As the Srikrishna Committee is going to submit its report, the eyes are set again on the burning issue of Telangana. The issue is not new and has been existing for the last 50 years. It has become active under the leadership of K. Chandrasekar Rao (KCR), the leaders of TRS. The state of Andhra Pradesh has come to such a situation that nobody is going to give up. In this regard, let us look at the meaning of conflict and the means to resolving conflicts.
Conflict is all about disagreements between various people, groups and teams due to various reasons. The reasons may be due to scarcity of resources, threat to one’s position and authority, miscommunication, perceptions, personality clashes due to egos, differences in value system and disproportionate allocation of resources. When we look at Telangana issue at the surface level, it appears like a cultural issue. However, when we look at the issue below the surface, it is basically the regional imbalances that have been created due to the neglect by past politicians. The political leaders of all parties rarely cared for the development of this region except looking after their political gains. In order to tackle the Telangana tangle, let us know various conflict management styles.
Conflict Management Styles
There are several ways to resolve the conflicts. We will take the below five top conflict management styles: They are
• The Shark Style: It is competitive and it wants to win at the cost of others. It is aggressive style. It is known as win-lose approach. The advantage out of this style is that there is a temporary win and the conflicts are resolved. The disadvantage is that there is resentment and hostility from other side. The other party can strike back at any time.
• The Turtle Style: It is to avoid the conflicts when they are minor in nature. Sometimes, prolonged delay might turn out to be a major crisis. The disadvantage is that the conflicts are not resolved.
• The Teddy Bear Style: It is compromising when people want to maintain amicable relations with others. It is submissive style and lose-win approach. Conflicts are resolved in this style, but can be exploited in future.
• The Fox Style: Fox is an intelligent animal. It wants others to lose so that it can also lose something to resolve the conflicts. It is lose-lose approach and is also known as accommodating approach. However, it is still not an ideal outcome.
• The Owl Style: It is the ideal outcome where all parties are happy as their interests are protected and conflicts are resolved. It is collaborating by taking the strengths of all parties. It is win-win approach. It is assertive style where all parties are called and discussed and conflicts are resolved through consensus. The only problem with this style is that it takes lot of time and efforts.
Having seen various conflict resolving styles, The Turtle Style led to the present crisis in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, there is strong need to adopt The Owl Style so that all Telugus can live with peace and prosperity without any ill will and animosity. It is the most ideal style in the current context.
Final Word
There has to be win-win approach where all parties must be happy to collaborate to take the state forward for peace and progress. We need to adopt ‘The Owl Style’ approach so that all Telugus are can live with fraternity. The Telugus may fight on cultural and regional level currently. But the same Telugus will unite cutting across regions, cultures and dialects, if there is external threat from other languages, because they are emotionally connected with one common language – Telugu.
To conclude, whatever may be the report, the people of all regions must exercise calm and restraint. The aggrieved parties can fight their issue through democratic, peaceful and legal means. They must look at the commonalities, not differences.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Happy New Year 2011 – Professor M.S. Rao, Founder, MSR Leadership Consultants, India
"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.'' - Oscar Wilde
Dear friends,
Welcome to the New Year 2011. I wish you a very happy, exciting and prosperous new year. As the New Year 2011 is very close it is time to stock of the situation. It is time to check whether we have achieved the resolutions that we had set in the last year. If you have achieved partly, it is fair enough. If you have not achieved even partly, it is time to find out the reasons for not accomplishing. If you fail to achieve due to external forces and factors, there is nothing to worry about as they are beyond human control. If you have not achieved due to internal reasons it is time to take feedback, analyze the reasons and take the remedial action. In this context, let us find out the advantages of setting goals. Goals help you stay focused. Goals help you manage your time effectively. Goals help you remove negative thoughts and fill with positive thoughts. Goals help you create hope and enhance longevity. Above all, goals make your life more meaningful.
Follow the below steps to accomplish your goals successfully:
• Set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART) goals.
• Ink your goals. People usually think about goals. A study of a Yale University students showed that the students who had inked their goals accomplished their goals than the ones who had not inked. Putting goals in writing works. Besides, a short pencil is always better than a long memory.
• Read your goals twice a day; once in the early morning and before going to the bed. It helps the goals sink deeply into your subconscious mind and serves you as a constant reminder throughout. Whenever you go out of the track, your subconscious keeps you on the right track and on the fast track thus aligning your towards your goals.
