HOW TO BE AN INFLUENTIAL LEADER?

By: Mahendra S Rathore. MBA BA (Honors) CFP® ChFC® CRPC® PMP® CLU® CHE®

Over the past year, the Covid led pandemic and, leading through the unpredictable crisis, has called in for crisis leadership in every sphere of the business and industry. These tough times have spotlighted a successful leader who has led the organization with remarkable creativity, skills, agility, and maverick leadership styles. The most critical contribution psychology has made to business has been in determining the vital traits of transformational leaders.

India's greatest Leader- Ashoka

Psychological tests have been used to determine what characteristics are most noted among successful leaders. Based on the study of a successful leader of this era, the following characteristics can be used for developmental purposes to help managers and aspirational leaders gain insight, inspiration, and emulate pros to develop their leadership skills.

Father of Nation- MK Gandhi

The increasing rate of change in the global business environment is a significant factor in this new emphasis on Leadership, whereas, in the past, managers were expected to maintain the status quo (Manage) to survive and pull along; however, changing dynamics in the marketplace have made it imperative to expand this narrow focus to not only survive but thrive in a fiercely competitive landscape. The new leaders of tomorrow are proactive, purpose-centric, visionary & catalysts of change. They are both learners, doers, and teachers. Not only do they foresee paradigm changes in business & society, but they also have a strong sense of ethics, morals, and powerful intentions to build collaboration and unalloyed integrity to accelerate excellence and innovation in their organizations.

In the mid-sixties, a psychologist named Raymond Cattell pioneered research in personality assessment and developed a list of Potential Leadership characteristics. These key attributes and skills, based on a study of military leaders, are in vogue today to determine the key traits that characterize an effective leader.

     The essential qualities of an effective leader include the following:

• Emotional stability(EQ): Good leaders must be able to tolerate frustration and stress. Overall, they must be well-adjusted and have the psychological maturity to deal with anything they are required to face.
• Dominance: Leaders are often competitive, decisive, and usually enjoy overcoming obstacles. Overall, they are assertive in their thinking style as well as their attitude in dealing with others.
• Enthusiasm: Leaders are usually seen as active, expressive, and energetic. They are often very optimistic and open to change. Overall, they are generally quick and alert and tend to be uninhibited.
  
  
  
• Conscientiousness: Heart-centered Leaders are dominated by a sense of duty and tend to be very exacting in character. They usually have a very high standard of excellence and an inward desire to do their best. Being disciplined and organized, they also need order and tend to be very self-disciplined and meticulous.
• Social boldness: Leaders tend to be spontaneous risk-takers. They are usually socially inclusive yet aggressive and generally impervious to external pressures. Such leaders are duty-bound, and they are responsive to others and demonstrate humaneness and high emotional stamina.
  
• Self-assurance: Poised and self-assured leaders are highly self-confident, and showing compassion, kindness, and resiliency are common traits among such leaders. They embrace an abundance mindset and tend to be free of guilt and have little or no need for self-approbation or other's approval. They are generally unaffected by prior mistakes or failures but learn from the past.
• Relentless Passion: Leaders are self-destroyed, controlled, and very precise in their social interactions & engagements. Overall, they are very protective of their morals, integrity, and reputation and consequently tended to be socially aware and cautious, abundant in foresight, and thoughtful when making decisions or deciding specific actions with consequences.
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  Insight & Foresight: Because of the rapidly changing world today, blended with information overload results in an inability to prognostic accuracy in predicting everything. To say it differently, human reasoning and logic will not get you through all situations. More and more leaders learn the value of using their intuition, experiences and trusting their inner intuition and gut when making decisions.
• Empathy: These leaders can feel the pain of others. Being able to put yourself in the other person's shoes is a crucial trait of leaders today. Without empathy and compassion, you cannot build trust; without trust, you will never win hearts and get the best results from your teams.
  
  
  
• Charisma: People usually perceive leaders as larger than life. Appeal plays a large part in this perception. Leaders who have charm can arouse strong emotions in their teams by instilling a deep sense of purpose and a vision that unites and captivates them around the common goals. Using the power of vision, values, and purpose, leaders secure support and motivate teams to strive for true NorthStar and future plans. They accomplish goals by tying the goal to a bigger purpose and dish out substantial personal rewards and values.
• There is a general sense that Leaders are born and not made. Leadership is a science, and few believe that it is an art, and it can be developed by practice. However, there is no empirical research validation that leaders are born with the gift.

In my opinion, deep desire, circumstances, perseverance, and persistence are major components in the developmental process of any leader, so if your goal is to become an inspirational, transformative leader, work on developing those areas of your personality that you feel are underdeveloped. For instance, if you have most of the critical traits but lack people skills and lack human relationship management, you may want to read biographies of great leaders and choose to take classes or even start reading books on compassion, empathy & communications to overcome the weakness. 

 While on the other hand, if you are a people person and relationships and making friends with others is natural and accessible to you, but you have trouble making rational & logical decisions, then you might like to develop tough-mindedness and learn to develop more psychological resistance. Just remember, the best thing you can do to yourself is a lifelong zest for learning, and all of us can do anything we set our hearts and minds to. 

However, Leadership does not imply being subservient to avoid conflict or disagreements. Leaders can be polite yet firm, courteous but confident, adaptable but not subservient. For all-around leadership skills, one needs to integrate heartfulness with mindfulness to self-actualize one's full potential.