Attitude in Leadership

 

                                      ATTITUDE IN LEADERSHIP!!

Attitude in leadership

Most of the times when we think of leadership, we focus mainly on management skills, academic achievement, oratory skills, influence, power, position, authority and many other aspects. But the most important quality in a leader which is generally not talked much about is the Attitude. Attitude is one quality that separates leaders from followers. Attitude is not only important in leadership but it’s crucial in every other aspects of life of an individual. Success in leadership is not achieved merely by chance or by achieving power and position but by a mindset that is a result of continuous effort of making and breaking of habits.

Leaders with a  positive attitude towards life have been time-tested to benefit the people that they connect to, including their organization. Leadership is more about your mindset and Attitude rather than your Ability to achieve great goals. Many Great Leaders in the past who made history, did so because they believed in their ability to do so.

Here are some insights on the attitude factor that a leader must have to create and sustain an organization:

Attitude preserves Ability: You cannot lead people and manage your resources if you don’t have the right kind of attitude in your management even though you may have power, skills or talent. The reason why attitude is more important than Ability is because it preserves and protects Ability.

Attitude in leadership

A person may have acquired a lot of knowledge, skills and expertise in some areas of life but he cannot expose his true potential to the world unless they have the right kind of mentality. It is important for us to first acquire the mentality of a leader than to pointlessly run after possessing skills. Skill or Talent is useless if it is not applied to get the right results that a corporate entity requires.

Zig Ziglar was an American author, salesman, and a motivational speaker. He said something very intriguing. He said, “ Your Attitude, not your Aptitude, will determine your Altitude.”(Forbes, Pub. Nov 28,2012) It is clear that it is your Attitude towards life that eventually determines life’s attitude towards you. A right kind of Attitude means that you believe in achieving your dreams as an individual and as an organization.

Attitude facilitate culture: Most of us have been conditioned by the society and culture in which we live, that only certain people having high capacities or ability can achieve great things in life. Most of us are forced to think so much average, that we do not rise above our own thinking. However, when you are a leader, you are not only responsible for your life but also for the lives of those whom you lead. Therefore, it is important for leaders to maintain and check their mindsets from time to time and keep it on the right track.

Attitude creates culture. Whatever is the attitude of an individual towards their life, the same kind of culture prevails around them. Whenever we see a person with a negative or depressing attitude, it automatically tells us about the culture from where that person came.

Therefore, cultures are nothing but measure of an individuals attitude which results into a certain pattern of lifestyle and eventually creates the so-called social norm in the society which becomes normal for us to live in.

Attitude in leadership

Sometimes we find it difficult to explain some really simple things to some people who come from completely different backgrounds although we may communicate with them smoothly. It is so because it is difficult for them to change their attitude which is continuously formed over the years and shaped by the culture that they lived in. Over the centuries, man has made a lot of progress. We have conquered mountains, dived deep into the bottom of the oceans, explored space and made extreme technological advancements. But even today, the most difficult thing we find is to change our mind. Everything in our life is connected with our mind. Once we have conquered our minds, our lifestyle completely changes.

In his book, “Attitude is Everything” Jeff Keller tells us how important a positive attitude is for an individual and a leader to lead effectively. He wrote, “ Your Attitude is your window to the world.” (Jeff Keller, Pub.1999,2001) And therefore, it is your responsibility as a leader to keep that window clean so that you see the opportunities in the crisis or difficult times. Once you have changed your attitude, things begin to change for you. It not only affects your business or your organization but also your personal life including your relationships.

Attitude in leadership

Your Attitude is tested and strengthen by the hard and turbulent times. Do not be afraid of difficulties in life, they are a part in the process of making you stronger. Have a cheerful attitude towards life rather than worrying too much about failure and trying to take risks in life. Life is all about learning from the mistakes that we made in the past , to grow from them and then not to repeat them again. It does not matter how great you have failed, but the quality of your Leadership is determined by how much great adversities you survive.

