Of Corporate Vision and Leadership

Some people by nature are born to rule. It's an inborn talent. Those persons radiate self confidence and intimidate others that surround them. They are not difficult to recognize because they stand out from the lot. What makes a leader of one is one's ability to interact with people from all walks of live.

Leaders come in different personality types. You can't become a leader by imitating the most successful leader in the world. That strategy is doomed from the start. The leadership qualities you possess must be something nurtured inside you. Remember, the first step towards success is identifying your own leadership strength and qualities. To a certain degree, leadership skills determine the success an individual or organization achieves. However, leadership alone is not enough to steer an organization or an individual, for that matter, to attainment of success.

A clear vision of what one is set out to achieve is an integral part of the whole thing. Keep you vision intact from the day one and let your employees or hired-hands too understand your vision and share the rewards and credit afterward.

Dale Carnegie in one of his books said, "people can learn to move from directing to guiding, from competing to collaborating, from operating under a system of veiled secrecy to one of sharing information as it's needed, from a mode of passivity to a mode of risk taking, from one of viewing people as an expense to one of viewing people as an asset."

 Communication is vital in today's corporate world. "I'm the boss and I'm always right," were most accepted form of human interactions in the workplaces in the past. "Barking rights" or so they used to be called, were the prerogatives of the executives in the past. And loudness was then equated to toughness but not anymore. Today people realized the importance of communication. "Any idea is a good idea," my boss says it always, "and ideas are accepted from all levels of employees in my department." Though we communicate everyday, an effective communication is but rare everywhere. We're all on the different level, whether you are the company's CEO or a sub-staff, it's just a different job. Hence, communications need to be a two-way street.

Do nothing to discourage people from taking the risk of communicating. Do not punish your inferiors for telling you what's on their mind; if it's a good idea, take into consideration. If it's a bad idea just discard it.

You can't go on saying, "we're the best company in the locality, come join us," to each and every individual, though today there are media to pass on this message. You have to make them want to join you. It's a leader's job to foster these feelings. Everybody wants salary at the end of month but the real motivation never comes from financial benefits. There's something called job satisfaction and contentment. Those who work only for paycheck hardly get anything done.

"There's only one way under heaven to get anybody to do anything," Dale Carnegie said, "and that is by making the other person want to do it." As a superior, show your subordinates the respect, encourage them, let them speak up, include them in the decision making and above all make them feel valued and that's where true motivation comes from.

Dealing with people (associates, clients, customers) probably is the biggest challenge, especially in business. It's important to sometimes look at the things from other people's perspectives, put yourself in others shoes. As a leader, offer genuine appreciations to your employees/subordinates so they'd know that you know their worth and values it.