How Leadership help to improve the sales?
Leadership is the nucleus of all managerial and administrative activities. Leadership for all managerial responsibilities includes:
To envision and direct
To strengthen
To set and enforce absolute standards of behavior, attitude, presentation and performance,
To see things through to completion
To encircle themselves with expertise so that any gaps in their own capacities are filled.
John Adair, British management trainer and author talks about leadership in a short course.
The six most important words – ” I admit I made a mistake.”
The five most important words – “I am proud of you.”
The four most important words –”What is your opinion?”
The three most important words –”If you please”
The two most important words –”Thank You”
The one most important word –”We”
The least most important word –”I”
That’s all for leadership.
If I talk about leader than leadership for a while, it will be really a sensible reading for you all because ultimately leadership comes from leader only. It is worthwhile to discuss on leader.
Winston Churchill one becoming Prime Minister said, ” I am the leader. Therefore I must serve.”
According to Peters and Austin, a leader is : ‘cheerleader, enthusiast, nurturer of champions, hero finder, wanderer, dramatist, coach, facilitator and builder’.
Nepoleon Bonaparte once articulated ” A leader is a dealer in hope’.
Leaders are the custodians of a nation’s ideals, of the beliefs it cherishes, of its permanent hopes, of the faith which makes a nation out of mere aggregation of individuals. – Lippmann.
In words of Bill Gates ” Leaders will be those who empower others… Empowering leadership means bringing out the energy and capabilities people have and getting them to work together in a way they wouldn’t do otherwise.
Identifying Great Leaders in way of David Ogilvy ” Great leaders almost always exude self-confidence. They are never petty. They are never buck-passers. They pick themselves up after defeat…
Great leaders are always fanatically committed to their jobs. They do not suffer from the crippling need to be universally loved. They have the guts to make unpopular decisions – including the guts to fire non-performers…
Good leaders are decisive. They grasp nettles.
Good leaders do not use fear as a tool. The most effective leader is the one who satisfies the psychological needs of his followers.”
Isn’t it enough to identify whether you are on right track as a leader?
Match following attributes with yourself and decide ‘Do you have it in you?” If yes, you are a leader identified by great leaders.
Understanding, tolerance, sympathy, wisdom, perspective, equanimity, mind-reading, second sight, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, encourage hearts, good listener, forethought and prudence, humble, common touch, knows every one names in team, open door problem-solver, advice giver, comfortable with people in their workplace, available, fair, trust people, gives credit to others, honest & frequent feedback giver, believe in discussion rather written reports, arrives early and stay late, nothing reserved for him alone, decisive, persistent, with strong conviction, delegates all important jobs, honest, straightforward, open, promotes from within, keeps promises, organization is top of the agenda, often takes the blame and see mistakes as learning. (Peters and Austin: 1986)
In organization most of the time, we misunderstand management as leadership. To be a manager is not sufficient to be a leader. Philosophy differs.
Peter & Warren differentiated “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
According to Grace Hopper “You don’t manage people, you manage things. You lead people.”
Tom Peters wrote in “The Leadership Challenge” , ” Leadership, many have said, is different from management. Management is mostly about ‘to do’ lists- can’t live without them. Leadership is about tapping the wellsprings of human motivation- and about fundamental relations with one’s fellows.
Stephen Covey wrote in ‘The 7 habits of Highly Effective People’, “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
Thus it is very true only being successful manager is not being successful leader as thinking and beliefs are different in leadership than management.
Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart.
Leadership is about inspiration of oneself and of others.
Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes.
Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others.
It is an attitude, not a routine.
- Lance Secretan
However management is following up of techniques, methods, processes, formula, program and routine.
By Jay C
