? My point regarding leadership is something similar: Just how many chances do we get in everyday life to address large crowds and come up with bloated, puffy and flowery quotes? So, does that mean we do not lead in everyday life or that leadership does not exist without crowds. And should a person always carry a book of great quotes around with him or make them impromptu?

My take on this is that unless you are at the absolute bottom rung of an organization, you are already a leader (and if you are at the absolute bottom rung, then also you may be a leader in your community, your society or for your kids), whether you realize it or not. There are people who follow you, overtly and covertly.

After 16 years of job experience, and at times handling up to 700 persons directly, here are my 10 tips on effective leadership:

1. Be yourself. You are what you are, and nobody can change you now. In fact, according to our old pal Sigmund Freud, personality is fully developed by the time a person is 5 years old.
2. Know thyself. Sure you cannot be changed, but are you fully aware of who you are? Trying to find that out is not easy.
3. Take care of each and every subordinate. In jobs like mine, where the officer is not required to do much himself, except man-management, it is vital that he tries to tackle the problems faced by each subordinate individually. If you cannot solve the problem, it is imperative that you give each person a patient hearing.
4. As far as possible, have an open door policy. If not, then at least fix up a time daily when your staff can meet you and air their grievances. 90% of the staff problems just evaporate into thin air if people get a feeling that they are being heard.
5. Communicate. This cannot be overemphasized. If you have to implement an unpleasant new policy or any other decision, do so by all means. But let your staff get it from the horse's mouth, rather than through gossips.
6. Find time to have office lunches/parties every 2-3 months. Make sure that the atmosphere is informal. You will be amazed how much people open up if you treat them as equals in an out-of-office setting.
7. Reprimand in private, but Reward in public. This is an old management theory, but is so true at all times. In private, a your staff will take anything from you without feeling hurt. Similarly, the monetary value of your reward may be petty, but the value your subordinate derives from peer appreciation is priceless.
8. Criticize the mistake, not the person. Not easy to follow, but yields rich dividends if practiced.
9. Convince or get convinced. Either way, the decision will be widely accepted.
10. Honesty is the best policy. Believe me, you get a lot of eyeballs every day. They judge you constantly. Don't let them down. Let them not find a dishonest decision. People tolerate mistakes, but a deliberate act of omission or commission stands out.

This list is by no means exhaustive. However, I have always tried to follow these steps, with good results so far. I still have friends at my old places of posting who often write in to tell me they miss me as much as I miss them.

That's appreciation enough.