The idea of a leader has evolved over the years, and some of the things we believed to be true no longer hold good. This blog with a series of three posts gives you a fresh understanding of leadership in this day and age, and the attributes of a true leader.

Not only do you learn about the practices that make someone an effective leader, but you also take away practical tips that can help you become a leader in your field or line of work. These are based on extensive research as well as the real-life experiences of your coach Manoj Radhakrishna – host at RareErth podcast and a seasoned banker.

So, what is leadership? Tony Robbins defines it as the ability to influence others. This basically means that you have something in you which attracts others, and gets them to follow you. But why are leadership skills so crucial for everyone to pick up at some point in their lives?

The Importance of Leadership Skills

With the disruption brought on by emerging technologies, a lot of the labour-intensive jobs are slowly getting replaced or experiencing a decline. The skills that continue to be in demand are the ability to make critical decisions, to drive a company, to get a team of people to work towards a common goal. If you’re someone who wants to stand out, it is a good idea to reskill or retool yourself now. This blog on leadership is essentially about that – how you can become an effective leader in the times to come.

If you read up about Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors and businessmen of our times, he says the one thing that was of high value, something which helped him over the years, was a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking. If someone who is this established and from a different domain found the art of influencing people critical, you can appreciate why leadership is an important trait to develop.

Internal Vs. External Motivation

There are people who perform really well when driven by external motivators such as deadlines. Think of students who ace exams, workers who put out the best deliverables within the time, and so on. But the question you need to ask yourself is, if these external influences were not present, would you still do your best work?

If you do not have that internal drive, then you are lacking leadership skills. A true leader stays driven regardless of external motivation, thanks to his or her internal motivation. What this means is that the No.1 skill of a leader is the ability to influence themselves, even before they influence others!

The Continuous Evolution of a Leader

There’s often a misconception that leadership skills are something you acquire and then that’s it – you’ve made it. But John Maxwell, an authority on leadership who has written countless books on the topic, says that leadership is like an uphill climb that you need to be consistent with. There is no place where you can say I’ve arrived and actually rest. If you’re not learning, evolving, and applying yourself continuously, you cannot be an effective leader. And the decline is usually faster than the ascent.

Leadership is something you improvise every day, every month and every year – a constant process. While reading this would have given you a basic framework about leadership and leadership skills, the next post explores best practices that you can emulate. Keep reading and expanding your knowledge on the subject.