Decoding leadership: What really matters

Telling CEOs these days that leadership drives performance is a bit like saying that oxygen is necessary to breathe. Over 90 percent of CEOs are already planning to increase investment in leadership development because they see it as the single most important human-capital issue their organizations face. And they’re right to do so: earlier McKinsey research has consistently shown that good leadership is a critical part of organizational health, which is an important driver of shareholder returns.

A big, unresolved issue is what sort of leadership behavior organizations should encourage. Is leadership so contextual that it defies standard definitions or development approaches?3 Should companies now concentrate their efforts on priorities such as role modeling, making decisions quickly, defining visions, and shaping leaders who are good at adapting? Should they stress the virtues of enthusiastic communication? In the absence of any academic or practitioner consensus on the answers, leadership-development programs address an extraordinary range of issues, which may help explain why only 43 percent of CEOs are confident that their training investments will bear fruit.

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10 rules for being an exceptional leader from 'philosopher king' Marcus Aurelius

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius ruled from 161 to 180 A.D. and has maintained the reputation for being the ideal wise leader whom Plato called a "philosopher king."

His book "Meditations" has inspired leaders for centuries because of its timeless wisdom about human behavior.

It's a collection of personal writings from the chaotic last decade of his life. This turmoil inspired him to develop his interpretation of Stoic philosophy, which focused on accepting things out of one's control and maintaining mastery over one's emotions.

We've taken a look at a section from Book 11 in which Marcus reminds himself of leadership lessons he learned.

Using Gregory Hays' accessible translation of the ancient Greek (Marcus used the language of his philosophical heroes), we've broken down his 10 points into further simplified language, contextualized by the rest of Marcus' ideology.

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10 Personal Skills That Set the Very Best Leaders Apart

Leadership skills that worked in the past won't carry you into the future.

Do you have the personal qualities you need to be an effective leader
in the coming decades? Even if you've been successful so far, the
answer may be no. The aggressive personality and hard-driving skill
set that got so many leaders to the top in past years won't keep
working in the future.

That warning comes from Sandja Brügmann, serial entrepreneur and
founder of the Passion Institute, a conscious leadership, strategic
purpose, and sustainable business consultancy for executives and
entrepreneurs. "Today, we are experiencing a shift away from the old,
pure capitalist business principles, where success was measured purely
by profits, with a high disregard for any damaging effects on the
environment, health, and workers," she says. "Instead, the focus is
moving to the bigger interrelated picture and the environmental,
cultural, social, and global impacts a business can have."

Some of that evolution is happening for a very practical reason: the
tight labor pool. With skilled employees increasingly able to choose
among many employers, 77 percent of Millennials say they select
companies they can be proud of, according to recent research by
Deloitte. That means leaders who want success for the future must pay
attention to the bigger picture or risk losing younger employees to
more socially conscious employers.

Developing the qualities you need to be a "new paradigm" leader will
make you happier as well, she adds. "People who have these leadership
skills not only create stronger interrelations," she says. "They also
live the life they truly want to live." And they help their businesses
make a positive impact in the world at large as well.

Here's what you'll need.

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50 Rules for Being a Great Leader:

Becoming a great leader isn’t something that happens overnight, but it can be achieved through discipline, hard work and a commitment to improvement through experience. Great leaders aren’t born, as some people suggest; instead, they are shaped over time. And, while what makes a “great” leader in one application doesn’t always apply to others, there are some general rules that all great leaders follow. If becoming a great leader in your own business or organization is your goal, these 50 rules are a good place to start:

1. Listen to your team. Rule one. Always listen to what your team has to say, even if you don’t like it.
2. Communicate as efficiently as possible. Make your expectations and feelings clear, in the appropriate medium as often as possible.
3. Talk less. Sometimes saying nothing is better than saying just anything.
4. Be an example. Be the type of person you want your team members to be.
5. Be passionate. If you aren’t passionate about your business, you’re in the wrong business.
6. Be consistent. Be consistent in your behaviors so your team knows what to expect from you.
7. Make firm decisions. Don’t leave things undecided for long, and don’t waver about a decision once you’ve made it.
8. Identify mentors and role models. Find people you can look up to and learn from, and follow them closely.
9. Interfere only when necessary. If you trust your team to do good work, don’t interfere unless absolutely necessary.
10. Know your limits. Don’t extend yourself beyond your means.

