Shakespeare said the world is a stage where each of us must play a part. Our part is our role. There are 6 winning roles that every leader must consistently and simultaneously perform to be world-class. They are like six balls that juggler must juggle and balance without dropping any one of them!
Let's look at the 6 roles... A leader must
Instill values
Inspire hearts
Ignite minds
Influence behaviors
Impact results
Integrate energies
Let's examine each of these roles:
1. A leader instills values :
Values are core beliefs or principles that guide all decisions. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and then shows the way. A leader must stand for some values and principles and live by them. It is said that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.
Know yourself, stand for some principles and values, and let them guide your every decision and action, only then can you have an identity that people will trust. By being a role model you can instill these values in others. There is a saying, your actions are so loud that I cannot hear what you are saying.
2. A leader inspires hearts:
A leader must inspire people by winning their hearts. Remember that people are not machines. Appeal to their positive emotions so they are inspired and motivated by your words and actions. Those who use negative emotions like 'fear' or 'guilt' to motivate others will only get short-term results which will breed negative emotions like resentment and rebellion.
A leader is not just someone who is in charge of people.. a leader is one who genuinely and sincerely takes charge of the well-being of his or her people. When people feel safe with you, when they feel they are growing because of you, they feel inspired to look up to you as a leader.
3. A leader ignites minds:
A leader is a coach and facilitator, not a dictator. As a leader, you must bring out the best in people. To do that you must first believe in them and allow them to contribute their own ideas instead of just following your orders. You must create an environment that promotes honest communication and innovation, where your team members can take risks, and be creative.
Allow them to try new approaches, maybe even make new mistakes, but they should learn from them and grow. You must ask questions to ignite their minds to find solutions that they own. Surround yourself with the best minds even if they disagree with you... let the best ideas win!
4. A leader influences behaviors:
Leadership is influence. If you cannot influence anyone, they will not follow you. You must be able to sell your ideas to your team in such a way that they begin to take consistent action towards your vision as if it is their own. Behavior is defined as what you say and what you do.
They will do what you say only when they believe in your values, your vision and your way or approach. As a leader, you must be able to manage their mindsets to remain self-motivated and also sharpen their skill-sets continuously so that they develop the competencies to do their job well.
5. A leader impacts results:
The reality is that there are only two things... reasons or results. A loser gives reasons for non-performance. A leader delivers results. Through his or her team. As a leader, you must take responsibility for results. You may delegate the task, but you cannot delegate the result.
So delegate wisely. The buck stops with you. If your team performs well or doesn't, the responsibility remains yours. Failure does not exist in a leader's dictionary. Failure is only an experiment gone wrong and it is always something to learn from to change course and iterate your actions towards success.
6. A leader integrates energies:
Energies come from the apt application of resources. Your human resources need to be empowered and aligned towards the team or organizational goals. Your human resources are what make every other resource work, be they financial, technological, infrastructural or others. Leaders empower their human resources with the mindset of resourcefulness.
Resources may be limited but an empowered team has Resourcefulness which is unlimited if you know how to harness and channel it. Channelization towards a common goal with common values with different people and different approaches is what we call Alignment. A leader is a master of alignment. He or she organizes and orchestrates varied minds with common values and a common vision.
These are the six fundamental roles of a leader that each of us must strive to perform to our best.