Dr. Parul Sharda, Associate Professor, IMIRC - I know that the word “Leadership” is not new to you, but this article will surely help you understand the new concept of leadership that is required in the 21^st century. So let us start with the word ‘Lead-er-ship’… the word when broken into pieces itself explains that...if you really want to “Lead your Ship (called LIFE)”.... you need to have the pre-requisites being a Master of Ship i.e. The Captain of Ship.

Now let us understand what pre-requisites the captain of ship must have:-

1. Firstly, he should be focused
2. He  must be aware of the destination
3. He must have plan to reach up to destination
4. He must have all the resources to facilitate the journey.
5. He must have well qualified team, as a crew.
6. He must be aware of the competencies of each team member.
7. He must be a good listener.
8. Lastly, he must be empathetic to understand the situations.

If all the above mentioned qualities are there in a person called as leader, he can be successful in 21^st century and can earn fame.

 Let us understand it more clearly, we all know that decision making is an important aspect in professional life for example “to earn’ or ‘to come out from any unforeseen situation’ is quite a complicated job and you think you have a solution for the problem, but “not sure” , “ may be you are correct and may be not”.

In such situation of decision making JUST HOLD YOUR OPINIONS, the skill to hold your opinion to your-self does two things: - i) It gives everybody else the feeling that they have been heard. It gives everybody to feel that they have contributed and, ii) you get the benefit of hearing what everybody else thought … Also, ask open-ended question from your team like “What do you think we should do about?” or “What to be done to fix the problem? or “ How to minimize the losses?” etc. you will wonder how people will come up with innovative ideas and suggestions that you never have thought of.....by this way you reach up to a final decision, simultaneously you have made your team members happy, they felt their worth. Speak in last and that too…. “To clarify what you have decided”.

At last I would like to conclude that being an INSPIRING LEADER you must have:

1. Your Life- Balanced & Happy
2. Your Role- To lead & to Facilitate
3. Your Actions-Consistent & Effective
4. Your Knowledge- Green & Growing
5. Your Team-Aligned & Committed
6. Your Decisions: Fact based and Inclusive
7. Your Words-Thoughtful and Empowering

So to be a leader of 21^st century.. “Praise your team for their efforts” “Point their mistakes individually and separately” “Applause for their achievements in public”  “Celebrate the success together” - “Leadership is not about power it’s about responsibility.” - 

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value:Albert Einstein”

Read more:

Yin - Yang: The Philosophy of Life