The greatest challenge for a leader in the contemporary world is not the problems of the outside world but it’s what happens inside them. Your inner beliefs and mindset towards difficulties or circumstances in life will determine your response to them. It is more important to manage and control our own thoughts and feelings when we fail so that we can make the foundation of our organizations strong and make it long-lasting. Therefore, Attitude is the key to your personal development and Leadership Success!

 

 

                                            REFERENCES:

1.     https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/11/28/zig-ziglar-10-quotes-that-can-change-your-life/#6f59c29b26a0

 

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DIGITAL LEADERSHIP— BECOMING THE NEW NORMAL!

DIGITAL LEADERSHIP— BECOMING THE NEW NORMAL!

Digital leadership

 

 

We have all head this mantra multiple times and in multiple ways. The world is changing—fast. Technology is driving change—even faster. People need to adapt to these changes-rapidly. In order to adapt to the ever-increasing pace of technological advancement, new skills, new talents, new outlooks and new ideas within their organizations.

Leaders who learn to manage and lead the digital world, leads the whole world. When we think of the modern era, disruptive, innovation, change and competition are the words which strike our minds. If leaders aren’t aware of this, they are already in a disadvantageous position! And if you are aware of these changes, you might be looking at how you can effectively manage these changes readily to help grow your business.

In this Digital Age, most leaders often adapt to the changing environments. Digital Leadership is a game of the survival of the fittest and if you don’t learn the principles to thrive in these changes, you are probably going to carried away by the sudden & abrupt changes happening all around the world.

So, how to transform your business digitally and effectively? For that, we need to understand first, what really is digital transformation because most leaders have some myths about digital transformation which hinders their progress as a digital leader. Here are  a few things about digital transformation:

 ·        Digital Transformation is not just Technological Innovation.

 ·        Digital Transformation should be developed on the basis of a strategic plan that involves the entire company.

 

 ·        The path of Digital Transformation should be guided and directed by a master plan.

 ·        Digital Transformation requires support from external partners from an Ecosystem & Open Innovation perspective.

 

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         Keeping in mind the above mentioned criteria of digital transformation, a digital leader should manage the technological changes. Digital Leadership is a complex subject to most leaders as it involves both technological and business innovation, requires extensive and sufficient knowledge on both fronts.

Digital Leadership

Apart from understanding the basics of digital leadership transformation, what are the other skills that a digital leader requires?

Digital Leadership

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OMMUNICATION: A perfect example are the virtual meetings which are more prevalent these days in the times of COVID-19 pandemic. By using Technology, digital leaders can build a strong network of communication from top to bottom of the business. To implement it, leaders must make a strategy on whom they are addressing.

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TRATEGY: The most successful digital leaders have a strategy in place that helps nurture a digital culture internally, ready to embrace changes. In order for this to happen, leaders musts strategizes their ideas to make their digital agenda crucial.

Digital Leadership

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CCOUNTABILITY:  It is the foremost skill or quality required by a leader to become a digital leader. If you do not adapt, you are not going to survive in the changing business environment.

Digital Leadership

R

ISK-TAKING ABILITY: When we talk about the digital age, the image that strikes our mind instantly is speed and innovation. Apart from speed, innovation is something most digital leaders shy away from because of their low risk—appetites. However, Risk taking is a crucial part of digital leadership. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, stated that “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

Digital leaders are always progressive who look outside of just their organization and have a greater view of the people who need the value hat they provide through their organization. They look at potential problems and turn them into opportunities. To summarize, a digital leader needs to be adaptive to the new changes happening around them, develop good communication skills and plan the changes  that they want to see in themselves & their organization.

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Law of Wasted Effort

 

LAW OF WASTED EFFORT

 

Law of Wasted Effort

It has been scientifically concluded that animals, tress and other forces of nature are more receptive to their failures to the point that even humans don’t have that sort of perseverance and persistence towards life. I am very much intrigued whenever I hear the word ‘Law’. The reason behind this ideology is that laws have no respect for anybody. They treat everyone equally. So what is so special about the ‘ Law of Wasted Effort’?

