Sach Blogs

Of Leaders and More..

Excerpts from Mr Azim Premji's speech @ IIM Calcutta:

1. Leaders believe in values being practised day in and day out...it is for the top managers to say that their management culture holds certain values and they have to endorse and follow those values.

2. Successful leaders have immense self-confidence-.they have the ability to laugh at and criticize themselves, and admit and share their failures with their core-teams so as to initiate a learning process. They are "turnaround men" - men who actually learn from their mistakes (a man who doesn't fail at least 1/3rd of the time is probably not trying and experimenting enough.).Doing this requires a high level of self-confidence.

3. Failures are a very important aspect of leadership. Leaders can tolerate failure with equanimity and are cheerful in the face of failure. Leaders should not forget the lesson of failure.

4. Successful leaders play to win.. This is not the same as playing dirty. They have high expectations and demand more- both of themselves and others and at the same time deliver more than the industry average. Global expectations are constantly on the rise.... but your ultimate target or standard should be internal - i.e. yourself , and not external competition.

5. Work hard and work smart: Leaders should have a very high degree of initiative. You have to work, both hard as well as work smart. All managers are bright...what puts you a cut above the rest is your drive- the long hours you can put in, and the smart thinking you can do in that time. You have to make hard work a part of your lifestyle.

6. Leaders have a deep committment to excellence and quality .

7. Strategy is as important as execution. Both are terribly critical. An excellent strategy without meticulous execution is no good. Proper execution is like hammering in the nail all the time.

8. Successful leaders are always on the side of optimism while having their feet firmly fixed in reality. Optimism and enthusiasm shown by a leader acts as a Force Multiplier.

Mr. Azim Premji feels that organizations succeed because of their people. Ideal qualities to look for in an employee are: desire to succeed, high drive, modesty, company loyalty, integrity, ability to judge, capacity to anticipate the future, and a balanced ego.

Most importantly- successful leaders create and breed successful leaders under them.

[Mr. Azim Premji is Chairman, Wipro]

posted by Sach @ 6:20 PM