Journal for Business Leadership

2009

Farhan Salim

September 30, 2009

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Table of Contents

1.1 First Entry August 11, 2009...........................................................................................4

Topic: An advice for difficult times.....................................................................................4

1.2 Second Entry August 11, 2009......................................................................................4

Topic: Leaders can create a difference................................................................................4

1.3 Third Entry August 12, 2009.........................................................................................5

Topic: Are leaders born or made? .......................................................................................6

2.1 First Entry August 14, 2009...........................................................................................6

Topic: Reflection - An important trait of a leader...............................................................6

2.2 Second Entry August 15, 2009......................................................................................7

Topic: Why develop Leadership..........................................................................................7

2.3 Third Entry August 17, 2009.........................................................................................8

Topic: With great power come great responsibilities..........................................................8

2.4 Fourth Entry August 18, 2009.......................................................................................9

Topic: Can an Authoritarian be a good Leader? .................................................................9

3.1 First Entry August 23, 2009...........................................................................................9

Topic: Great Leaders also make mistakes...........................................................................9

3.2 Second Entry August 24, 2009....................................................................................11

Topic: Good followers: A necessity for good leadership..................................................11

3.3 Second Entry August 25, 2009....................................................................................11

Topic: Leadership Development or meeting targets? .......................................................11

4.1 First Entry August 30, 2009.........................................................................................12

Topic: Adaptability - A crucial trait in leadership.............................................................12

4.2 Second Entry August 31, 2009....................................................................................13

Topic: Leadership from a far.............................................................................................13

4.3 Third Entry September 1, 2009....................................................................................14

Topic: Confidence - A double edged sword......................................................................14

5.1 First Entry September 5, 2009.....................................................................................15

Topic: Leadership - To some only a means to an end.......................................................15

5.2 Second Entry September 6, 2009.................................................................................16

Topic: Leadership – not just a position..............................................................................16

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5.3 Third Entry September 8, 2009....................................................................................17

Topic: When Leadership is not needed..............................................................................17

6.1 First Entry September 13, 2009...................................................................................18

Topic: Leadership: not a popularity contest..................................................................18

6.2 Second Entry September 14, 2009...............................................................................19

Topic: When the time gets tough the leader gets going................................................19

6.3 Third Entry September 15, 2009..................................................................................20

Topic: Vision – The Essence of leadership.....................................................................20

7.1 First Entry September 21, 2009...................................................................................21

Topic: Employee satisfaction: The most important job of a leader...................................21

7.2 Second Entry September 22, 2009...............................................................................22

Topic: The biggest risk is not taking any risk at all...........................................................22

7.3 Third Entry September 23, 2009..................................................................................23

Topic: How to measure leadership....................................................................................23

8.1 First Entry September 28, 2009...................................................................................24

Topic: Great Leader - One who climbs to the top and stays there.....................................24

8.2 Second Entry September 29, 2009...............................................................................25

Topic: Self Sacrifice – The price of leadership.................................................................25

8.3 Third Entry September 30, 2009..................................................................................26

Topic: Leadership – The ability to recognize & measure the potential of the followers...26

References..........................................................................................................................28

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1.1 First Entry August 10, 2009

Topic: Hard times- An opportunity for leaders.

There are many hurdles in business cycle and we are now facing a difficult time of economic meltdown. Many organizations are now facing a much tougher time with fluctuation of currencies, shooting oil prices, loan chaos and political contraction making the economy a cocktail of disaster. Today businesses are just not the same anymore getting tough day by day, and now even the small businesses are feeling the effects.

No matter how tough it is for them financially, this tough time of global recession brings in great opportunities to groom and blossom as leaders. Organizations now require leaders to come and help them survive from the downfall. This is the time when the difference between leadership and management comes to the frontline and only successful leaders can be the difference between a company surviving or going bust.

Today’s leaders because of the economic downturn are facing pressures from the people they are leading as well as from top management. Many leaders because of such pressures are forced to make decisions that otherwise under better conditions they would not.

I believe the most important trait of leadership that comes into play is optimism and confidence in achieving the given targets. Lack of confidence and positive thinking can cloud a leaders judgment and can lead to fatal errors. As quoted by Chris Evert “You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” (about.com, 2009)

Situation

Being an entrepreneur running a small to medium size advertising agency, I have to compete for projects against much larger and more renowned competitors. Many times I have been successful in winning the projects from the hands of my competitors by persuading clients with high confidence and optimistic thinking. This was not the case when I started out five years back. Then, I had to struggle to win contracts, which were much tougher and complicated than what I had anticipated. And even when I did get contracts, it was a herculean task to get my team motivated to complete them on time. Today with the aid of positive thinking and confidence I am able to motivate my team to finish projects as well as to please my clients.

Lesson learned

To conclude I would like to say that this economic downturn with all its pressures could be a blessing in disguise for leaders who have confidence and optimism to grow and succeed where others would falter.

1.2 Second Entry August 11, 2009

Topic: Leaders can create a difference

Through my experience and readings, I have come across many leaders and I fail to see anything particularly common in any of them. There seems to be no direct relation of a leader with a political position or a top-level seat in an organization. There is no similarity in leaders when compared in color, culture, race, gender, age or even

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qualifications. It does not matter who they are, but the thing that matters is what they have done to become a leader. We acknowledge leaders by their leadership and not by their genetic or social characteristics.

However, when I go more into the depths about leaders, I see that there is one thing that is common between all leaders and this differentiates them from other people. So what is it that they all carry common in them? The answer to this question is their excellence when encountered with a difficult situation, their ability to thrive in difficult times. When they are encountered with a difficult situation they place them selves in the front line, stand against it and take actions without expectations rather than making an escape or putting the responsibility on the shoulders of the others.

Situation

I am currently living in the Middle East and banking with a local private bank having just one branch. At the start of the year when the economic downturn started to show its ugly head in my region, there were many rumors flying around that local private banks would get bankrupt. This situation created chaos between the small economy in which I am currently and many people started to withdraw their finances from local private banks. I too being the owner of a SME was worried and decided to follow suit. When I got to the branch, I was bewildered to see that all the cashiers had stacked up piles of cash behind them for the customers to see. Seeing millions in cash lying openly behind the cashiers convinced myself as well as other customers that the bank was well-financed and not going bankrupt. Later I got to know from the staff there that this was a strategy ordered by the CEO of the bank to increase customer satisfaction and build their trust in them by going transparent. Had the CEO not done this I would be banking somewhere else and most probably the bank would have lost many customers and possibility could have even gone bankrupt. Because of the CEO’s leadership he was able to bring a big difference to his bank. As Mike Murdock quotes “Leaders make decisions that create the future they desire.” (Inspirational Quotations, 2009)

Lesson learned

A leader looks at the glass as always half full and thinks out of the box. Only in hard times can a leaders abilities be prominent and utilized too an optimum potential. A leader is one who makes impossible possible.

