ABC’s OF LEADERSHIP

Boss or Leader?

l The boss drives his people; the leader coaches them.
l The boss depends upon authority; the leader depends on good will.
l The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
l The boss says “I”; the leader says “we.”
l The boss fixes blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown.
l The boss says “Go”; the leader says “Let’s go!”
Preamble
l Praises and glorifications
l A privilege and delight to be invited to elucidate on the concept of leadership
l I develop an immutable commitment to accept invitation despite very tight schedule
l The reasons are as follows:
l Particularly indebted to the society – My root my beginning- Islamic consciousness and leadership development
l Passionate about encouraging and assisting upcoming youths
l Bearing in mind that Muslims are going to face a big challenge of leadership in the nearest future – Highly competitive future

My Observations
p ओउर attitude to the concept of leadership – Destiny, so don’t plan
p Just as the world is paying unprecedented attention to the quality leadership or value added leadership or all-round leadership
p The society’s focus and firmness in leadership development is on the decline.
p However, the ABC of Leadership cannot be discussed once, so I will limit my to the ABC’s of LEADERS
Definition of Leadership
p refers to the process of moving people in a planned direction by motivating them to action through non-compulsive means
p Leadership is both a role and a process of influencing others.
p So, who is a leader? – Audience Reponse

Basic features in the Definition
p The planned direction is truly in their long-term best interest
p The direction could be as general as reaching out to the world with Islam
p or as specific as holding an issue-oriented conference
p It’s a role and process involving all

Duties of a Leader
• creates a vision of the future that takes into account the legitimate long-term interests of the parties involved;
• develops a rational strategy for moving toward that vision;
• enlists the support of the key power centers whose cooperation, compliance, or teamwork is necessary to produce that movement; and
• highly motivates that core group of people whose actions are central to implementing the strategy-demonstrates commitment and high level of sacrifice.

• The leader should strive to create an atmosphere of free thinking, healthy exchange of ideas, criticism, and mutual advices so that the followers feel very comfortable in discussing matters of interest to the group.


Qualities of a Good Leader
These factors are common in the published findings of research projects conducted on successful leaders, business organizers, and entrepreneurs. (Although stated below in masculine terminology, essentially the same factors are applicable to women.)

Mental Ability: Not necessarily a super-intelligent prodigy.

2. Broad Interest and Abilities:
He is not a narrow specialist. He possesses a wide general understanding, and has many and varied abilities. He is sensitive to and broadly interested in the work with which he is most directly connected, plus many other important activities and aspects of his environment.

3. Communication Skills:
One of the titles of the Prophet of Islam is “The most eloquent speaker of Arabic.” According to the Cambridge History of American Literature: “Not his policies, nor his action had won for Lincoln his commanding position in his party in 1860, but his way of saying things. In every revolution, the men who can phrase it can lead it.”

4. Maturity:
A successful leader is free from leftover childishness; his attitude and behavior patterns are those of a responsible, mature adult. He is psychologically secure within himself and represents psychological security to his followers.

5. Motivational Strength:
Drive, energy, initiative, courage, ability to “self-start,” and consistency have long been recognized as clear marks of a strong leader. The successful leader likes the work of planning, organizing, and directing the efforts of others. He has a strong desire to accomplish.

6. Social Skill:
Leadership fundamentally means accomplishing through others, which makes it entirely obvious that the successful leader must rely heavily on socially skills. He must be sensitive to human feelings and attitudes, whether spoken or not, and he must be empathetic in order to be effective in influencing others.

7. Administrative Ability:
Envisioning, originating, planning, organizing, directing, completing, evaluating people, selecting, teaching, inspiring, reviewing, analyzing, observing, improving, applying insight, summarizing, deciding, on which the leader particularly relies.

Highlight of Qualities
¡ Morally sound
¡ Imaginative
¡ Management-minded
¡ Fair to all concerned
¡ Varied in interests
¡ Instruction minded
¡ Emotionally mature
¡ Planning minded
¡ Respectful toward self and others
¡ Studious
¡ Decisive
¡ Organized
¡ Dependable
¡ Enthusiastic
¡ Energetic
¡ Coaching minded
¡ Expressive (speech and writing)
¡ Logical
¡ Mentally keen, alert
¡ Responsible
¡ Improvement minded (practicing ihsan)
¡ Resourceful
¡ Initiating, hard working
¡ Loyal to all concerned
¡ Humane

The ABC of Superlative Leadership

Learn your alphabet of leadership and take your team to new heights।

n A is for Appreciative Cultures, the end result of a leader's work, when the culture he or she fosters becomes an appreciative value of the company.
n B is for rock-solid Belief that your team can move mountains.
n C is for Culture, which is the way people behave when you're not looking.
n D is for the Drive for Power that makes you want to lead.
n E is for Encouragement, like sun after the rain.
n F is for Fun, an indication that the right work is happening.
n G is for Growing your people (Audience). Like Sir Colin Marshall, head of British Airways, who personally attended every one of his customer care programmes, "Putting People First".
n H is for Helicopter vision, because you need to see in three time zones: the near, the middle and the far.
n I is for leader Identity, the ability to be comfortable in your own shoes.
n J is for Joy because leaders rejoice in their own blessings as well as the successes of their team.
n K is for Knowing your people, not just by name and number, but by strength and weakness, character and spirit, skills and potential, what makes them sigh and what makes them soar.
n L is for Learning, because learning is change and learning is growth.
n M is for Mission which leaders live as well as write.
n N is for the Nobel complex, the belief that everything your people do is worthy of a Nobel prize.
n O is for Opportunity. Like Edmund McIlhenny who returned from the American Civil War to find his sugar plantation and salt works in ruins except for a few hot Mexican peppers that had sown themselves. He used them to produce a sauce that is now known as Tabasco and sold around the world.
n P is for Plain-talking because leaders need to be understood.
n Q is for Questions, such as "What do you need me to do?" and "How can I help you work better?" and "What should I be doing?"
n R is for Respect, the touchstone of every relationship a leader has.
n S is for Symbols, the language of leadership.
n T is for the Traits of courage and determination, patience and perseverance.
n U is for Unleashing what's there. Like 3M, who allow their scientists to spend 15% of their time working on projects that interest them.
n V is for Values, the guiding principles of the team, or "the Walkmans of the mind".
n W is for the Way, the Chinese "tao", the route that leaders take and others follow.
n X is for Xtraordinary because leaders get ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
n Y is for Yes, because there is always a plus to be found even in the worst situation and the toughest setback.
n Z is for Zero tolerance of failure, sub-performance and giving up.
Conclusion

n Learn these simple principles, and there are no limits to where you can lead your team.
n But always put in your best ‘cos only the best is good for you.

Appreciation
• I sincerely thank you for your attention