For the rules 11 to 50 and full post please visit

50 Quotes on Leadership Every Entrepreneur Should Follow

Every entrepreneur knows that the success of their business ultimately rests on their shoulders. Yes, the product you build and the team you hire are important, but your ability to lead is what carries your company. With that kind of pressure, it’s easy to feel stressed, lonely and overwhelmed at times. Every great leader has faced a challenge that defined their greatness, which is why we often turn to their advice when needed. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, business owner, or team leader, here are 50 inspirational quotes on leadership for when you need a little pep talk.

1. "A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be." – Rosalynn Carter

2. “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” - Lao Tzu

3. "It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse." - Adlai E. Stevenson II

4. "Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand." – Colin Powell

5. “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” - Max DePree

6. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." – John Quincy Adams

7. “A leader is a dealer in hope.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

8. "A leader...is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind." - Nelson Mandela

9. “He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” - Aristotle

10. "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

For the rest 11 to 50 please visit

16 lessons from the book "The Effective Executive" by Peter Drucker

1) Effectiveness can be learned -

2) You have to manage yourself

3) Manage your time

4) Focus on results

5) Build on strengths

6) Ask what needs to be done

7) Write an action plan

8) Put first things first

9) Delegate to compensate for your weakness

10) Make jobs challenging for others

11) Take responsibility for communicating

12) Focus on opportunities

13) Make meetings productive

14) Think and say ‘We’

15) Demand more of yourself

16) Be open to disagreement

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11 Simple Concepts to Become a Better Leader

Being likeable will help you in your job, business, relationships, and life. I interviewed dozens of successful business leaders for my last book, to determine what made them so likeable and their companies so successful. All of the concepts are simple, and yet, perhaps in the name of revenues or the bottom line, we often lose sight of the simple things - things that not only make us human, but can actually help us become more successful. Below are the eleven most important principles to integrate to become a better leader:

1. Listening
2. Storytelling
3. Authenticity
4. Transparency
5. Team Playing
6. Responsiveness
7. Adaptability
8. Passion
9. Surprise and Delight
10. Simplicity
11. Gratefulness

The Golden Rule: Above all else, treat others as you’d like to be treated

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10 Things Really Amazing Bosses Do

Are you truly an amazing boss or just a good one? See how many of these 10 traits are natural for you.

1. Good Bosses maintain control and get things done.
Amazing Bosses know efficiency can be the enemy of efficacy in the long run and so they work to create an atmosphere of expansive thinking. They empower their team with time, resources and techniques, to solve big issues with big ideas instead of Band-Aids and checklists.

2. Good Bosses foster a sense of community, making room for everyone.
Amazing Bosses form an internal culture by design rather than default, making sure they attract the right people to get on the bus and then get them in the right seats. They also make sure that the wrong people never get on the bus, or if they do, they get off quickly.

Read the rest 8 things

Swamiji (Vivekananda) was a total leader—in thought, word and action

India is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda this year Such milestones are an occasion to revisit the life, work and teachings of great persons and renew our learning. As a student of management, Dr M.B. Athreya attempts to draw some insights for professional managers from Swamiji's life.

The importance of action
The need for introspection
Take responsibility
The importance of globalism
Practise effective communication
Build lasting institutions
Develop leadership skills
Pick a mission

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7 Skills That Can Make CIOs Better Leaders

1. 9 Personal Skills You should Hone
2. 10 Non-certified IT Skills That Pay a Premium
3. 7 Essential CIO Leadership Skills That Get Results
4. Skills for the CIO Class of 2015
5. How to Retool Your IT Skills for the Cloud
6. 10 Recession-proof IT Skills You should Have
7. IT Jobs: How to Re-Skill Yourself for a Higher-Paying One

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Interesting articles to read -- 24-09-2012

Interesting articles to read -- 24-09-2012

Can Crowdsourcing Bring Unused Patents Back from the Dead?University patents often sit there on the shelf. One startup thinks crowdsourcing could revive them. Read

Putting quality back into education. By P.V.Indiresan, Former Director of IITM Read

Nurturing the family: TVS group has never faced a labour problem Read

Click & Mortar: Web stores get popular - Tips to set up your business online Read

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs (HBR article) Read

Music Therapy: An Ultimate Remedy for Many Diseases Read

Archives

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs

His saga is the entrepreneurial creation myth writ large: Steve Jobs cofounded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company. Along the way he helped to transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing. He thus belongs in the pantheon of America’s great innovators, along with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Walt Disney. None of these men was a saint, but long after their personalities are forgotten, history will remember how they applied imagination to technology and business.