I am reminded of a joke I received in my email that is not related to leadership but shows out of the box thinking and how one can make something from nothing which is an important trait for leaders. This is how it goes.

A jobless man approaches bill gates to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Bill Gates asks him what is your reputation to ask for my daughter’s hand. He replies I am the assistant manger to the president of the World Bank. Hearing this Bill Gates agrees to give his daughters hand to the jobless man. The jobless man then approaches the president of the World Bank for the position of assistant manager to him. The president of the World Bank asks him the same question what Bill Gates had asked him. The jobless man replies I am the son in law of Bill Gates. Hearing this the president of the World Bank agrees to give him the position.

1.3 Third Entry August 12, 2009

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Topic: Are leaders born or made?

This topic is a very debatable one of which there is no precise answer to whether one side is right or wrong. Many people say that leaders are born and not bred. I believe why they say this is because they have a mind of a manager and not a leader and they do not posses the ability think like a leader. This is an excellent example of claiming as the phrase goes “The grapes are sour”. Leadership development is an planned activity, which explains why I have opted to select this elective module ‘Business Leadership’ as I believe through this module I can be a better leader.

Situation

As I was to select an elective module after finishing all my core modules I came across this module and started to think whether a leader is born or made. But since this module existed it meant that it had a purpose just like there are many leadership development centers across the world. And this is the reason I believe that I can become a better leader by completing this module successfully. It has only been a week since I have started this module and I am already feeling the difference. For example, I have learned that there are more managers than leaders in the business world today and in this time when we are faced with an economic downturn can a leader make a difference and not a manager. If I am to survive with my SME business I have to develop leadership traits to lead my business out of this recession.

Lesson learned

“Leaders aren't born; they're made, like bread is made. Leadership development is an intentional activity. Raisin bread doesn't appear by itself even if we leave the ingredients on the kitchen counter overnight. Someone must consciously take ingredients and knead them together, put the mixture under the right amount of heat and allow it to rise, then punch it down and start over again until the dough is the perfect consistency. Only then will it rise above the pan. Helping a leader rise takes this same kind of intentional activity.” (Chand, 2009)

Like the quote above explains, leaders have to be groomed to become leaders, they cannot do it themselves. Even if a person is born in a royal family, s/he still needs to be groomed to be able to lead his/her nation. Although inborn skills are beneficial in one to rise early to the position of a leader, but it will only get you half way through. Grooming is vital to become a true leader.

2.1 First Entry August 14, 2009

Topic: Reflection - An important trait of a leader

I have during the course of this week come across an important trait about exceptional leaders and that is they take the time to reflect on their past actions. They look into it and try to find reasons to what has happened and not to forget it. Leaders when they take a decision do not make them abruptly but do so by making their decision based upon their past experience.

The concept of reflecting upon your past actions seems very simple yet many people do not devote much time to this exercise. Most people including myself when making decisions do so abruptly or by doing a quick analysis and often end up repeating their

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mistakes. In order to succeed it is important for a leader to sit back and reflect over past experiences especially mistakes to strategically plan the future.

Situation

Five years back when I was a new employee hired as a team leader in an IT firm, I was ambitious to learn and build good relationships with my teammates. Many times my teammates used to ask me to do their work by making some personal excuse for not being able to their work them selves, this way I used to end up accepting their excuse and by having a bad habit of not saying ‘No’ to anyone in order to please them an keep the relationship intact, I would be overloaded with additional task and always carried out their work before mine which made me a scapegoat and also delayed my own assignment deadlines. By following this consistently I ended up stressed and overloaded, which led to my annual appraisal being ‘satisfactory’ and remained in the same position with no growth.

Lesson learned

Analyzing the situation mentioned above and reflecting upon it I have learned that a leader does not spoon feed his team but instead encourages and guides them on how to carry out their activities effectively themselves and to motivate them on how to become a leader by accomplishing their tasks effectively and taking the challenges head on. Reflecting upon the mistake I had made I am keen to correct it in the future and to avoid repeating it and become a derailed leader. Chris Widener quoted “Evaluation of the past is the first step toward vision for the future.” (Askax, 2009)

2.2 Second Entry August 15, 2009

Topic: Why develop Leadership

It could be anytime that something critically important is not working properly in a company. At times it could be the Product development cycle and sometimes the compensation plan. It is these kind of circumstances when a company needs able leaders in all fields of business, who are prepared and willing to tackle and confront these problems.

Critical issues do not have simple solutions and just sitting around and thinking about it will feel better but will not solve anything. Solving these issues takes a whole lot of commitment and effort. It needs people who are unwilling to just sit around and let the issue to grow further. It needs people who are willing and able to go beyond the required boundaries to persistently work hard until they find a solution to the issue. These people are referred to as leaders of the organization. “Success in the future depends on people, and in order to achieve success, people depend on leaders. What we need in all walks of life and all endeavors is leadership.” (Chitwood, 2004)

The reason for developing leadership is not only to understand the topic but also to build an ability among people to provide exceptional leadership, especially when the organization faces critical issues that could lead the organization towards decline because it is ultimately the people involved in the organization that determine whether the organization will succeed or fail and not the technology or the financial capital.

Situation

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When I started my own Advertising agency I never thought of evaluating myself as a leader but only as a manager. Since recently when my workforce grew I had many obstacles that I had to overcome which I did not know about how to handle them. Although I had taken many management courses, I was still lacking to manage some situations, which were above my abilities. Now, when I read about this module of leadership in my MBA program, it clicked to my mind that I need to build my self as a leader to be able to handle these kinds of situations and circumstances that may arise in my company.

Lesson learned

By experiencing critical and hard situations in my company, I have learned that it is not the management skills that need fine-tuning but it is the leadership skills that need to be developed in order to effectively handle critical situations, which are above the solutions that can be offered by the management level.

2.3 Third Entry August 17, 2009

Topic: With great power come great responsibilities

Most of the times in leadership a leader is always seen as a hero. Whenever the term leader comes to mind it reflects a person who is right and above others. Many people trying to become potential leaders see only the power of the leader but rarely does anyone tends to see the negative impacts and wrongful doings of a leader. A leader possesses great power and with great power comes great responsibilities. Every Spiderman fan would have heard the above mentioned topic heading.

A leader especially a political one has vast amounts of power at his disposal. It is his/her duty to make use of this power for the better of others and not oneself, which becomes spiritual abuse. Spiritual abuse is the “misuse of a position of power, leadership, or influence to further the selfish interests of someone other than the individual who needs help.” (Ward, 2002) Third world countries especially mine are filled with leaders that misuse their power. For example, one political leader in my native country is infamous as “Mr. 10%” because he used to demand 10% of any projects that he would approve by misusing his power. He is so famous that there exists an unofficial face book profile with the same nickname in our native language with thousands of members

Situation

My friend was a team leader of a call center in a local bank. He had 30+ people in his team. He tended to always favor the ladies especially the beautiful ones in order to please them and get them attracted to him. As a result, the men in his team did not take him seriously and undermined is leadership skills. This misuse of his leadership power had turned almost all the male teammates against him and every year he got a bad rating from them, which resulted in him not getting any promotions. Although he was aware of this, but his bad habit of playing around the ladies was intense enough to keep him on the same track. Recently the local bank due to the economic downturn, terminated all average and below performers from their posts. He not being responsible enough in his duties caused him his job.

