Leadership is one of the most overused words in today's corporate world. It has become a de-facto requisite for almost every job in an MNC. However, there is no standard definition of leadership and it varies from person to person. For me, Leadership entails the following qualities:

1.  Empathy
2.  Commitment
3.  Vision

1. Empathy
             A leader should be able to connect with others such that he can motivate them by understanding them. Empathy is a very important trait of a leader as only if a leader understands his people, will the people follow him. In fact, there is a strong difference between Empathy and Sympathy. Sympathy would mean a leader feeling sorry for his people which would not uplift that person. On the other hand, when a leader empathisizes with his people, he would uplift them by understanding their problem. His people would get the feeling that the leader is one among them. Hence, Empathy is a strong leadership trait.



2. Commitment

              When a leader is passionate and committed to a cause, his commitment will spread over to his people. The employees will automatically get motivation on seeing the leader's commitment to the cause. Also there will be lot of testing times when the leader will have to keep perseverance and commit to the cause as others are looking up to him. As it is rightly said, Attitude reflects Leadership. Hence, a leader's passion and commitment will determine his people's motivation levels




3. Vision

                A leader can lead only if he has a vision. A leader knows where he wants to go and takes actions accordingly to reach his goals. He aligns his people to his vision to make his goal a collective goal. Famous leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela had clear visions which personified their greatness.

I want to grow as a professional and improve my leadership qualities. I would develop the above 3 qualities in me to become an effective leader.


Ganesh