Today’s competitive world, we are surrounded by technology marvels that are at the pinnacle of innovation. Technology has improved our lifestyle also, it has set a challenging task for a leader. Listed are a few points to focus to be more productive:

 Identify the Difference: A leader today has to deal with a plethora of hurdles embarked on his journey to success. Leadership and power are often mistakenly taken for a synonym. We fail to understand that leadership is a larger entity and power is a subset of it. The best way to understand the difference between these two is, If leadership is a process to attain victory then power is the control over the process to make sure you achieve victory.

 True definition of Alpha Male:  We do have a naturally established concept of Alpha Male or dominance over others. In the animalistic world, dominance comes with superior physical power over others thereby making the herd obey a leader. Although we have had the same concept going for mankind due to evolved problems today the definition of Alpha Male has significantly changed from physical strength to mental ability to persuade. The biggest factor distinguishing this phenomenon is the choice. Today the herd doesn’t depend on the leader but a leader depends on his herd to give him that status of commander. Today the Alpha Male is a person by choice not by force.

 Ability to say NO:  A great leader is a person who can say a direct NO to his employers without giving it a second thought. The major concept here is decision-making ability. If a leader has to think multiple times before saying a No to his subordinates then this implies that he is not in control of the process. The ability to disagree can only come if you have complete knowledge of the process you are in. At the same time, you have to explain to your employee why they are not right by displaying them other better choices available and not terminating directly their idea or thought. This way your employee is happy and at the same time values your position more.

 Which works best, A Democrative or a Military approach? : It is usually seen that a Democrative approach where a leader asks for a suggestion improves innovativeness in an organization thereby making every individual feel he is a part of the entity or firm. The major drawback of this approach is that it leads to delay in the decision-making process as you have to consider all opinions thereby missing an opportunity. The same drawback is a benefit of the Military approach but that doesn’t mean that it yields better results, rather a mix of both. The major variable that can be a game-changer is the flexibility to work between both the approaches. A Military approach usually works when you have to imbibe trust in your people & the Democrative approach yields better results when you have to imbibe a sense of belonging to the cause or process.

 Clarity of Relationship:  It is a very nice thing to say that you are my family. So can your team be a family?

 The answer to this is a BIG NO. There is a thin line of thread that stands between any relationship which is called a boundary. A good leader should always have clarity on the boundaries he needs to set with his team. What we call a professional relationship is a concept where you and your teamwork for a cause with a pre-defined algorithm. When you bring in a concept of family you end up dividing your power and lose control over the process. Your team should be clear that when they enter the work peripherals, they are working in line with the same pre-defined rules, and violation of any of those will directly invoke your ability to take action irrespective of who they are.

The technological advancement and changing environment always look for a better leader and we should be on our toes to address and adopt it as early as possible.