Lesson learned

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Power is nothing without control. This situation has helped me learn than power should be used wisely and fairly not only for others but also for your own good sake. Leadership when given is an opportunity that one should not take lightly and it should be used professionally with the good of others in mind and not oneself.

2.4 Fourth Entry August 18, 2009

Topic: Can an Authoritarian be a good Leader?

Many critics and numerous studies have shown that authoritarian leaders or authoritarian traits are not considered a good trait for leadership. As J.B Leslie & E. Van Velsor state in their points related to characteristic of derailed leaders in the text provided in this module that being “Authoritarian can derail one as a leader.” (Leslie & Velsor, 1996) I on the other hand, am of the opinion that sometimes for a leader it is not wrong to be Authoritarian.

Sometimes you have to be an Authoritarian among some of your team members, which consists of people who are the black sheep’s in the team. For example, Even the sheepherder holds a stick in his hand to guide the sheep to their destination. He can also hold grass in his hands but after a while it becomes useless and therefore he has to resort to the stick. Also, during my school days, I had many teachers who were authoritarian who I used to hate at that time but now have grown to admire because of their hard work to groom us students wisely that taught us lessons about life that came in use and have been helpful in today’s life.

Situation

In today’s world of global recession targets especially for the sales team have become a herculean task to achieve. Motivation especially in banks has failed because the incentives and bonuses given on achieving targets have been considerably reduced. Moreover the targets to achieve have also been increased making the team de-motivated to work hard. Team leaders of sales teams now have to resort to an authoritarian type of leadership to make their teams achieve their targets. By doing so the team leaders intend to retain the number of team members to avoid the policy of shape up or ship out implemented by many banks today.

Lesson Learned

Authoritarian leadership although bad is a good trait for a leader to learn and have given the right situation and circumstances. “Authoritarian leadership styles are effective in some situations where absolute control and authority is required such as military actions, police actions and emergency situations where discussion of ideas is not relevant to the immediacy of the circumstances and the need for clearly directed actions is paramount.” (Begich, 2005)

One of the reasons for me not to get married is that I believe most of the females after getting married become an authoritarian leader at home.

3.1 First Entry August 23, 2009

Topic: Great Leaders also make mistakes

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When we look into the history and lives of all great leaders we are mostly shown those attributes of the leader that make him/her stand out from the rest. We are shown circumstances and situations in which the leader made critical decisions that proved to be right. Reading all this makes one belief that the mentioned leader was some super human being with exceptional abilities that others did not possess. For example when we read about Mahatma Gandhi, founder of India, we read about how he went through many hardships without ever resorting to violence as a solution, how his ideals were able to shape and liberate an entire nation from the chains of British rule. I have never come to read about any faults or rather mistakes he made in his leadership. This raises the question whether leaders are in fact human i.e., people who make mistakes like the rest of us.

The first thought that comes to mind whenever one hears about leaders is that who is always right and we never realize that this is not always the case.

Situation

An incident that comes to my mind involves a recent scandal that occurred in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which involved the former minister of Finance and trade, Dr.Mistake (real name changed for obvious reasons) Dr.Mistake was a very prominent and famous businessman widely considered as a great leader by many of his peers. He followed one of the traits of leader, which is ambition to reach the position of Minister of Finance and Trade from just being a clerk twenty years back. His leadership skills were responsible for driving the UAE economy towards incline and he holds the honor of being the first Harvard graduate from his country, which is UAE. Dr.Mistake made the biggest mistake that led him to ruin of his reputation and forcing him to resign from his prominent position. Dr.Mistake formed a large leading development company in the UAE making his relative the chairman of the company. This relative used Dr. Mistakes power and position to gain illegal contracts from the government and also charged them high amounts. Dr. Mistake had complete trust in his relative and did not bother checking up on him. As a result, many government funds were misallocated and finally this fraud was discovered.

Lesson learned

As is evident from the case above, leaders in spite of their greatness also tend to make mistakes, which sometimes can be devastating. Another case that comes to mind is that of the former president of the US that is Bill Clinton for lying under oath. In Bill Clinton case, this mistake did not ruin him but still tarnished his reputation. I believe no matter how great your leadership skills are but at the end leaders are human as well and hence the also have the tendency to make errors in their lives. Another recent example that comes to my mind is that of my Instructor Dr. NASCAR (name changed) giving me an average grade in my previous DQ and Journal Entries . She is a great leader but a human as well

"A leader is a man who makes decisions. Sometimes they turn out right and sometimes then turn out wrong; but either way, he makes them." (legacee, 1996)

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3.2 Second Entry August 24, 2009

Topic: Good followers: A necessity for good leadership

It has been plotted in various discussions that one of the good traits of a leader is that he/she keeps a team of good followers under him/her to be successful in a leadership role. In the past there have been many leaders who have gone the extra mile to become great leaders only because they had a team of talented individuals under them who were able to comprehend what the leader wanted and able to achieve it.

For example, in every aspect of teamwork situation a leader is crowned to be the key success factor of the team even if the entire effort is from the team members. So the necessity of good followers is considered to be extremely important for a leader to become a great leader because at the end even if the team looses due to the poor performance by the followers the end result will be pointed toward the leader only. Keeping this in mind, one could say that a leader is only as good as his/her team.

This leads us to the question weather a good team is necessary for a leader to truly thrive and show his/her skills in becoming a great leader. Can a leader be recognized as a good leader in spite of a below average team?

Situation

Today I was watching the Formula 1 European grand prix. During the grand prix I observed that the drivers that had a stronger pit stop team were able to get a considerable advantage over other teams and that was giving them the lead over the rest of the drivers. The current world champion Lewis Hamilton was winning the race from pole position until an unfortunate incident in the pits caused him the win. “Lewis Hamilton looked set to win his second consecutive race before a pitlane debacle allowed Barrichello to snatch P1 with 17 laps remaining.” (Eurosport, 2009).

Lesson Learned

Similarly in many other sports, the captain with his wide experience and expertise still manages to loose because of below average team members. On the flip side, there are many instances where the team captain in spite of not having enough experience and professionalism is still able to win titles due to having a strong team. A good example is the Italian Team winning the soccer world cup in 2006. Their captain personally did not do any thing special but they still won because of a better team. The losing team’s captain was the world greatest player at the time and scored some of the goals that led the team to the final bit still in the end they were not victorious.

The above-mentioned examples go to show that even if the leader is exceptional in his performance, he is dependent on his team for success.

3.3 Second Entry August 25, 2009

Topic: Leadership Development or meeting targets?

