If you see closely, the above traits really try to answer the question around - How do strong leaders influence people? This I believe is the cornerstone of strong leadership as more than ever the success story of organizations and businesses is created through its people and the extent to which they are inspired, enthused and have a reason to pour out their 100% into their roles and work.

In this post I would delve into the other two key traits that I have consistently seen in the exceptional leaders that markedly distinguish them from the others.

At home with Change - Leaders are constantly looking for the next horizon, the next level to get to - for themselves, their teams and their organizations. Even when things are going well and smoothly, most of us would love to cruise while they are the first ones to ask - "What's next?". They would anticipate changes in the winds, within or outside the organization, and get to work on building the next road. There are certain characteristics that are at the core to this aspect of leaders being at home with change.

Given that leaders "dream" about the changes they wish to bring about, what distinguishes the authentic leader from the "dreamers only" type? It's probably their commitment to converting the dream/idea to reality and their intrinsic nature to be comfortable with dust and dirt that goes with making this happen.

It's about landing the dream on the ground. It's about overcoming the fear and criticism of failure(Most of the world is filled with people who knew it wouldn't work out and almost always cannot wait to tell you this). Holding one's ground is only possible with a strong internal belief and confidence system that is continually battered before getting to see the first signs of success. This is very characteristic of strong leaders and we may have even seen this in leaders in sports, business or politics who are continually thinking and working on taking their game or enterprise to the next level.

To Serve -
"Serve" - to act as a servant, to render assistance, be of use, help.

Let me put it like this. Leaders have an extremely clear sense of who they are serving and it's not just their boss! It could be an internal or external Customer - Sales, Technical Support, Employees, The Board, Shareholders, Market...
- So, as a leader do you know who are you serving?

OK, given that leaders serve, what does "serving" really mean?

Servant Leaders are very cognizant of and represent their Customers interests within their teams and organizations. They not only "know" but can also "feel" the needs of the entities they serve, including their pain, the challenges and are willing to everything possible to help including having them take the limelight and the applause. It is not surprising this is somewhat difficult considering we grow up in our individual roles mostly with a relentless focus on "myself" and what I need to do to get recognition and success. This is a clear shift of thinking from "me" to "us" and does not come easily. In fact, most fail to make the transition and stay on as "Self-Serving" leaders(or the bozos?) taking refuge in their authority, title and power to do whatever it takes to keep looking good.

From the standpoint of the business world, what's special about "servant leadership"? Why is it important? As a customer, when you believe someone truly cares about your success and is willing to work and fight for it if necessary, would you hesitate to give your best to this relationship? Whether you are the customer or an employee, you would return the trust. When most of the orgainzations struggle with employees trying to do the least they can to stay on, a servant leader builds a trust based team that's fully bonded, charged and continually evolving.

I recall one of the instances in my career when there was a serious quality problem with one of the products we were selling. One of our Customers had just deployed a massive number of these in the field(actually several thousand of these!). I could feel their pain, what it meant to them, the nightmare they were going through, but really couldn't offer much help as the problem was still being diagnosed. The next few months were like walking on fire as we worked hard on giving this the highest priority within the company and eventually made it across and made it across together with the customer. A year later, the customer came back with another large order(again, several thousand). More than the order, it was testimony to the enormous trust we shared!

One of the easiest places you would find examples of "Servant Leadership" is probably your own home. A "mother" in her role knows and feels, better than most people, what each child needs or is challenged with at any time. Her priorities on the group she "serves" is never fuzzy. She is happiest when her son gets a medal back from school. She would do whatever it takes from her to make sure the "familly" is successful and happy.

Taking the focus off yourself and genuinely moving it to the group you serve is key and will not happen unless you have a firmly rooted internal self-worth system.

At the heart of it, servant leadership is about caring and working for success that's larger than yourself not about yourself.

My Best,
-Deepak