If setting goals is one side of the coin, execution is the other side of the coin. You need to put constant efforts and energies to accomplish your goals. In addition, there is cut-throat competition. Therefore, you need to work harder, smarter and wiser to accomplish your goals.
Wishing you good luck.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
Dear friends,
Welcome to the New Year 2011. I wish you a very happy, exciting and prosperous new year. As the New Year 2011 is very close it is time to stock of the situation. It is time to check whether we have achieved the resolutions that we had set in the last year. If you have achieved partly, it is fair enough. If you have not achieved even partly, it is time to find out the reasons for not accomplishing. If you fail to achieve due to external forces and factors, there is nothing to worry about as they are beyond human control. If you have not achieved due to internal reasons it is time to take feedback, analyze the reasons and take the remedial action. In this context, let us find out the advantages of setting goals. Goals help you stay focused. Goals help you manage your time effectively. Goals help you remove negative thoughts and fill with positive thoughts. Goals help you create hope and enhance longevity. Above all, goals make your life more meaningful.
Follow the below steps to accomplish your goals successfully:
• Set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART) goals.
• Ink your goals. People usually think about goals. A study of a Yale University students showed that the students who had inked their goals accomplished their goals than the ones who had not inked. Putting goals in writing works. Besides, a short pencil is always better than a long memory.
• Read your goals twice a day; once in the early morning and before going to the bed. It helps the goals sink deeply into your subconscious mind and serves you as a constant reminder throughout. Whenever you go out of the track, your subconscious keeps you on the right track and on the fast track thus aligning your towards your goals.
If setting goals is one side of the coin, execution is the other side of the coin. You need to put constant efforts and energies to accomplish your goals. In addition, there is cut-throat competition. Therefore, you need to work harder, smarter and wiser to accomplish your goals.
Wishing you good luck.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
Friday, December 24, 2010
“Sun Tzu and Success” - Professor M.S.Rao
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star... you will still be beaten by people who spent their time working hard, and learning things and weren’t so lazy.” - Terry Prattchet
Every human being likes to be noticed. Everyone wants to be liked and appreciated by others. It all takes people to strive for success throughout their lives. It fires their enthusiasm. It forces them to follow uncharted paths. It compels them to go to any extent. However, very people realize their goals and achieve success while the majority fail and fall aside in the race towards success. In this regard, let us see success from the perspective of Sun Tzu, the Chinese philosopher and author who wrote the book The Art of War 2500 years ago.
According to Sun Tzu there are not more than five musical notes, yet the combination of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. There are not more than five primary colors, blue, yellow, red, white and black. There are not more than five cardinal tastes, sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter. Yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted. (Reference The Art of War Sun Tzu, Foreword by James Clavell)
Similarly, when you blend your inherent talents with various permutations and combinations you create more new talents. When you combine these talents with the skills that you acquire through reading, training, observation, learning and practice you can achieve your leadership success.
The five elements: water, fire, wood, metal, earth, are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of wanting and waxing. Similarly, life is all full of peaks and valleys, ups and downs and success and failures. People must learn how to harness their energies for achieving all round success in their lives. They must learn to adjust their sail as per the changing wind and move forward towards the destination of success.
Success doesn’t come easily. It comes at a cost. It requires lot of struggles and sacrifices. It requires lot of passion, perseverance and patience. It takes lot of energies and efforts. At times people end up as unsung heroes. However, we must constantly and continuously strive for success by hoping light at the end of the tunnel.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
Every human being likes to be noticed. Everyone wants to be liked and appreciated by others. It all takes people to strive for success throughout their lives. It fires their enthusiasm. It forces them to follow uncharted paths. It compels them to go to any extent. However, very people realize their goals and achieve success while the majority fail and fall aside in the race towards success. In this regard, let us see success from the perspective of Sun Tzu, the Chinese philosopher and author who wrote the book The Art of War 2500 years ago.
According to Sun Tzu there are not more than five musical notes, yet the combination of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. There are not more than five primary colors, blue, yellow, red, white and black. There are not more than five cardinal tastes, sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter. Yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted. (Reference The Art of War Sun Tzu, Foreword by James Clavell)
Similarly, when you blend your inherent talents with various permutations and combinations you create more new talents. When you combine these talents with the skills that you acquire through reading, training, observation, learning and practice you can achieve your leadership success.