Often in an organization the leader is faced with a dilemma. The dilemma is either to produce measurable results or to give time to themselves and their teams for leadership

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development. When we talk about leadership development many would be leaders say that they do not have the time to devote for leadership development, as they are preoccupied with meeting company targets.

Although these people do believe that leadership development can produce better results but still they focus solely on meeting the targets rather than motivating their team maybe because meeting targets is the main topic of discussion when interacting with company heads and the importance of leadership is hardly discussed. As a result, many take a more authoritarian approach to leadership than they would have liked to produce results.

These leaders see the picture through a narrow view and focus on the short run i.e. to produce results rather than see the entire picture that is to help your employees grow and down the road give even better results. In other words, they are not motivated to take time out each day to be better leaders. Maybe this is primarily because companies award bonuses on meeting targets rather than being better leaders. I believe if bonuses were given on being better leaders, we would have many more leaders today.

Situation

Being an entrepreneur running an SME business makes life very hectic and stressful and often I am faced with the same dilemma mentioned above. Do I devote more time to my team in order to make them grow or do I concentrate solely on meeting targets to keep the company afloat. Following the latter path many times makes me more authoritarian than I would have liked but it does get me the desirable results. If I devote my time in applying leadership skills to grow my employees motivation and job satisfaction often it affects the results of the company. But as I have come to know, low motivation and job satisfaction in the long run decreases the performance of my team leading to worse results.

Lesson Learned

I have learned through experience or rather by making mistakes that it is better to devote time now to your employees at the expense of loosing some profits in the short run rather than to get affected with a bigger problem later on of de-motivated and dissatisfied employees leading to worse results. “At the heart of the matter leadership is an investment in others.  The investment decreases dependency, builds capacity, and helps people become self-managing.  People need leaders less, and that is the sign leadership is working”. (Sergiovanni, 2006, p.96)

4.1 First Entry August 30, 2009

Topic: Adaptability - A crucial trait in leadership

Over the course of these three weeks I have read many articles about leadership and leadership traits. In almost all of them I have seen that there is one common trait about leaders that is always mentioned and that is Adaptability. As the saying goes “when in Rome, do what the Romans do”. This seems to apply to leadership as well. A leader must be willing and able to change him/her in order to suit the situation. This is easier said than done.

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There are many styles of leadership (participative, supportive, directive etc) defined by many writers, but following just one style does not fit in every environment thus creating conflicts between the leader and the team or eventually leader steps down to the authoritarian style to make his life easier rather than adapting to the environment and creating a style that fits to create a solution that is acceptable to the team as well as the team leader.

Although leaders gain their positions from a lot of experience they get through observing and learning from their career, but the trait of adaptability is not the one that is easily developed as it requires exposure in various working environments with multiple cultures and a broad mindset to accept different views coming from their team mates belonging to different cultures because what is acceptable to one might not be to the other hence making it difficult to come up with the final decision that is acceptable to all.

Situation

Being based in the UAE which is one of the most cosmopolitan societies of the world with more than ninety different nationalities residing in a small area I often come across clients from many ethnicities and cultures. Recently I visited one my clients who is working as a procurement manager in a multinational organization. I usually interact with the employees whenever I visit him. This time when I visited him and interacted with his team members I heard two different comments from them. Some spoke against him and some for him. This made me realize and observe that his team had virtually developed two different groups in the department, one who support him and his methods as well as motivated and the other who are against him and heavily de-motivated. When I casually put this situation in front of him that was happening in his team, he seemed to be least bothered about it and said “It does not matter, I cannot please every employee, especially the ones who I do not understand what their thinking is”.

Lesson learned

From the situation mentioned above, I learned that it is very important to have adaptability in a leader to avoid these types of situations from the start before it is too late and gets much tougher to resolve.

The evolution theory of Survival of the fittest plays a part here. A leader to survive and be accepted as one has to evolve his/her skills to meet the needs of their environment. “There is a well-known Chinese proverb that says that the wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water molds itself to the pitcher.” (Marinuzzi, 2009)

4.2 Second Entry August 31, 2009

Topic: Leadership from a far.

Leadership is a tough job that requires dedication and giving time to your employees. It becomes even tougher when you are not able to make contact with them. As organizations grow and setup businesses in remote areas its becomes increasingly challenging for a leader to guide their followers towards success with the right decisions as the situation in the area where the leader is may not necessarily be the same where the

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other followers are. Also due to the recent economic downturn most organizations cannot give the luxury of frequent travel to their leaders, as they would have preferred. This raises the question whether leadership can be as effective from a far as it is in close distances and if it is, how is it so.

Situation

Recently due the business climate booming in my neighboring country (Qatar) I have decided to open up a subsidiary of the same business there. The first thing that has come to my mind thanks to enrolling in this module is how will I be able to lead from a far or is it even possible to do so at all. The most important issues that come to mind are how to motivate them from a distance and make my presence known to them so that my team knows I am there for them even when I am not physically present.

Lesson learned

This requires two most important criteria’s to be satisfied i.e. good communication & Integration channels. There should be at the leaders disposal efficient channels to communicate with his/her team. Why this is important is because it builds trust among the team. Also its strengthens the relationship among the team members making known to them that their voices do have an ear that will listen to them even if they are far from the head office.

Building trust is not an easy process. It requires both ends to equally participate. From the leaders end, it means to delegate more responsibility to the team and letting go and not checking on them every hour. General George S. Patton quoted “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” (Inspirational Quotes, 2009) From the followers end, it requires that they be dedicated towards the task at hand and not waste important company resources. For this it is very important for the leader NOT to have an authoritarian style of leadership and pay closer attention to the achievements of the remote team, as they are harder to acknowledge from a distance and praise them time-to-time. The team must feel they are connected to their leader, only then will they choose to follow him/her.

4.3 Third Entry September 1, 2009

Topic: Confidence - A double edged sword

When we read about leaders and derailed ones we come across many factors and traits that made them successful or fail in their endeavors. One such trait that comes to mind often being the defining factor between a leader and a derailed one is confidence. Confidence in every sense of the word is a vital resource for a leader and helps to guide him/her in achieving his/her target as well as motivating the team. Not having enough of it is often a characteristic described in a derailed leader. Having said that, I have to mention that even in confidence there needs to be a limit that one must have and an excess of it can also lead to dire results like becoming a derailed leader.

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Confidence truly is a double-edged sword. Like a rose people often see and admire the beauty of it but forget that even a rose has thorns and picking the whole rose can pinch you as well. Too much of anything even a good one can be bad.

Situation

Being an avid movie watcher I recently saw a Chinese film ‘Red Cliff’ which described such a situation where a great and successful leader felt victim to the over-confidence trait that I mentioned about earlier. He had been a great general having fought and won all his battles. In the battle described in the movie he was confronted with another general who had less experience, had never won a battle and also had an army one eighth the size of the other army. Having all these factors in his favor, the general went to battle unprepared as he was too confident of his victory and ended of loosing. Another good example is the Titanic. It was dubbed ‘the unsinkable’ but sank on its maiden voyage and also being too confident of their achievement, the ship makers did not bother to have enough emergency escape boats as well.

