Every now and then, we get lessons on leadership and leadership qualities. My understanding of the most effective Leadership quality is a bit different. According to me, the most important trait of a leader is to provide ‘Growth’.
No Growth no future, as Growth solves most of our problems. More growth reduces the focus on the problem. Even poet and farmers – requires a business, which comes from profitable growth.
Growth is a universal phenomenon. Every living thing grows continuously. Infancy becomes old age. In fact, growth never stops even at the fag end of life. As long as life is there, growth must be part and parcel of life. If growth reaches a state of saturation, we can conclude the end of life. Human beings are not exceptions. Even non-movable things like plants and trees grow towards light and air. Any obstruction in its way forces us to take an alternate route.
Those whose growth is continuous in every sphere of their life are the winners. Why do the winners grow continuously? Only because the Winners are ready to accept changes at every point of their life. Their agility and ability to resilience never stop their GROWTH.
The leaders, irrespective of corporate or political, must ensure the growth of all sorts irrespective of organizational, sustainable, people development, etc. They must ensure the people who come into their contact, are growing. They must be able to show a ‘Growth Road Map’ to each & every individual. This growth must be continuous, profitable, sustainable, and repetitive. Hence, the leaders must ensure that the growth is managed by vision and objectives along with a fast & right execution strategy.
Some of you may ask, what about ‘Innovation’? According to me, innovation is doing things differently that create value. It is a tool for growth.
The next point of discussion can be if leaders are born or grown.
I think while there can be leaders on paper who are born with the silver spoon, as in Indian politics, and leaders, who are made, such as from the rigorous grind that we see in business schools of repute, the fact is if there is no intent, none can finally cut the ice and emerge.
The example that comes to mind is Narayana Murthy of Infosys. We can neither say he is a born leader, nor someone who is made. Narendra Modi can be another example. We can think of many others like Jeff Bezos, and Dhirubhai Ambani, who became leaders by their desire (intent) to build great organisations employing thousands of people (leadership). So also all other people in varied activities like social service etc, driven by a strong purpose and a vision to see a better world. One other point is leadership is not about perfection but about the prominence of intent. But all of them are ‘Growth Oriented’.
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