The five elements: water, fire, wood, metal, earth, are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of wanting and waxing. Similarly, life is all full of peaks and valleys, ups and downs and success and failures. People must learn how to harness their energies for achieving all round success in their lives. They must learn to adjust their sail as per the changing wind and move forward towards the destination of success.
Success doesn’t come easily. It comes at a cost. It requires lot of struggles and sacrifices. It requires lot of passion, perseverance and patience. It takes lot of energies and efforts. At times people end up as unsung heroes. However, we must constantly and continuously strive for success by hoping light at the end of the tunnel.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Author and Mother– Professor M.S.Rao
“Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.” - Author Unknown
I requested Jim Collins to write foreword for my upcoming book titled, “Spot Your Leadership Style – Build Your Leadership Brand”. Jim Collins had the humility to respond to my mail. In his letter dated July 29, 2010, Jim Collins started with the quote of Winston Churchill who once said that writing a book goes through five phases. In phase one, it is a toy and an amusement, but by phase five, it is a tyrant ruling your life; and just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public!
Such a personal letter from Jim Collins got me excited as he is an international author with great books like Good to Great and Built to Last. And Jim Collins’ humility made me very happy. However, he denied politely writing foreword for my book due to his upcoming book. He wished me good luck for my upcoming book.
Author and Mother
An author can be compared with a mother who conceives and undergoes lot of pressure and pleasure while carrying the child in her womb. The author conceives an idea to author a book. He finds several challenges right from inception to reality. For instance, he has to sacrifice his personal time to write book. He undergoes several trials and tribulations apart from the routine challenges to complete the book. Once the book is completed he has to search for a suitable publisher who would take the book forward. And it takes lot of time especially for budding authors. The author has to look for a suitable person to write foreword and it takes time to get approval. In addition, he has to work for endorsements from experts in the field to make sure that the book gets better visibility. It again takes times. In the meanwhile there will be challenges between the publisher and the author on various issues. There will be challenges related to time deadlines to get the endorsements for incorporating in the book. The entire process is easier said than done. The author invests his knowledge and the publisher invests money for publishing the book. There has to be right understanding and chemistry between the author and publisher. Once the book is published, it is for the readers to decide whether it is properly delivered. If readers accept, the author gets elated with his efforts.
Similarly the mother feels happy when she conceives the child initially. She undergoes lot of pressure and pleasure while carrying the child and mostly lot of pressure. At the time of delivery she undergoes lot of pain and finally she delivers the baby. The moment she sees her baby she forgets the entire pain and gets excited by seeing her baby. The author also gets excited when he first sees his book on hand. He will be happy when his book delivers the goods as per the expectations of the readers. It is a great feeling indeed for both author and mother while delivering the book and the baby.
I would like to conclude that as every mother is possessive of her baby, every author is possessive of his book.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
I requested Jim Collins to write foreword for my upcoming book titled, “Spot Your Leadership Style – Build Your Leadership Brand”. Jim Collins had the humility to respond to my mail. In his letter dated July 29, 2010, Jim Collins started with the quote of Winston Churchill who once said that writing a book goes through five phases. In phase one, it is a toy and an amusement, but by phase five, it is a tyrant ruling your life; and just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public!
Such a personal letter from Jim Collins got me excited as he is an international author with great books like Good to Great and Built to Last. And Jim Collins’ humility made me very happy. However, he denied politely writing foreword for my book due to his upcoming book. He wished me good luck for my upcoming book.
Author and Mother
An author can be compared with a mother who conceives and undergoes lot of pressure and pleasure while carrying the child in her womb. The author conceives an idea to author a book. He finds several challenges right from inception to reality. For instance, he has to sacrifice his personal time to write book. He undergoes several trials and tribulations apart from the routine challenges to complete the book. Once the book is completed he has to search for a suitable publisher who would take the book forward. And it takes lot of time especially for budding authors. The author has to look for a suitable person to write foreword and it takes time to get approval. In addition, he has to work for endorsements from experts in the field to make sure that the book gets better visibility. It again takes times. In the meanwhile there will be challenges between the publisher and the author on various issues. There will be challenges related to time deadlines to get the endorsements for incorporating in the book. The entire process is easier said than done. The author invests his knowledge and the publisher invests money for publishing the book. There has to be right understanding and chemistry between the author and publisher. Once the book is published, it is for the readers to decide whether it is properly delivered. If readers accept, the author gets elated with his efforts.
