Being a leader – essential qualities that can make you a ‘brand’ in the organization.

Talent acquisition, however organizations view & strategize about it, is indeed the biggest challenge facing the industry in the country today. This is more relevant and has turned to be a critical factor that haunts the ITES/BPO industry. As large and branded players move ahead in the race for talent, by using compensation and benefits as a key acquisition tool, the challenge is indeed humongous for the midsized and smaller players in the sector. Whichever organization be it, good leadership - organizational/team - by itself could be a sub-brand within the employer brand (or even for a perceived unbranded employer too). A cursory look at any recent best employer survey will throw light to this fact – amongst the top names would be a few organizations, which are shining stars not owing to the salaries they pay, but leadership, across the hierarchy. This is to prove the fact that ‘good leadership’ is indeed a brand by itself, dwarfing the organizations’’ brand. Here are some very essential leadership qualities, not exhaustive, but critical and can go a long way in managers turning leaders, and facilitate in creation of the brand ‘leader’, for their employer. Be a leader, not a manager It is common belief that someone who is designated a manager, is a de-facto leader of the team or the organization. Or that is what at least most of us assume and tend to impose on teams and organizations. Such a belief is a sure shot to failure of the individual, and would have a cascading detrimental effect on the organization too! Whatever be the designation, authority and respect is always bottoms up, and comes in when the team perceives the manager to be a leader, formally and informally as well. The leaders positioning would need to be by virtue of his value add to the team, knowledge sharing, and a whole lot of intangibles. While HR or the organizations spare no efforts in hiring the appropriate candidate to be a manager/leader, and proffering whatever training and retraining is needed, it is left to the hands of the manager-designate to prove his leadership skills. Managers just manage, with the systems and processes that are in place. But leaders make the team realize their strengths and weaknesses, and move their performance one up the ladder. Whilst a manager is just another step in the organizational hierarchy, a leader is a morale-booster for the team, and shall be someone who galvanizes the team to do more than what they do, and to the best of their abilities. Leadership is all about a lot of effort in turning an ordinary team to one that can perform extra-ordinarily, by working on the strengths of the team/team members. To that effect, the leader possesses a quality to quickly identity and bring to the fore the strengths of the team. ‘Shower praises and maximize strengths and privately speak and work on overcoming weaknesses of team members’ is the best way to build and synergize the team. Communicate effectively, and constantly create opportunities for dialogue Thanks to the increasing proliferation of technology, the tendencies today are to send a formal mail to even someone in the next cubicle. And it is more in the case of managers’ - who are not leaders. While sending formal communiqué could be at times a procedural need, the leader communicates goals, issues, problems or anything of relevance to the team in groups and one on one, as he deems fit. This would help the leader get a quick pulse of the team-feel, and also help is creating plans and strategies that have their ear to the ground. Just forwarding a mail, or sending a communiqué smack of authority, that may not have a team buy-in. In a formal situation, only part of the team would get involved. Given the heterogeneity of today’s teams, informal modes make the team and organizational goals abundantly clear. Informal and individual approaches create and increases opportunities for divergent views and dialogues. Having a feel of the divergent views is quintessential to give clarity what the goals are and how they are going to be achieved by all in the team. Moreover, an informal style keeps the lines of communication open, making team members feel free to voice their opinions. In most cases, this leads to better translation of strategies into operation and immunes the leader and the organization from major operational goof-ups, which would prove dear from the cost and strategic perspective. Be a great mentor and be dependable In the times, when aspiration levels are high, a mentor is the most sought after person in any professional situation. This makes it a fundamental prerequisite for the manager, to be a mentor to the team, if he seeks to morph as a leader. In fact, now the trend in most companies is to facilitate the new employee with a mentor, to take care of the emotional needs during the vagaries of induction into the organization and post that. The leader becomes a mentor to every team member, and proactively advises the team mate on a host of professional and personal situations. That means, the leader should be the most approachable to all the team mates, and breaks the shackles of hierarchy with the team. Only this assures the comfort level, and makes each of the team member to open up. To be a mentor, it is also very crucial for the leader to be a great listener, to the stated, and someone who can see the obvious, even if not expressed by the team member. Once the leader perceives the obvious, he needs to initiate a dialogue and make the team member open up. It is also very important to position oneself as someone who is dependable – dependable in all situations. This calls for a great level of perceived level-headedness, and consistency in positive behavior. ‘Percieved’ is the key word, as perception is bigger than reality as far as the team members go. Effective mentoring is indeed a good way to control attrition, as in most cases employee exits are owing to reasons unstated and unseen – owing to a lack of opportunity to open up at the appropriate juncture. Be ready to give credit and also take the beating Most organizations today, are replete with stories of managers or bosses who take the heat on the team, at the slightest hint of trouble. And even worse, take all the credit for anything that happened good as a team. This is the last and most questionable behavior, that plummets the team morale. In some cases, attrition is due to this, with a well performing team member, leaving the organization, tired of this managerial quality. A leader should be readily willing to give credit and appreciation to anything good, that is a consequence of team performance. In most cases, a good leader is one who seldom speaks of what he did, and speaks more of what each team member, or the team as a whole contributed. This is seen to be the most powerful intangible motivator – each team member is constantly in a quest for a need to be seen achieving and contributing. And when this is commended, however insignificant be the contribution, the individual gets pushed to the next higher level of performance, with very little managerial intervention. Even more important is handling the issue of taking the beating in case of any problems. The leader should be the first to volunteer and own responsibility for whatever did not work for the team. This immunes the team from any de motivating reprimand. Once the heat of the situation is tided over, the leader should sit with the team/members of the team and work on course corrections and provoke them to introspect. This will propel the team to voluntary action, which needs to be catalyzed by the manager. Inspire and set an example Above all, the paramount quality of a leader is to inspire his team by the quality of work, towards organizational goals. The walk and talk of the leader, shall motivate, inspire, and move the team to a higher platform of performance. In most cases, and if the team feels the need, the leader works with individual team members to work on the performance gaps, and complement and supplement the efforts in accomplishing the work objectives. By doing this, the leader also provides critical on the job training to the team that scales up their performance when such situations recur. Leadership of teams is all about going an extra mile to galvanize the team to over-achieve the stated goals of the team/organization. All the best for each one of us to be a brand ‘LEADER’.