My Ten Commandments of Leadership

To be in a position of LEADERSHIP is a serious matter.  Those who wish to lead should be well equipped with a balance of business sense and people skills.  Tipping the scale either way could make or break a department, a company, and even a country.  

A bad leadership breeds dissent and organizational breakdown.  We don't want that, right?

The best leaders are those who know what it is to follow.  So allow me to share with you my 10 Commandments for a Good Leadership based on my 23 years of being a follower:

1.  Be a good example. This is mainly based on values.  The values that you hold dear is reflective of how you do things.

2.  Know where you're going.  The question is, "How can you LEAD if you don't know where you want to go?"  Be wary of the leader who don't have a sense of direction.

4.  Be clear in your directions.  Knowing where you want to go does not guarantee that you'll be able to get your team to get there.  Communicating your goals to others and how you need them to do it is as important as having  the vision of your goal.

5.  Define your people's deliverables.  Quality should always be the top of mind. Your people should know what is expected of them.  They should know the rewards of exemplary work and the penalty for a lackluster one. 

6.  Give credit where credit is due.  As Maya Angelou would say, "People  will  forget what you did, they will forget what you said, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  A leader must have the power to build morale.  Stroking the ego of a subordinate for a job well done is an effective tool in morale building and in the process strengthens confidence which in turn spurs autonomy.   Leaders should not baby sitters.  Leaders build effective teams and organizations.

7.  Be accountable.  The buck stops with you.  If your people fail, you fail.  Never forget that.

8.  Be a teacher and mentor.  The greatest legacy of a leader is being able to mold future leaders.  A leader is not threatened to mentor a secondary to ensure business continuity and relishes in the notion that even without his presence those whom he leaves behind is competent to keep the business going.

9.  Always look for better ways of doing things.  Like the parable of the talents a leader must have something to show for at the end of his term.  To leave the position and hand over the very same organization when you took over is an affront to the company that hired you and a total waste of investment.

10.  Have a lot of patience.  It is hard to be a leader.  Dealing with different kinds of people, knowing their idiosyncrasies,  strengths and limitations require a chameleon-like quality of adapting.  Trust and respect are not automatic privileges of the position.  It is earned through time and a whole lot of relationship building.