Similarly the mother feels happy when she conceives the child initially. She undergoes lot of pressure and pleasure while carrying the child and mostly lot of pressure. At the time of delivery she undergoes lot of pain and finally she delivers the baby. The moment she sees her baby she forgets the entire pain and gets excited by seeing her baby. The author also gets excited when he first sees his book on hand. He will be happy when his book delivers the goods as per the expectations of the readers. It is a great feeling indeed for both author and mother while delivering the book and the baby.
I would like to conclude that as every mother is possessive of her baby, every author is possessive of his book.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Book Review By Professor M.S.Rao “Leadership” Authored By John C. Maxwell
“Success can be defined as the progressive realization of a predetermined goal.” – John C. Maxwell
The book titled ‘Leadership’ by John C. Maxwell is a small book that unleashes your leadership potential. It contains several leadership lessons based on the author’s personal experiences. It helps you follow your vision and bring others with you and produce a lasting legacy. It defines leadership, identifies a few traits every leader should develop, and shows the impact leadership can have on your life and the lives of those you lead. It equips you the abilities to influence and empowers others and emphasizes that leadership develops daily, not in a day.
The book is divided into three parts with a total of ten chapters. The first part deals with the development of a leader, the second part describes the traits of a leader and the third part dwells on the impact of a leader.
The book breaks the ice with the Law of the Lid that helps the people understand the value of leadership. It starts with a story where two young brothers named Dick and Maurice moved from New Hampshire to California in search of the American Dream. They were McDonald brothers who proved themselves as efficient managers but could not excel as leaders.
John C. Maxwell says that each individual influences at least ten thousand other people during their lifetime. He explains the importance of Pareto’s principal with examples. He observes that leaders tend to initiate and followers tend to react.
He compares leadership development with boxing as it needs daily preparation. He presents the brief biography of Theodore Roosevelt who was a boxer and excelled as an effective leader. As a child, he was puny and very sickly. He had debilitating asthma, possessed very poor eyesight and was painfully thin. His parents weren’t sure he would survive. He was the most flamboyant of all U.S. presidents. The author reveals that nothing was an obstacle to Roosevelt. His enthusiasm and stamina seemed boundless. As the vice presidential candidate in 1900, he gave 673 speeches and traveled 20,000 miles while campaigning for President McKinley.
He differentiates between leaders and followers as: leaders initiate while followers react; leaders lead, pick up phone and make contact while followers listen, wait for phone to ring; leaders spend time planning and anticipate problems while followers spend time living day-to-day reacting to problems; leaders invest time with people while followers spend time with people; and finally leaders fill the calendar by priorities while followers fill the calendar by requests.
A real leader knows the difference between being the boss and being a leader. The boss drives his workers while the leader coaches them; the boss depends upon authority while the leader on goodwill; the boss inspires fear while the leader inspires enthusiasm; the boss says “I” while the leader, “we” and the boss fixes the blame for the breakdown while the leader fixes the breakdown.
Although it’s true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved. But that process doesn’t happen overnight. Leadership is complicated. It has many facets: respect, experience, emotional strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum timing – the list goes on.
The author reveals the interesting sociological study of Dr. Anthony Campolo in which fifty people over the age of ninety-five were asked one question: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” The three most common answers were: they would reflect more, risk more and do more things that would live on after they are dead.
The author unfolds that one of the great dreamers of the twentieth century was Walt Disney whose greatest masterpieces of vision were Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The spark for that vision came from an unexpected place. You can’t buy, beg, or borrow vision. It has to come from the inside. He further adds that the greater the vision, the more winners it has the potential to attract. The more challenging the vision, the harder the participants fight to achieve it.
Maxwell busts five myths about leadership. They are: leading and managing are one and the same; entrepreneurs are leaders; IQ is equal to leadership; one who is in front of the crowd is a leader; and finally leadership is based on position.
The author motivates the readers with examples from Mother Teresa to Diana who influenced people regardless of their backgrounds. He emphasizes that although everyone has the potential they cannot achieve in overnight. It takes regular efforts to achieve success.
He aptly illustrates that President Abraham Lincoln was a master at empowering his leaders. For example, when he appointed General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of the Union armies in 1864, he sent him this message: “I neither ask nor desire to know anything of your plans. Take the responsibility and act, and call on me for assistance. That’s the attitude you need as an empowerer.