It has been found that lions only succeed in only one-fourth of their hunting attempts— that means 75% of their pursuit fails and they only manage to succeed in only 25% of them. Now, the real thing is, it is not only limited to lions only. But Half of the eggs of fishes are eaten, half of the baby bears die even before reaching puberty, most of the world’s rain falls in the oceans, and most of the seeds are eaten by birds which are never manifested into trees.

So what do the above stats mean for us? Do you think they associate to our life?

Our life is also a constant ebb and flow of achievements and failures. But the facts shows that even animals and life’s other creation forms are more sober and conscientious to their work than we are. Despite their small percentage of success rate, they do not despair in their pursuit. They stay in the right environment and keep pursuing their goals until they approach their destination.

Only humans think that the lack of success in a few attempts is failure. Why do we have such a fragile mindset? Why don’t we consider the possibility of success in the next few consecutive attempts?

Law of Wasted Effort

The question is not whether you will fail or not. You are going to fail at something in you life which I call something which life itself guarantees. But the real issue is how you deal with it? Apart from the asinine acts that humans continue to do on nature, the animal world is still continuing strong because it requires them to not fall under the mercy of feelings of sadness, anger, depression, envy or resentment. But they are alive, somehow they have complete understanding of the ‘ law of wasted effort’. They never give in to the failures.

J.K. Rowling’s manuscript was rejected a dozen times before she published her best-seller, Colonel Sanders did not tasted success until he was 65. You cannot expect to succeed every time you get on the course of your life. But the key is to keep trying until to succeed. Remember, it’s a Law! And laws don’t respect anybody. They work for anybody if that individual obeys it. And to understand this law completely, it requires you to change your old ideologies about failure and perceive it in a different way to get different results.

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Different levels of Leadership

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP

Different levels of Leadership

 

While organizations previously enlarged their market position gradually over time, most of them now operate in context to the quality of leadership in the organization. The more is the quality of leadership in the organization, the better and sustainable it will become. The modern day businesses are much more dependent on the position of leadership rather than individual position and skills. The reason behind that is simply because a leader is like a lighthouse which guides their organization depends upon the character of people in leadership in that organization. There are different levels of leadership where a leader operates the organization and lead people based on the level of influence they have on them.

These levels of influence separates leaders who just have authority from leaders who provide and nurture the people with information, bringing them a revelation about their life and leading them to a transformation. The purpose for the people they lead and different leaders do it differently and therefore, they are distinguished on the basis of influence.

John C. Maxwell is an American author and a motivational speaker who wrote a book named “The Five levels of Leadership” in which he explains about the various types of leaders based on the impact they manifest on the people.

 

Positional Leadership

Different levels of Leadership

 

“The only real training for leadership is Leadership.”-Anthony Jay

 

 Leaders with a position have a very narrow influence on the people they lead. They have an impact on a very small scale over the lives of people. Their leadership is confined just to their position or authority over people.

Most of the leaders in the contemporary world exercise positional type of leadership. They may be captain or head of their football team, their university, their business organization or even their home. Leaders in this leadership position must recognize the limitations of their position or authority. Because of the same reason that they do not necessarily have a huge impact on their organization and individuals.

Different levels of Leadership

However, whenever a person is given a position, they have the opportunity to grow themselves a leader and reach to higher levels of leadership. It’s important for leaders to continually dedicate themselves to develop their leadership skills in order to become a better leader.

Service Leadership

 

Different levels of Leadership

“Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.”-James Kouzes & Barry Posner

 

The next level of leadership after positional leadership is leadership by providing help or service to others. People may have to obey you without their will, when you are a positional leader for many things like their pay or to keep their job and therefore, they ‘have to ‘ follow you although they may not “want to’.

But leaders who focus more on understanding the needs of the people and making healthy relationships with them fall under this category. As a result of which, people willingly do what the leader needs to get done and always try to contribute their best to the organization. People prefer to work with such kind of leaders who understand them and help them rather than leaders who get things done merely by giving orders.

This level of leadership focuses primarily on the value of each person. All great leaders  value people. They know that every individual is unique and has some unique qualities which they can contribute to the organization. Therefore, they treat people with care keeping in mind with their importance. Everybody in this world wants to be treated with respect and care whether they accept this or not. And Great leaders understand this very basic and natural human psychology and consequently, they form good relationships with people.