Lesson learned

No doubt confidence is a trait of a leader but too much of it can spill over and cause chaos to the leader as well as his followers. It is important for every leader to have their confidence levels in check for their survival as well as their teams. “A few likely signs that you are overconfident is if you tend to be overly assertive and feel that you are superior to others. “ (Frost, n.d.) One way in which a leader can control their confidence is to always keep on reassessing where they stand by themselves as well as by the involvement of their teams in judging them. Also “ The results might not always be good but they will act as good early predictors of probable future failures.

5.1 First Entry September 5, 2009

Topic: Leadership - To some only a means to an end

Many leaders especially political ones do not look to become successful leaders to be admired by their followers or to take their people out of suffering but simply to reach their own personal needs like to achieve power and money. “Sometimes people get into ‘leadership’ positions from what we call ‘naked ambition’ - that desire, simply, for money or power no matter how it is gotten.” (Davis, 2008)

No doubt that ambition is a good trait to have for a leader as it drives one to achieve their vision and without it a leader would be incomplete. But this ambition sometimes comes at the expense of others especially the followers of the leader. In other words, some leaders only use leadership positions as a stepping-stone to further their own interests rather than to help the community at large for which they are responsible.

Situation

In my native country (a third world country that I would rather not mention) we have leaders who only use their leadership position as means to achieve power and money. Whenever we see a person becoming a leader, many of his close associates and family

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are put in top positions in the government. Like the United States we have two main political parties vying to be elected to provide service to the nation. But unlike the US, the two parties are run my two distinct families. Whenever one is elected, the other party’s family is put on some charges of conspiracy and sometimes even behind bars. In the next cycle of elections the other party repeats the same. Often amidst their bitter rivalry the military steps in to take control when things get out of hand and surprisingly they perform better than the elected parties.

Lesson learned

Leadership is an honorable position, which I believe should not be used as a means for lust for power and money or for ones own sake. A true leadership position is attained when a person is successful in leading his/her team towards the right direction and is able to confront any issues or critical situations that may arise by him for the benefit of his fellowmen. Doing so itself makes a leader more powerful than any leader who uses the position for the benefit of oneself. The support of followers towards their leader is much stronger than support of money and power gained by stepping over and misusing his/her followers to gain leadership position for power and money. Unfortunately we at present do have any political leaders in my native country who share my line of thought. They promise hope to the people but turn out to be hopeless after being elected.

5.2 Second Entry September 6, 2009

Topic: Leadership – not just a position.

Due to the recent economic downturn many leaders in the business world today are faced with reaching company targets, reducing costs and meeting deadlines. In management meetings company bosses often tell them that as a leader failure is not an option. You have to shape up or be prepared to ship out.

As a result of this extra pressure that is being exerted on them many leaders tend to take their leadership position as just a position and nothing more. Because of this, leaders tend to look after their own well being rather than the teams that they are supposed to represent. In other words, these leaders become more like managers and a lot less like the inspirational leaders we read about in our text. As I reflect back, I see that I too was a manager in some situations where I needed to be a leader that I regret now. One such example is mentioned below.

Situation

In my last organization, my boss the manager of our department was given a near impossible target to achieve from the company heads. He forwarded this target to me as the team leader of our department and asked not whether I could complete it but for when I would be able to achieve these targets. I as being new to the organization took the target on despite the complexities involved. When I announced the target to my team, they were taken aback but did not give me their honest feedback because they were not as frank with me and did not want to develop a bad first impression in front of their new boss.

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As time went by, I realized that we were falling back on our target. As a result I started ordering my team to stay late to reach the target. Eventually I noticed although my team was on target but my team had lost motivation to do their jobs and the employee morale had also deteriorated.

When confronted by my boss in our monthly meetings he saw that we were meeting our targets and assumed everything was going right. I too after seeing his positive mood did not speak up about the situation in the office. As a result, in a few months I had lost some of the best employees in my team. Had I spoken up to my boss this would not have been the case. I did not stand up for my team and had become a mere manager than a leader as I was supposed to be, becoming derailed in the process and ended up quitting.

Lesson learned

As a leader one must be prepared to make the tough decisions. They must be prepared to directly confront another whenever there is a disagreement about an important issue. To be a leader means to give the right feedback to the team especially when the team is not performing to standards and to the management as well about what is achievable and what is not. To be a leader means to speak up rather than remain silent to raise issues even if they are against the conventional wisdom of the organization in meetings rather then after them and to try again in spite of setbacks. Most importantly to be leader means to do the right thing. Peter F. Drucker Quoted “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” (Famous Quotes & Quotations, n.d.). As they say “experience is the name people give to their mistakes. This is what I have learned through my experience (mistakes) . Had I done this course earlier maybe this would not have happened. Anyway, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

5.3 Third Entry September 8, 2009

Topic: When Leadership is not needed

Since the start of this module all I have been thinking about is leadership this and leadership that. Anything that even remotely reminds me of leadership is jotted down in my I-phone for further reference and use in my leadership journal. All this thinking has led me to believe that leadership exists in almost all areas be it big ones like multinational companies all the way down to small areas like a little league game. This has started to make me ponder whether there exists scenarios where leadership is not required or can be a hindrance to the followers. Ideally Leaders would not be of much use where followers do not need their assistance and guidance. Where the followers are experts in their field and are capable enough in their jobs that they are doing and are already motivated in the job to begin with. One of the examples is a self-directed team. As per the study self-directed team is defined as “a group of employees who have day-to-day responsibility for managing themselves and the work they do. Members of self-directed teams typically handle job assignments, plan and schedule work, make production-related decisions, and take action on problems. Members of self-directed teams work with a minimum of direct supervision.” (Silverman & Propst, 1996)

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After much thought and reflection I believe I have found one such scenario from my personal life that I would like to share with you all.

Situation

In my youth, which was not far back as compared to many others in this course , I was part of a pop band. We had come together due to our common love for pop music and had formed a team (band) consisting of a guitarist (yours truly), a drummer and a vocalist. The task at hand (to make an album) was so intrinsically satisfying, that virtually all of us involved in the task found it enjoyable, interesting and most of all motivational. We were so focused on the task that we worked well together as a team without a leader. The task itself provided sufficient feedback on how each team member was performing and we knew ourselves what needed to be done to improve ourselves further. Each member on his own put his personal best and worked extra hours into completing the task without the thought of any rewards or gains. We had many brainstorming sessions together without anyone being selected the leader to guide or measure our progress.

Here we did not find a need to select someone as the leader to inspire, guide and motivate us and show us the way forward. Leadership in this situation would have had no value and would most probably have hindered our progress.