The leadership lessons include:

Focus, Simplify, Take Responsibility End to End, When Behind, Leapfrog, Put Products Before Profits, Don’t Be a Slave To Focus Groups, Bend Reality, Impute, Push for Perfection, Tolerate Only “A” Players, Engage Face-to-Face, Know Both the Big Picture and the Details, Combine the Humanities with the Sciences, Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

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Interesting articles to read -- 08-09-2012

Interesting articles to read -- 08-09-2012

Corporate leaderspeak: ‘The Best advice I ever got’ Read

Young Entrepreneurs: Super Starts -- What’s fuelling entrepreneurship in India By Kripa Mahalingam Read

10 Time-Saving Apps for Moms Read

Archives

Jeff Bezos's Top 10 Leadership Lessons

This story appears in the April 23, 2012 issue of FORBES magazine, accompanying the cover story, Inside Amazon’s Idea Machine.

With the passing of Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos is now tech’s leading philosopher-CEO. His advice ranges from what to read (give the Declaration of Independence a shot) to how to deal with stress (“Laugh a lot”). Mostly, though, Bezos sticks to business.

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Seven Up Contemplations to Power Leadership

When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself. Plato

Today’s leadership is facing unprecedented challenges than ever, the marketing volatility is the constant; the global competition is the new normal, the multi-generational, multi-cultural workforce is phenomenal, the “command & control” style leadership is no longer effective and democratic enough to adapt to the change, engage employee and delight customers.

The contemporary leadership need go beyond “M&M”: the half mind and half muscle status quo, should embrace the “CHARM” principle: Character, Heart, Attitude, Resourceful, and Mind.

Here is the seven contemplations help recharge leadership in 21st century.

1. Positive thinking
2. Critical thinking
3. Creative thinking
4. Analytic thinking
5. Abstract thinking
6. Situational thinking
7. Collective thinking

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Corporate leaderspeak: ‘The Best advice I ever got’

Corporate leaderspeak: ‘The Best advice I ever got’: Personal accounts of 50 of India's "wise" men and women - the country's biggest corporate leaders. Each one of them writes about the advice that worked for them. What is important to note is that they chose which advice they wanted to follow, and profited from it.

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Ten Traits of Great Leaders

Leaders attract people to follow them. They have perfected the art of getting
others to do something because they—the followers—want to do it. Much has
been written on how leaders do this. In all the research and observations it
appears that ten traits separate great leaders from their peers.

1. Ability to Create a Compelling Vision. Leaders focus on the future.
They have a clear picture of what they want the organization to
become. They are excited about the future and don’t waste time
dealing with the past.

2. Ability to Articulate Their Vision to Others. Leaders have an ability
to describe that future state in words and feelings that captivate and
galvanize those around them. They constantly share their views of the
world with those who look to them for guidance.

3. Consistency. Great leaders don’t change with the wind. They are
flexible and open to new ideas, but they tend to be constant in their
beliefs and values. Once they have articulated their visions, they keep
on track without getting distracted by competing temptations. They
tend not to buy in to the ‘‘flavor of the month’’ program only to chop
and change at the slightest sign of a roadblock.

4. Humility. High achievers have justifiable pride in their accomplishments.
Leaders are human—they make mistakes. But they are not
afraid to admit it when they go wrong. They are good listeners. They
are as interested as learning from others as they are in sharing their
own thoughts. Humble people also appreciate feedback. They thrive
on learning when they’ve done well. And they’re interested in learning
from their mistakes so that they can do better.

5. Focus. Leaders focus on key results. They are not distracted by trivia.
Whatever they do, they complete with excellence.

6. Tenacity. Leaders anticipate problems and work diligently until they
overcome obstacles.

7. Holistic Thinking. Leaders can see the big picture as well as the
interrelationship among the parts.

8. Strategic Thinking. Leaders have an eye on the future. They spend
little time thinking about the ‘‘good old days.’’ They have a clear
sense of what they should do to anticipate and meet future challenges.

9. Agile Minds. Leaders learn quickly. They observe everything around
them and ask lots of questions so that they can become more proficient
in their knowledge and skills. They are adaptable. Future leaders
can modify their behavior to find quick acceptance from people in a
variety of situations and with people at all levels of an organization.

10. Aversion to Tyranny. Leaders are fair-minded and avoid taking
abusive advantage of people and situations.

Extract from the book: The Leader’s Tool Kit Hundreds of Tips and Techniques for
Developing the Skills You Need by Cy Charney

Professionalism

As a leader, you set the tone for others. Your behavior will be closely watched—
and copied.

