Ethical Leadership

 

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Ethical Leadership

The ethical part of leadership has been sharply questioned particularly by leaders who failed to live by some intact principles & standards. But the question is: Is it helpful to fully manifest your potential as a leader by remaining ethical? Or should you run into the same cat & mouse race as is done by some corrupt and unethical leaders? The answer to the former question is an absolute YES! Because leadership is an act which involves trust of the followers. And in any given scenario, if you violate that basic entity which is the very foundation of a stable relationship between a leader and a follower, you have uprooted yourself from being a transformational leader to merely an authoritative leader.

HOW TO BE ETHICAL?

Ethical Leadership

Followers are motivated by the leaders promises, praise and rewards, or they are corrected by their feedback, reproof or some disciplinary course of action. In other words, there needs to be some authority which generally acts as a lighthouse for others and sets the standard. And that somebody should be the leader himself.

·        Stay Actively Engaged: When leaders engage in active management-by-exception, they monitor followers performance and correct followers mistakes. The number one advantage of staying actively engaged with the followers is that you can monitor their growth and the use of resources.

But when the leaders engage in passive-management-by-exception, they wait passively for followers mistakes to be called to their attention before taking corrective actions with negative feedbacks. And the result is that they end up disconnecting themselves with the followers and the latter’s trust in the former collapses eventually.

·        Focus on being effective not popular: Do you know why most leaders perpetuate against their principles and ethical boundaries? Most of them do it because they focus too much on being a people’s person. And the argument is that if you align yourself away from your ethical standards, you will always be misguided. Why? Because different people will have different opinions about you. They will have different set of beliefs for your accomplishments. And if you indulge yourself in petty popularity, you will end up moving away from your ethical considerations and lose the trust of people you lead.

Ethical Leadership

·        Build a strong character: The key here really is to understand your beliefs and values which you will never compromise even in the advent of adversity. That means, you become a convict of your own convictions. Leadership is a tough business and requires the leader to be morally & ethically stern, so that he do not gets carried away when the tough & turbulent times strike him. Great leaders of the history like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and many others showed an exemplary character which formed the foundation of their leadership abilities. No wonder why vast majority of the people trusted and followed them. They had this unique quality of leading the masses that separated them from the crowd and helped them make a mark on their followers and on the world.

                                           The important thing to note here is that character should never be perplexed with charisma or even reputation. It doesn’t mean that you are acting a moral figure in public but doing immoral stuff in private. If you aspire to be an effective leader, your intent should be to stay envisioned on developing a strong & genuine character.

·        Focus on yourself first and not on others: In Plato’s Philebus dialogue, Socrates argued the point that people look absurd when they try to know obscure things before knowing themselves. The generalized concept is that if you always keep yourself occupied in looking faults or problems faced by other people, you don’t have the time to check whether you are still on the ethical spots or not. Therefore, always keep in touch with yourself and readily make changes when you notice any deviation from your standards.

 

·        Share your values: This is generally one of the best practices that a leader must inculcate in order to stay ethically sound. Although this part comes in the transformational leadership also, but mainly it is based on the idea of creating an environment or culture within the organization where the followers, managers & the leaders have same belief patters & value system.

The core values are an integral part of sustaining and thriving an organization. And that’s the reason why core values must be assimilated by the leaders beginning from day one. And then shared with the followers. As the Roman philosophy goes, “if you can make a large group of people believe in something, you are actually creating a culture’. And if the culture in your organization is based on its core values, there is no better alternative than that. The inputs that you feed into your people, they return it in the form of their performance and help in thriving the organization and sustaining it in times of crisis because of the trust that has been established.

CONCLUSION:

The conclusion is very plain. There are not many complexities in staying ethical if a leader really wishes and desires to do so. Is it worth staying ethical? Yes, we have seen leaders who made a difference just by not compromising on their standards and staying ethical. You can check and maintain your ethical behavior by following these prerequisites:

·        Stay Actively Engaged.

·        Focus on being effective not popular.

·        Build a Strong Character.

·        Focus on yourself first.

·        Share your values.

If you keep in touch with the above points, it will help you to stay ethical and lead in a much better way.