Lesson learned

I believe that leadership is required in all situations but the role of leadership in certain scenarios is different and changing. Even in this situation mentioned above, leadership was there but was not limited to one individual. We all at different times took on the role of the leader to progress further and eventually finished the album. What happened after the album was made is another story that has nothing to do with leadership.

6.1 First Entry September 13, 2009

Topic: Leadership: not a popularity contest

In the business world today there exists a myth that the most popular person is the one most right for a leadership position and people have to become popular first to become leaders. As a result many business hours and finance is wasted in winning a popularity contest within the organization. Leaders in order to be liked by the people in the organization give more importance to their popularity over maximizing the company’s profits resulting in poor decision-making. Brian Mulroney, one of Canada's most controversial former prime ministers, said “leaders must do what's right, not what's popular” (CBCnews, 2007)

I too have been a victim of this myth and have sacrificed making the right decisions to being more popular. Mentioned below is one situation of my many blunders as a leader relating to popularity.

Situation

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When I started my business five years back I had an equal partner in the business. As we both were on the same post as the managers of the company, I felt a rivalry with my partner as far as popularity was concerned. To prove my self as a better manager to my team I was often lenient with my team to gain their popularity. In order to do this I often allowed my team to take extra offs during the working days. Although this made me more popular than my partner but as I later found out that our company was unable to meet many of its set targets and ended up in loosing some clients due to my leniency towards the team. My partner on the other hand, was strict about company policies and was not as popular in the organization as I but in the end it was he who turned out to be a more effective as leader than me.

Lesson learned

Leadership is not a popularity contest. If the leaders objective is to ensure that his team bought into his strategy and liked it, then, he is not required as a leader. The organization could simply take a vote and decide what direction and decisions it should take and follow the one most favored.

Being a leader one should know that you are not in a democracy and by virtue of the position one should make decisions even if they are not popular. Having said that, it does mean that the leader has to be an authoritarian. If the team find the decisions made by the leader wrong and have objections, the leader should encourage them to speak out and mention their concerns. He needs to communicate to the team clearly why certain decisions are in the best interest of the organization and have the strength to go back on his decision if the grievances raised by the team are right.

A leader has to be an effective leader first and then a popular leader. When the leader leads with determination, clearness, and effectiveness and with the purpose of maximizing the company’s profits with an ethical concern, his team eventually does follow him and he gains popularity as well in the process.

Leaders should not shy away from making the tough decisions and should stand by them even if it means loosing their popularity. A leader at all times should not get confused between making the right decisions and his popularity. The right decisions may not go hand in hand with popularity but rest assured the right decisions will be the ones with the most popularity and prove most beneficial for the team as well as the leader in the long run.

6.2 Second Entry September 14, 2009

Topic: When the time gets tough the leader gets going

As a leader one comes across many situations that the leader is not aware off but they present themselves suddenly and require immediate action. Sometimes due to such situations presenting themselves on the leader, the leader acts before he thinks and often ends up being derailed. We all have at one time faced such a situation that we are not at all prepared for. This makes me think, what can a leader do when he does not have the luxury of time in his hands and needs to make a critical decision

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where he does not have all the information at hand and the wrong decision can lead to immediate failure? Can a leader do anything to solve such problems or does he just rely on luck and prayers.

Situation

Couple of day’s back I was in deep conversation with the sales manager of one of my clients. During our conversation he expressed his discontentment about how he is not satisfied with the company centralizing their operations abruptly. He mentioned to me that he was having a tough time motivating his team to meet their new targets that now included a range of new products that the team as well as him was not accustomed to. He told me that as a leader his grip on the team was failing and he felt that he would soon, due to management pressures have to change jobs or start pressurizing the team if they did not pick up their performance levels or even start laying some of them off to show his seriousness.

Lesson learned

Critical issues do not have simple solutions and sitting around complaining about these issues may feel therapeutic to the leader, but they do not achieve anything else. Resolving critical issues takes a lot of commitment and effort. It requires individuals who are proactive and not willing to idly sit any longer for the problems to solve themselves or fester or be put on to others. It requires individuals who confront the issues head on and persistently pursue and develop alternatives that lead to solutions. It is these people who are often termed as leaders.

In the above-mentioned case the leader instead of venting his discontentment and trying to resort to an authoritarian style or even considering leaving the organization should have confronted the risky and inevitable battle of organizational politics with higher management and should have informed them in prior that his team would require more time to adapt to their new structure and reduction in profits would be inevitable till the team picked up through the learning curve.

Maxwell Quoted “Successful leaders have the courage to take action while others hesitate.” (Khurana, 2009) We all come across tough times but how one reacts during these times is what makes a leader stand out from the rest.

6.3 Third Entry September 15, 2009

Topic: Vision – The Essence of leadership

In the business world today leaders are facing increasing pressures from many different areas to achieve their targets and stay in front to be able to hold on to their leadership positions and be called as genuine leaders. These pressures can come from the likes of politics, financial concerns, timely decision-making, organizational power, time constraints etc. To be able to successfully balance them is truly a herculean task. There are only few individuals who can come to the mark.

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The few individuals who are able to achieve this have many leadership traits that make them better leaders than most, but there is one trait that a leader must have to be called a leader. Without this trait being present a person can be become a good manager but never a leader. This essential trait is vision. History is filled with many examples of great leaders who had the vision to see a better future for their people or their organization. “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.” (Hesburgh, n.d.)

Situation

I remember the time when I used to work as an employee for an organization. I wanted to quit my job and to start my own business, but there were multiple barriers to it like capital, market knowledge, resources etc. Lack of these important factors in me to do a business reflected very less chances of me to be successful. But there was one thing in me that was the key factor to over come these barriers and that was vision. The reason that gave my confidence of doing business a boost was the vision of the ruler of the country I reside in (United Arab Emirates). His vision has completely changed this country from a desert that it once was 20 years back to a booming metropolis that is the financial capital of the Middle East today. Seeing him when I was growing up inspired me to take the leap, which I did successfully.

Lesson Learned

Vision is the first step in the path towards great leadership. Whenever we read about leadership characteristics, the first one on the list is always vision, the rest follow. Vision is the first trait that puts into motion the process of leadership. Without vision being present it is near to impossible to be accepted as a leader. It is the motivating factor that drives the leader to achieve his goals. It is the vision of the leader that inspires and motivates the people to follow him.

7.1 First Entry September 21, 2009

Topic: Employee satisfaction: The most important job of a leader

In the business world today leaders have a number of tasks and goals to attain to be classified as successful leaders. In their busy schedule there is one important criterion they often overlook to keep in mind to be successful in the long run and that is employee satisfaction.

Many businesses as part of their process have annual appraisals set in place to motivate employees. Although this process is very essential for the growth of the employees, but just doing this is not enough for a leader to really satisfy his/her employees.