✓ Always be pleasant. It takes far fewer facial muscles to smile than to
frown, so smile often. Make eye contact with people you meet.
✓ Greet people by name. Employees appreciate being recognized as individuals.
✓ Listen to others in meetings. Don’t interrupt or cut people off. If they
are going on much longer than they should, paraphrase back to them
what you have understood to be their key messages.
✓ Always introduce others who are with you to people you bump into. It
demonstrates that you value them.
✓ Never take anything for granted. Always say please and thank you.
✓ Avoid office gossip. If someone tells you a rumor, do not reply. Do not
comment on the idea. Avoid basing evaluations on the information.
✓ Stay out of office politics. As difficult as this may be, avoid choosing
sides in disputes that have little to do with issues and everything to do
with personalities. Keep your eye on the ball: the goals you have set
for yourself and those around you. Stop people in their tracks if they
want to tell you something in confidence, unless it has nothing to do
with undermining someone else in the company.
✓ Dress for success and acceptance. Always dress one level better of what
others might expect of you. Dressing down might appear humble but
will project a poor image. Look the part that you want to be. Always
be neat and tidy.
✓ Be timely in everything you do. Return phone calls and e-mails as
quickly as possible. Be at a meeting on time or a bit before time to
make sure that you are ready.
✓ Be willing to listen to others even if you think that your opinion will
differ. Lean forward and show, with your body language and eye
contact, that you are listening to them.
✓ Don’t argue with people needlessly. Be tactful. Before you offer another
suggestion, acknowledge their suggestions by summarizing them and
then presenting your ideas, and ask for their opinions and support.
Avoid using the ‘‘but’’ word before presenting an alternative.
✓ Always show interest in the people around you. If you’re running short
of time, apologize and offer to see people later.
✓ Encourage those lower in the corporate hierarchy to strive for improvement.
Share your strategies with them.
✓ Model the behavior you expect from others. Know, that as a leader,
others are looking to you for cues about how they should act in similar
circumstances.

Extract from the book: The Leader’s Tool Kit Hundreds of Tips and Techniques for
Developing the Skills You Need by Cy Charney

What Does Managing Your Career Mean? What Does It Look Like?

If you choose to do this (because it is your choice), you

■ Are willing to work for a boss you don’t like and still make the
boss look good and smart.
■ Learn how people get promoted in your organization and do the
same and more.
■ Help your boss get promoted and help your subordinates get
promoted.
■ Consistently exceed your own expectations and even do better
than others think you will.
■ Take it on yourself to learn how profit and loss happens in your
organization.
■ Solve problems and make issues go away and communicate so
that others know what your team has accomplished and the
value they add to the organization.
■ Coach your people on the next steps they should take after each
of their accomplishments.
■ Get a replacement ready to take your place.
■ Look, work, walk, and talk (without a hint of arrogance) like you
are already in the next job before you are so that people “see”
you in it.

What Does Confident Look Like?

If you choose to have it (because it is your choice), you

■ Are comfortable in your own skin.
■ Handle whatever hits you no matter how many pressures.
■ Have an ego that is “in check”; you haven’t an ounce of conceit.
■ Feel neither self-conscious nor superior.
■ Exude lots of emotional strength.
■ Fail to act embarrassed with what people think about you and
shrug off attempts at insults.
■ Freely admit imperfection and ignorance in many areas; you
listen for better ideas.
■ Credit luck with many of your achievements.
■ Look at your own strengths and weaknesses with utter
detachment; sometimes you volunteer your own limitations and
always admit your mistakes and missteps.
■ Have pride but don’t act too proud.
■ Feel relevant, never irrelevant.
■ Have a sureness of your powers to get a job done even with the
unknown, complex, or inexplicable.
■ Hold no delusion about yourself; you can look at yourself
objectively and laugh at yourself wholeheartedly.
■ Shut up before you berate, bad mouth, or insult.
■ Can say “No” without explanation and can take “No” without
affront.
■ Feel comfortable being uncomfortable.
■ Don’t need approval.
■ Are complimentary toward others instead of skeptical and
jealous.
■ Seek out the smartest person in the room instead of acting like
the smartest person in the room.
■ Think of yourself less often instead of thinking less of yourself.
■ Free up your mind with peace of mind even when relinquishing
control.
■ Respect others.
■ Put people around you at ease regardless of how you feel
yourself.
■ Are talked about by others as sure of yourself, cool, self-reliant,
self-possessed, well-balanced, self-controlled, poised, self-assured,
and sangfroid.

Extracts from the book: CEO MATERIAL - HOW TO BE A LEADER IN ANY ORGANIZATION by D. A. BENTON.