He says that leaders who leave a legacy of succession for their organization do the following:
1. Lead the organization with a “long view”.
2. Create a leadership culture.
3. Pay the price today to assure success tomorrow.
4. Value team leadership above individual leadership.
5. Walk away from the organization with integrity.
6. Few leaders pass it on. Max Dupree, author of Leadership Is an Art, declared, “Succession is one of the key responsibilities of leadership.” Achievement comes to someone when he is able to do great things for himself. Success comes when he empowers followers to do great things with him.
Maxwell personally regrets for not leaving a good legacy when he first took leadership position in Church, at Hillham, Indiana.
Leadership Takeaways
• The higher the leadership, the greater the effectiveness.
• Leadership develops daily, not in a day.
• The first person you lead is you.
• The discipline to prioritize and the ability to work toward a stated goal are essential to a leader’s success.
• Trust is the foundation of leadership.
• You can seize only what you can see.
• The true measure of leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.
• Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.
• The act of empowering others changes lives.
• A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.
• To reach out the highest level of effectiveness, you have to raise the lid of leadership ability.
• Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is ongoing. A result of self-discipline and perseverance.
• No matter how gifted a leader is, his gifts will never reach their maximum potential without the application of self-discipline.
• If you know you have talent, and you’ve seen a lot of motion but little concrete results – you may lack self-discipline.
• A life in which anything goes will ultimately be a life in which nothing goes.
• Efficiency is the foundation for survival. Effectiveness is the foundation for success.
• When a leader’s character is strong, people trust him. And they trust in his ability to release their potential.
• Think about what you’d like to see change in the world around you.
• True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence.
• Followers in voluntary organizations cannot be forced to get on board. If the leader has not influence with them, they won’t follow.
• People under the influence of an empowering person are like paper in the hands of a talented artist.
• When it comes down to it, empowering leadership is sometimes the only real advantage one organization has over another in our competitive society.
• The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership.
• When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.
• People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
• You can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.
• A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others. Success without a successor is failure.
• Loyalty to the leader reaches its highest peak when the follower has personally grown through the mentorship of the leader.
• Your greatest joy comes from watching others grow and develop.
The author concludes the book with, “You will be judged by how well your people and your organization did after you were gone. Your lasting value will be measured by succession.”
Final Word
This book is a collection of ideas and ideals of John C. Maxwell. The language is simple and straight with illustrations of great leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Roberto Goizueta, McDonald Brothers, Walt Disney and Mother Teresa. It contains pearls of wisdom in every sentence. It guides and grooves you in the right slot as an effective leader. It emphasizes that leadership develops daily, not in a day. It helps develop your leadership skills and abilities. This is a must read for all who like to grow as leaders and develop others as leaders.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
Dear readers,
I would appreciate your comments about this article.
The book titled ‘Leadership’ by John C. Maxwell is a small book that unleashes your leadership potential. It contains several leadership lessons based on the author’s personal experiences. It helps you follow your vision and bring others with you and produce a lasting legacy. It defines leadership, identifies a few traits every leader should develop, and shows the impact leadership can have on your life and the lives of those you lead. It equips you the abilities to influence and empowers others and emphasizes that leadership develops daily, not in a day.
The book is divided into three parts with a total of ten chapters. The first part deals with the development of a leader, the second part describes the traits of a leader and the third part dwells on the impact of a leader.
The book breaks the ice with the Law of the Lid that helps the people understand the value of leadership. It starts with a story where two young brothers named Dick and Maurice moved from New Hampshire to California in search of the American Dream. They were McDonald brothers who proved themselves as efficient managers but could not excel as leaders.
John C. Maxwell says that each individual influences at least ten thousand other people during their lifetime. He explains the importance of Pareto’s principal with examples. He observes that leaders tend to initiate and followers tend to react.
He compares leadership development with boxing as it needs daily preparation. He presents the brief biography of Theodore Roosevelt who was a boxer and excelled as an effective leader. As a child, he was puny and very sickly. He had debilitating asthma, possessed very poor eyesight and was painfully thin. His parents weren’t sure he would survive. He was the most flamboyant of all U.S. presidents. The author reveals that nothing was an obstacle to Roosevelt. His enthusiasm and stamina seemed boundless. As the vice presidential candidate in 1900, he gave 673 speeches and traveled 20,000 miles while campaigning for President McKinley.
He differentiates between leaders and followers as: leaders initiate while followers react; leaders lead, pick up phone and make contact while followers listen, wait for phone to ring; leaders spend time planning and anticipate problems while followers spend time living day-to-day reacting to problems; leaders invest time with people while followers spend time with people; and finally leaders fill the calendar by priorities while followers fill the calendar by requests.