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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.

 

·         

         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

C

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.

S

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

A

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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Is your WHY intact?

 

IS YOUR WHY INTACT?

Is your WHY intact?

Most successful people have one thing in common. They may have different backgrounds, races, cultures, opportunities to perform, or wealth. But the one thing that separates them from the crowd is that they know their purpose. They do not wander around in life, going from one job to another, changing their purpose and goals. Even though they might not be steady for sometimes in their life in terms of their finances and relationships. But they eventually make it to the end. What is the difference?

 

The only major difference is that they know what they want from their life and focus their whole energy solely on that goal. They know why they are on this planet and what they have to contribute to the world. They do not focus more on getting a job just to make a living. They know that they are here to make a difference.

The most important question is whether your WHY is intact or not? Is your WHY stable or fragile when problems strike? Is your WHY determined by you or by other people’s opinion around you?

This is a very important question to ponder over. It’s a question which needs to be asked to yourself each day, week, month and year passes on. Because if the problems is if you lose sight of your goals and your vision, you don’t even realize that you are out of track. Due to enormous technological advancements, there has been an increase in our social networks, resources, and most importantly access to the information. But it needs to be regulated according to your goals. And sometimes we don’t even realize before you get too far from your purpose.

Is your WHY intact?

When you now why you are doing what you doing, you need to keep yourself aligned to your vision. This is the difference between Great leaders and Managers. Managers do things which are urgent to sustain the organization but leaders prioritize important things over urgent things and thrive their organization because they know that not every urgent thing is aligned with their WHY.

Sticking to your WHY means going by your Plans. Most people make plans in not time but do not even bother to execute them. And without execution, your WHY is just a dream which won’t become a reality. Planning is the greatest proof that you believe in your WHY. You only Plan when there is something certain to happen. Even though your plans may change but your purpose or WHY must remain the same. Planning is just a route to get to your destination. So when you face trials of many kinds along your way, it’s not to stop you but to prepare you for your destination.

Is your WHY intact?

They come just to check whether you are capable or prepared to get to the destination or is it just a casual WHY? So if plan A fails in your journey, then remember there are 25 letters more. But your WHY should be firm in your mind. Is your WHY intact?

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Seasons Of Change

 

SEASONS OF CHANGE

seasons of change

Everything in life is seasonal. No matter where you live, seasons come and go. It’s not just about the summer, winter, autumn or spring that I’m talking about. It’s more about the seasons of life. If you are facing tough & turbulent times, it is seasonal. When nothing seems to work for you, it is seasonal. When life hits us on our blind side and when we lose track of our destiny, it is seasonal. Everything in life is seasonal. And it’s your choice if you desire to allow a temporary problem to mess with your mind and impact you in a permanent way. It’s your perception about a problem that really matters the most.

It is your choice of staying calm in adversity that decides your response to that problem. We never complain about the fruitful good times, then why do we tend to mesmerize & complain in hardships?

We call it season of crisis. Everybody goes through a crisis at some point of their life. So how to survive through that crisis when everything seems to be falling apart and nothing seems to work? The key to surviving in a season of crisis is to outlast the season. So, when winter comes, you don’t lose hope thinking that it’s going to last forever. Do you? No you don’t (hopefully). You know that it’s going to be temporary and summer is on the way.

seasons of change

Life is akin to seasons. Even the worst things in your life are temporary. The key to thriving is outlasting that moment. You know that “this too shall pass”. So when a season of crisis comes, all you gotta do is outlast that season and it passes away. This is the thing that I appreciate about seasons. They are always temporary.

Even if you are in the season of prosperity rather than adversity, you need to prepare & plan for the season of adversity because seasons have no respect for your personal ambitions or goals. They just come without anyone’s approval.

So keep the weapon of planning in your arsenal. Because you never know when the seasons of life change. But if you are prepared to face them, life becomes easy. No person in the world is immune to crisis. They cannot stop it or even control it. But they can always manage it through planning and preparation. If you don’t plan, you simply become a victim of the seasonal change. The choice is all yours: either be a victim of change or become an agent of change.

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