Why all managers are not leaders?

By Deepti Prabhupatkar

Worth giving a thought as to what extra skills make leaders.There is a lot written about the differences on web. However, the below mentioned points are out of personal experiences and views of my colleagues.

In this article I will be writing about few points on the qualities that make people call their managers as leaders

·         Building good rapport with team members- This includes not only with his/her leadership team but also with the juniors of the team. This builds in more confidence in minds of people to approach the leader directly without any hesitation

·         Successfully resolving conflicts – This is an art. Leaders do it with a pure motive of solving the issue. The leader is completely unbiased, a good listener (of both the concerned parties), shows genuine interest and takes relevant actions. Follow up, taking feedback from other team members, understanding the reason behind the problem are some of the key actions taken by the leader

·         Open for feedback - Leaders are open for feedbacks from the team irrespective of the hierarchy.  An anonymous 360 (degree) periodic feedback is considered as an important factor for running the team smoothly, by the leader. This task also involves taking appropriate actions on issues if any

·         Providing feedbacks to motivate – Leaders provide feedbacks to people in such a manner which can get the best out them (individual/team/receiver of the feedback). They are aware of the fact that each person is different and has to be dealt with differently and hence, same formula does not work for all

Having positive approach towards work and life, joining the team for lunch/snacks whenever possible, informal short chats are few other characteristics observed

The above mentioned points are very easy to inculcate as they are very practical and professional