LEADERSHIP: THE NEW BUZZ WORD IN THE BUSINESS WORLD, SO WHAT ABOUT MANAGEMENT???

“A manager always needs to be a good leader but the vice versa is not a pre requisite for a leader though”. Throughout our life times we have read & listened to this phrase a thousand times and we agreed to it. B-schools across the globe were into producing good, infact, great managers. It was always believed that a manager always possesses the leadership qualities because initial part of his job is always to get the work done through others. Also, there was a myth prevalent that leaders are born, but the question is that ‘is it true?’ Many debates have been held and we have a lot of reviews but no results. Irony, isn’t it?

Well, leaving the past reviews and not indulging in one more debate, I would like to draw your attention to this new buzz word- LEADERSHIP. A leader is always believed to be an influencer; the person who is like the sandpiper whose flute has the magic to lead all the mice. He is the one who has the capability to be the role model. As a manager has functions like planning, organizing, directing, controlling & coordinating to perform, a leader has just one function, i.e., to influence. Now, who can be a leader?

Just to make a distinction, I would like to give an example. You are in your campus/office and suddenly you get to know that in the next building of yours, two eminent people are coming in different auditoriums- Mr. Asaram ji Bapu & Mr. Xyz, COO of ABC CO. You have an option to go for one, who you think you will go for? You, and infact, 99% people of your age might go to attend the session of Mr. Xyz as you think you will gain some knowledge from him. But the irony is that if you compare the fan following of both, you will notice that Mr. Asaram ji Bapu has much larger, may be more than 10 times, fan following than Mr. Xyz.
Confused???
This was the same point I wanted to draw your attention towards. Mr. Xyz is a manager; however, Mr. Asaram ji Bapu is a leader infact. He has the capability to draw a larger audience than Mr. Xyz. Now, we can mention as many leaders from different walks of life as you want, e.g., Amitabh Bachchan, Rajni Kant, Ratan Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, George Bush, Osama Bin Laden, etc. We know that all these people have such a charisma that whatever they say, whatever they do, people follow. Now are there any pre requisites to be a leader?

The answer is both yes & no. Yes if you take a macro view of whatever I am going to mention below now and No if you take it specifically. So here are certain musts to be a great leader:

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  People Skills: No followers, no leader. Develop a liking for you in the hearts of the “junta”. No matter, be a heart-throb.
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  Voice: The best example is Amitabh Bachchan or for that matter, any of the movie star. Whatever they say becomes a dialog. Have a good tone.
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  Communication: Whether you have a great voice or not, if you are unable to send your message across, you can’t be a good leader. Learn to imbibe all the principles of communication.
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  Memory: Sharpen your memory. You must remember your followers to make your impact not just a one time exercise but continuously. It’s a process, remember it. Start remembering the faces, names, telephone numbers, and their last comments.
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  Appearance: It is not necessary that you must be tall like Amitabh Bachchan or powerful like Muhammad Ali to be a leader. But appearance means that you must display an image with which you want to get recognized. It includes your inner charisma too. Also, remember that you must be conscious about your cleanliness and hygiene.
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  Aggressiveness: “slow & steady wins the race”, “speed thrills, but kills” and similar phrases I would associate with losers. The person, who is not aggressive in his approach and is not fast, can’t be a good leader. By aggressiveness and speed, I do not mean that you should work in haste but do not waste time. Kill the snake as soon as you see its tail; don’t wait to see his head or you will be killed.
  
  The list is not exhaustive. One can go on and on but these are the qualities one must have or develop to be a great leader. So now the question comes, if there is so much buzz about leadership, what about management? Is it a waste material to study? Are managers somewhat below the leaders?
  
  Well, I have started writing with the answer only. Look at the first line of the article. And that is the answer. It’s not about who is above or who is below, it all about who can do what. I would say that it’s easy to be a leader than a manager as leadership is an integral part of management. As of today we have a dearth of leaders in India but might be with some insight we can produce great leaders within home.
  
  So what are you waiting for guys, get up, the world is yours,
  
  “Let’s make a dent in the universe.”

Contemplated & Written by: Gaurav Goel, MHROD (Batch of 2008), Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.

"DEAL WITH STRESS: THE POWER OF 9"

Every one of you is dealing with this. Everybody knows that it’s bad for health and everybody knows how to cope up with it. But do we really make the sincere efforts to deal with stress.

I would just like to draw your attention to a small story which you might have heard sometime. A class teacher once drew the attention of his science class towards a glass full of water. He asked the class to guess the weight of the glass. Some one said 200ml and some one said 500ml and so on. The teacher now lifted the glass high in air at an angle of 180degrees and asked the class as if he can hold the glass for how long. Again the surmises begin ranging from 2mins to 2hrs depending on the strength of the teacher’s hand. And the next question was, “what will happen after 15mins?” One student said that the hand will start paining mildly. “And what will happen after 1hr?” The teacher asked. The class replied that the hand will strain and can lead to leukemia too. But right then the teacher put down the glass and asked the result. “Your hand will come to normal position after few seconds” the class said in unanimity. Now teacher explained that the glass is nothing but our mind and water is like worries. We keep carrying them till the time they lead us to disaster. And once we put them down, we are back in health. So why carry the burden of your worries from here to there.

It is, practically, impossible to avoid stress in today’s fast changing world and the reasons could be different. One might have got a scolding from the boss or the teacher, or one might had a fight with a friend or a loved one. One might be unable to complete a task or might be searching for a task to complete (unemployed)… the reasons could be different but one thing is sure that everyone is stressed irrespective of his/her biological state.

However all stress is not bad so no need to avoid it either. There is good stress also known as “eustress” which helps indirectly. Studies have shown that one performs best under stress. The pressure to reach the deadlines make a person performs. But it is helpful only in short term. Thus one must always try to avoid stress and if not possible, direct it to positive side.

So here are some of the tips which are practical, does not consume much of your time and may help you not only overcome stress but also avoid it in future. These are not the ones that have been published by eminent personalities so far but these come from my practical experience, research work and observation (while being at the workplace, which was a service industry, long working hours & frequent scolding, personal relationships both at social , personal and professional end, etc..). These are not the guidelines or the usual reading stuff but the easy and practical ways to overcome stress and avoid its negative impact. Try them…

1. Talk: Whenever stressed, talk to some one who can listen to you, may be your best friend, your mom, etc.

2. Take deep breaths: Sounds clique but it works. Try it whenever you are in stress.

3. Eat, sleep, exercise: It’s the guru mantra, the panacea. All three in balance and stress cannot even touch you.

4. Smile: It covers a mile.

5. Recognize your potential: Learn to love yourself; after all you are the best.

6. Pursue your hobby: Don’t be afraid to pursue your hobbies at any age, after all who cares.

7. Maintain a diary: When no one is there to listen, pour out yourself on a piece of paper. You will feel lighter.

8. Take breaks: It misguides the stress. It comes in installments and you can deal with it.

9. Listen: Very hard to practice but help you in long run.

These are some of the golden rules to deal with stress, call them,

“The power of 9”.


As it has been specified in “the monk who sold his Ferrari”, any work performed regularly for 21 days becomes a habit so why not apply this ‘rule of 21’ on these 9 golden words.

And yes, start working now because,

"Even if you're on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Contemplated & Written by: Gaurav Goel, MHROD (Batch of 2008), Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.