Leaders need to understand the importance of serving, otherwise if they are too hard on people to achieve something, there are some people in their organization only who wants to see them fail.

 

Exemplary Leadership

Different levels of Leadership

 

“Authority: The skill of getting people to willingly do your will, because of your personal influence.”-James C. Hunter

 

Leaders who get the most out of people are usually the ones who lead by example. Great leaders are themselves committed to their work. You can give all the motivational speeches you want, but if you yourself don’t show a good work ethic and don’t apply what you say, there’s no way that people will do the things you say. It’s important for a leader not just to brag things on people don’t do the things that they want their people in the company to do and make a bad example.

This level of leadership is commonly found in military leaders but rarely found in business leaders. That is the reason behind an organization’s failure. The job of a leaders is to lead and you cannot lead from behind. To lead, you must set the right kind of example that you want your people to follow. Leading by example not only brings productivity but also creates a clear vision for the organization. It sets a standard for the people to follow. You cannot just keep people intact with principles and ethics until you follow them yourself.

You do not lead with your words. You lead with your actions and your life. The kind of life you live sets the standard for the people to follow and maintain. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the leader to make sure that they live by the standards that they wish to inculcate in their followers.

 

Developmental Leadership

Different levels of Leadership

 

“Your rewards in life will be in direct proportion to the value of your service to others.”- Brian Tracy

 

Effective leaders understand the importance of always developing. They understand that if they want to keep getting better at what they do, they need to commit themselves and their team to a learning attitude. And therefore, Great leaders are life-long learners and never stop learning till the time they die.

Steve Jobs was once shown a prototype of the iPad and looking at it, he complained that it was too big. When the engineers told him they couldn’t make it any smaller, Jobs took it over to an aquarium and dropped it into the water. ‘These are air bubbles’, he said. ‘That means there’s space in there. Make it smaller.’

This reminds us of the opportunity that we have at our work. Even though we do great work as a leader, there is always an opportunity for improvement. Great leaders never stop learning! They do not only commit to develop themselves but also others to become a better version of themselves. They are People Developers. And this is how they influence people with such immense intensity because of the connection they develop with others and inspire them to achieve great things. They know that when individuals develop themselves, they develop the organization automatically without any effort. And that is why, they work more on people rather than on organizations.

It not only provides a chance to fulfill others goals and desires but also gives a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment when they develop others. It takes a mature leader to see their progress in their followers success.

 

Natural Leadership

 

Different levels of Leadership

“A True natural servant automatically responds to any problem by listening first.”- Robert Greenleaf

 

 This level of leadership is the highest level of leadership. When a leader reaches this position of leadership, people follow them without thinking of their personal interests because they are influenced by the passion and inspiration of the leader. Leaders at this level do not demand ‘RESPECT’ from the people instead they receive it without even asking for it.

Leaders at this level have so much inculcated the qualities of good leadership that it becomes a part of their DNA. Whenever we talk about a long-lasting organization, we are not just discussing about the leaders that served but also the legacy that they left. Great leaders leave an impact on the people that people are not able to forget then even after they die. Great leaders live even after their death because of the influence they had on people.

Leaders at this level are so much matured in exercising their leadership over a long period of time that they do not even have to think about what to do in a particular leadership dilemma. They know how to handle the situation because of their prior experience. Leaders at this level are shaped by the tough and turbulent times that they face in their life or leadership position.

As a leader, it is your responsibility to determine at which level you are and how you can improve yourself to reach at the top. Remain humble and guide your way to the character based leadership.

 

 

REFERENCES:

 

1.      John C. Maxwell, The five different levels of leadership, pub. 2011

2.      Anthony Jay, 100 greatest leadership principles of all times, pg-05, pub.2007

3.      James Kouzes & Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge, pg-06, pub.2012

4.      James C. Hunter, The Servant, pg-50, pub.1998

5.      Brian Tracy, 100 Absolutely Unbreakable laws of Business Success, pg-48, pub.2000

 

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