A real leader knows the difference between being the boss and being a leader. The boss drives his workers while the leader coaches them; the boss depends upon authority while the leader on goodwill; the boss inspires fear while the leader inspires enthusiasm; the boss says “I” while the leader, “we” and the boss fixes the blame for the breakdown while the leader fixes the breakdown.
Although it’s true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved. But that process doesn’t happen overnight. Leadership is complicated. It has many facets: respect, experience, emotional strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum timing – the list goes on.
The author reveals the interesting sociological study of Dr. Anthony Campolo in which fifty people over the age of ninety-five were asked one question: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” The three most common answers were: they would reflect more, risk more and do more things that would live on after they are dead.
The author unfolds that one of the great dreamers of the twentieth century was Walt Disney whose greatest masterpieces of vision were Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The spark for that vision came from an unexpected place. You can’t buy, beg, or borrow vision. It has to come from the inside. He further adds that the greater the vision, the more winners it has the potential to attract. The more challenging the vision, the harder the participants fight to achieve it.
Maxwell busts five myths about leadership. They are: leading and managing are one and the same; entrepreneurs are leaders; IQ is equal to leadership; one who is in front of the crowd is a leader; and finally leadership is based on position.
The author motivates the readers with examples from Mother Teresa to Diana who influenced people regardless of their backgrounds. He emphasizes that although everyone has the potential they cannot achieve in overnight. It takes regular efforts to achieve success.
He aptly illustrates that President Abraham Lincoln was a master at empowering his leaders. For example, when he appointed General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of the Union armies in 1864, he sent him this message: “I neither ask nor desire to know anything of your plans. Take the responsibility and act, and call on me for assistance. That’s the attitude you need as an empowerer.
He says that leaders who leave a legacy of succession for their organization do the following:
1. Lead the organization with a “long view”.
2. Create a leadership culture.
3. Pay the price today to assure success tomorrow.
4. Value team leadership above individual leadership.
5. Walk away from the organization with integrity.
6. Few leaders pass it on. Max Dupree, author of Leadership Is an Art, declared, “Succession is one of the key responsibilities of leadership.” Achievement comes to someone when he is able to do great things for himself. Success comes when he empowers followers to do great things with him.
Maxwell personally regrets for not leaving a good legacy when he first took leadership position in Church, at Hillham, Indiana.
Leadership Takeaways
• The higher the leadership, the greater the effectiveness.
• Leadership develops daily, not in a day.
• The first person you lead is you.
• The discipline to prioritize and the ability to work toward a stated goal are essential to a leader’s success.
• Trust is the foundation of leadership.
• You can seize only what you can see.
• The true measure of leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.
• Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.
• The act of empowering others changes lives.
• A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.
• To reach out the highest level of effectiveness, you have to raise the lid of leadership ability.
• Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is ongoing. A result of self-discipline and perseverance.
• No matter how gifted a leader is, his gifts will never reach their maximum potential without the application of self-discipline.
• If you know you have talent, and you’ve seen a lot of motion but little concrete results – you may lack self-discipline.
• A life in which anything goes will ultimately be a life in which nothing goes.
• Efficiency is the foundation for survival. Effectiveness is the foundation for success.
• When a leader’s character is strong, people trust him. And they trust in his ability to release their potential.
• Think about what you’d like to see change in the world around you.
• True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence.
• Followers in voluntary organizations cannot be forced to get on board. If the leader has not influence with them, they won’t follow.
• People under the influence of an empowering person are like paper in the hands of a talented artist.
• When it comes down to it, empowering leadership is sometimes the only real advantage one organization has over another in our competitive society.
• The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership.
• When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.
• People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
• You can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.
• A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others. Success without a successor is failure.
• Loyalty to the leader reaches its highest peak when the follower has personally grown through the mentorship of the leader.
• Your greatest joy comes from watching others grow and develop.
The author concludes the book with, “You will be judged by how well your people and your organization did after you were gone. Your lasting value will be measured by succession.”
Final Word
This book is a collection of ideas and ideals of John C. Maxwell. The language is simple and straight with illustrations of great leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Roberto Goizueta, McDonald Brothers, Walt Disney and Mother Teresa. It contains pearls of wisdom in every sentence. It guides and grooves you in the right slot as an effective leader. It emphasizes that leadership develops daily, not in a day. It helps develop your leadership skills and abilities. This is a must read for all who like to grow as leaders and develop others as leaders.
Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com
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