Most businesses at the start of the new fiscal year re-set their performance targets for the new year and by doing so also reset their employees worth to scratch. High expectations and tough standards almost always result in profitable, constant growth. This leaves no room for employees to bask on their past performances. No matter how outstanding an employee was in the last year, he could still be fired in the next if he falls behind the set objectives.

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Situation

In the last company where I worked as a team leader I noticed that the employee who was given the employee of the year award was unpredictably falling short of his performance targets at the start of the New Year. As a result he was given a warning letter stipulating that if he did not come to par in the next two months he would be terminated. Due to this fall from grace his performance was affected even further and finally he was terminated. Since he was a colleague and a good acquaintance of mine I found him a job in another rival company. To my surprise by the end of the year he had become one of the best performers of that company. This made me wonder, had we given him more attention and listened to his issues and provided him with proper coaching when he needed it most instead of a warning letter we would not have not lost an important asset. Charles Kettering quoted “The biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work.” (Brainy Quote, 2009)

Lesson learned

Even the best employees will unavoidably at sometime fall short. There could be many reasons for this. It is the job of the leader to find these reasons and take initiatives to tackle these reasons. It is his responsibility to make sure that employees are constantly performing at their best and try to tackle any lags in performance.

To be successful consistently requires a lot of effort from the employee which involves hard work, both emotionally straining and physically demanding in terms of hours worked. Great leaders must know how vital it is to make a good work setting and build relations that allow employees to repeatedly do their best work. A leader must provide support and encouragement to challenge and inspire them to greater heights than before. A leader must not forget an employees past performances and should not allow a change in the calendar year to drastically affect his opinion of the employee and his capabilities and should continue believing in them.

7.2 Second Entry September 22, 2009

Topic: The biggest risk is not taking any risk at all.

The main purpose for starting any sort of business is to generate a profit. Profit is defined in business literature as the reward for taking a risk. Therefore for any business to generate a profit there must be risk involved. The bigger the risks the higher are the chances of getting a bigger profit. Having said this, it does not mean to jump into unchartered waters without a paddle. It means taking calculated and well planned risks that have chances of success with the right mix of ingredients like proper timing, experience, market knowledge, finance etc. Unless a leader takes risks he may never be able to evaluate the extent of his or his teams potential.

Risk is there in everything we have accomplished to do. Because of taking risks we have been able to step on the moon. The world of business is also filled with risks. For example, Delegation involves the risk of whether the chosen subordinate can do the job as well or whether a particular strategy will get the desired results etc.

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Situation

I grew up in a working class family where I was led to believe that the best way to avoid getting hurt and keep myself safe was to stay in familiar territory and avoid going into unknown places. Up till the end of my teen years this was a good philosophy and kept me safe but only when I started working did I realize that the only way to grow and better myself was to start taking risks.

Initially I started taking risks on every job I was put on. Some of them turned out for the better and some failed dramatically. One failure that comes to mind is when I with my close friend at the time of the IT boom decided to start of our business to setup IT infrastructures for companies and provide trouble shooting as well. This was a risky decision for both of us and we were positive we would succeed with the high demand for these services around that time. As soon as we started I found out that companies take a lot of time in paying your dues. After servicing only a few companies we were out of capital and ended up being bankrupt. I came to the realization then that although risk taking is advantageous but it is only useful when taken at the right time and of the right amount.

Sure enough after having learned from experience I started out again to take a risk of starting an advertising company, which succeeded due to taking calculated risks at the right time. Had I not taken the risk, I would not have been able to taste success.

Lesson learned

If there is one thing that I have learned from experience and can boldly preach to others is that Risk Taking is the key to business leadership. Taking risks and business growth go hand in hand. Frederick B. Wilcox quoted "Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first." (InspirationalSpark, n.d.) To get what you want you have to take risks. A leader must be willing and capable of taking risks if and when the situation requires it. Risk taking is not an easy decision to take but involves careful examination of your resources and calculating the extent of the consequences if things go wrong and be prepared to take on the impact.

7.3 Third Entry September 23, 2009

Topic: How to measure leadership

In the last decade there has been growing interest on the topic of leadership. Thousands of books have been written about the importance of leadership and how the right kind of leadership can make organizations into corporate powerhouses. With multiple theories’ present on leadership and the high number of researches done on it, there remains little doubt in ones mind that leadership is a very vital mean to drive value in an organization.

With the significance of leadership known to almost all businesses today, it raises a question in ones mind and that is ‘how do businesses measure leadership effectiveness today?’ surely if businesses are unable to measure leadership, how will they even know if it exists and if it does, to what extent does it drive and influence an organization towards success. Do organizations measure their leaders in terms of the profits they bring in or do

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they measure them by the extent to which they are able to motivate their employees to willingly give their intellect, energy and time to actions that advance the organization's vision and goals.

Can the leader of a loss making company with very satisfied employees be considered a good leader and similarly can the leader of a profit generating company but with dissatisfied employees be considered a good leader.

Situation

My close friend works for the biggest private bank in the country (United Arab Emirates). Its annual profits keep on breaking new records year on year. In my recent conversation with him about leadership (leadership is the only topic I discuss with everyone these days ) I was surprised to learn from him that in the recent annual banking survey their organization was the second to last bank to work for in the country. The reason he stipulated was because of the organizations high tendency to focus on profits and limited employee motivation. He told me that people only join the organization to learn the tricks of the trade and because of its high reputation in the industry. After that they leave to other banks for higher pay or less stressful jobs. He further told me that although the bank with over a thousand employees now was founded even before the country (more than 40 years) there were no employees in the bank that had served for more than 20 years.

Lesson learned

Organizations should not restrict their leadership evaluations to their profits or even to the motivational level of employees alone. There should be a proper balance of both these factors in the organization for its leadership to be considered a success in the long run. Also leadership measurement should not be limited to managerial positions. The aim of measuring leadership should be to report and capture the real meaning of what leadership is i.e. the capability to bring about change. Jesse Jackson “Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things.” (Lewis, 1995)

By keeping this in mind organizations can measure leadership at numerous levels and be in a position to maximize and leverage the benefits of leadership.

8.1 First Entry September 28, 2009

Topic: Great Leader - One who climbs to the top and stays there

To reach somewhere, you must know where you are going and where you want to be. Similarly many aspiring leaders having in mind the vision of success try and achieve leadership positions through their hard work and dedication. After having achieved this goal some of them tend to derail from the right path and tend to fail as leaders. Sometimes leaders after reaching the top of the organizational chart still do not become great leaders and are soon forgotten.

There can be many reasons that can lead to ones downfall or not becoming a great leader, but I believe the most common one is due to a misconception that most of them have. This misconception is the belief that once you have reached the top, leadership becomes

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an easy ride. I too have been the victim of this mistaken belief, as I will explain in this journal entry.

Although like a mountain to reach the top requires strong devotion and commitment, but this is where the similarity ends. Unlike a mountain, it is harder to stay on top then to reach it. When on top, a leader has way more responsibilities than before and there is much more at stake if the leader is to falter.

