The entire social media and the electronic press are awash with
anecdotes associated with the life of late President of India Dr A.P.J Abdul
Kalam. I would add that President Kalam has left a very rich legacy behind
something unheard of in the contemporary times.
There is one clip, which is being circulated on the social media, it is
a print screen of a Google search screen showing the name of the late President
and listed below are choices such as: quotes, books, speech, biographies.
I found the illustration interesting and decided to check it out; on closer
inspection discovered it to be a photo shop trick. However, the thought that if
someone does an online search of our name and the words and adjectives that
will come up lingered in my mind endlessly.
Or consider a safer scenario when those who have associated with us are asked
this question “what do you remember him for?” What will they say? What if this
question is asked during our living years and we somehow know what
was said-what will be our reaction?
In our program “Building
a culture of high Performance” participants are asked to think of a manager or
a leader who they worked with directly and today they attribute much of their
success to this person. The follow up to the question is what were some
of his qualities that you most admired in that person? Off course we don't
forward the answers to any one...but the exercise is thought provoking and
a prelude to discussion on leadership.
We have been recording the answers for sometime now and have found that
the answers participants offer are consistent across industries and roles. Some
of the words that appear in our diary are: ethical, empathetic, encouraging,
fair, empowering, showed big picture, result oriented, resourceful,
trustworthy, took time to know his people, visionary, subject matter expert
etc.
The list appears to be long and at a first glance it may seem that there
are too many behaviors for any leader to master, the fact is that it is not the
case. In an article titled “Decoding leadership that matters” printed in
McKinsey Quarterly dated June 15, 2015 the authors explain that there are four
behaviors which can explain 89% of leadership effectiveness. They are: 1) Being
supportive; 2) Result orientation; 3) Seek different perspective; and 4) Solve
problems effectively.
If any one wants to begin
his or her leadership journey the four behaviors provide an excellent starting
point. One important point to remember before you begin is to reflect and get
feedback on how you currently score on these parameters. The viewpoint of those
who are led by you is very important in your road to progress. As per the rules
of the social media it is important what you think about yourself but more important what others think of you.
How do you relate to
this blog I am interested to know your views?