Situation

Eight years back when I first started working, I was employee in an IT firm working as a network administrator. My boss (team leader) used to give me many assignments due to which I was always pressed for time. Whenever I saw my boss sitting in his cabin I used to think that he has it easy. All he has to do is to order others to do the work while he sits in his private cabin acting busy while using his laptop and talking on the phone most of the day. I used to always think that he is either browsing the Internet or chatting to his girl friend on the phone .

Only later when I was promoted as a team leader of my own team in the same organization did I come to realize what was that he used to do on his laptop and telephone. As a team leader I too became busy in preparing reports for the higher management using my laptop and talking to the other department executives/team leaders and suppliers to carry out the difficult work of keeping things on track and looking for new business opportunities as well as generating business to keep the business running.

Lesson learned

“Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.” (HeartQuotes, 2007) Leadership is a continuous journey of growth and learning and not a stationary position. The higher one progresses up the organizational chart, higher become his responsibilities. It requires even higher level of commitment and devotion to retain the position that it took to become a leader. When on top, all eyes within and outside the organization are on the leader and even the smallest of wrong decisions can have long lasting consequences and ramifications.

A leader is one who reaches the top but a great leader is one who reaches the summit and maintains his position there. To become a great leader, a leader must never rest on his past laurels but enhance it further with his past experiences.

8.2 Second Entry September 29, 2009

Topic: Self Sacrifice – The price of leadership

Whenever we talk about Leadership we mostly look at its brighter side on how leadership brings fame, power and recognition to the leader and how it is much better and more vital than management alone. It is because of these reasons we choose to pursue leadership and work hard with determination to achieve it. What most of us fail to see is that, like all things in this world there is nothing that comes without sacrifice. You have to give

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something to get something. The bigger the want, bigger will be the price that has to be paid. Leadership too comes with a price.

History is abundant with many examples of great leaders who have had to make great sacrifices to be able to make an impact on others. Great leaders like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King made many sacrifices and even died to see their visions become a reality. I too in my leadership role have had to make sacrifices although these sacrifices are not as big as the examples above.

Situation

Almost ten years back just before the year 2000, I was working for an IT company in the United Arab Emirates as a team leader. My team was assigned the critical task of configuring and backing up ‘ALL’ of our company’s as well as our clients data in preparation for the Y2K bug that was supposed to affect all PC’s on the 1st of January 2000. Since my company’s earlier position was not to give much heed to this but due to the massive media attention being placed on this in our region our corporate heads decided it was better to be safe than sorry. Since my team only started work on this project in late November 1999, all of us had to work non-stop on this project to be able to meet our deadline. Nights had literally become like days to us.

Ironically, it was during this time that my only sister’s wedding was due to take place on the 31st of December in that year. She along with my family and her future husband’s family had been preparing for this day for a year and there was no chance of the weeding being delayed. I as the team leader was put in a difficult situation where I had to make a choice.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ said to his followers “I am the devoted shepherd who would give his life up for his sheep.” (Word-Sunday, 1999) Following his example, I decided to forego her marriage to be with the team. She along with my family are still upset with me till this day for missing out on her marriage especially because the whole Y2K bug thing turned out to be just a myth.

Lesson learned

Leadership comes with a price. Many times the price has to be paid not only by the leaders themselves but by also by the near and dear ones of the leader. Without sacrificing yourself you cannot inspire. One of the most vital traits in leadership is self-sacrifice. A good role model of a leader for others to follow can only be set by sacrificing for others.

8.3 Third Entry September 30, 2009

Topic: Leadership – The ability to recognize & measure the potential of followers

Corporate leaders have many tasks at hand that require to be assigned to followers in order for completion. This brings to my mind a very important trait for a leader to be successful and that is the ability to recognize & measure the potential of their followers and delegating the right task to the right individual at the right time. “Leadership is seeing

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the possibilities in a situation while others are seeing limitations” (Maxwell, 2007, pp.297)

Leadership in many organizations is measured by the increase in profits a leader is able to bring about. In order for leaders to be truly successful in achieving this goal they must be able to know their team as well as their potential. Peter Drucker quoted “If you can’t measure it, then you can’t manage it” (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2009, pp.112)

Situation

When I first started my entrepreneurship I was highly motivated with the possibilities that this new venture had for me. Like most people who start their own business from scratch, I too had big dreams. My vision was to make a company that would far exceed the current companies in the industry in terms of profit, quality of work and services offered. Soon enough, I had employed a team under me to achieve this vision.

My intensity towards the growth of the business and fulfilling my vision exceeded so much that I started to dump every project I got from my clients to my employees without distributing it appropriately and relevantly. This gradually in the long run started to make things very hectic in the back office. All this time I was too busy looking for more business and hence did not have the time to visit and check on the team. The employees did not know who was to do what and kept juggling jobs among each other to try and complete it on time without notifying me due to their fear of confrontation with their new boss.

All the overload of work ended up in being a mess and the team having low motivational levels. As a result I suffered loss and embarrassment in front my clients. Had I assigned them the task according to their potential and did it in an organized manner I would have been able to complete all task on time and successfully.

Lesson learned

A leader must know the limitations of their team and never ask them to achieve something that they are not capable of. Paul Dickson quoted “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” (Thinkexist, 2009)

Also leaders must lead their teams hand to hand and must not become too distant or unapproachable from them. George Brandes quoted “The crowd will follow a leader who marches twenty steps in advance; but if he is a thousand steps in front of them, they do not see and do not follow them.” (Clark, n.d.). Moreover, leaders must know what to delegate to whom and at what time to get optimum results from their team and by doing so also keep their team’s motivational levels high at the same time.

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References:

About.com “Confidence quotations” [Online]. Available from: http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Confidence1.htm (Accessed: 11 August 2009)

Askax (2009) “Reflection quotes” [Online]. Available from: http://askax.net/2008/04/29/reflection-quotes/ (Accessed: 17 August 2009)

Begich, N. (2005) “A fresh look at leadership” [Online]. Available from: http://www.earthpulse.com/src/subcategory.asp?catid=8&subcatid=5 (Accessed: 17 August 2009)

Brainy Quote (2009) “Employee quotes” [Online]. Available from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/employee.html (Accessed: 21 September 2009)

CBCnews (2007) “Leaders should provide leadership, not popularity: mulroney” [Online]. Available from: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/09/14/mulroney-speech.html (Accessed: 13 September 2009)

Chand, S. (2009) “Leaders - born or made?” [Online]. Available from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Leaders---Born-Or-Made?&id=2535370 (Accessed: 13 August 2009)

Chitwood, R. (2004) “Lack of leadership is why companies are hurting” [Online]. Available from: http://www.maxsacks.com/articles/article0803.html (Accessed: 18 August 2009)

Clark, S. (n.d.) “Leadership involves an interaction between the Leader, the followers, and the situation” [Online]. Available from: http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/walling/40508/leadership1.htm (Accessed: 30 September 2009)

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