Management Tips:

How to organise yourself well and lead your team

Dr. K. Kuhathasan CEO Cenlead

"I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul" thundered poet Hanley. It is your attitude that stimulates your performance. It is your thoughts which moulds and moderates your actions.

The ability to lead and the ability to organise, essentially depends on one's willingness to lead effectively and to organise efficiently. Successful leadership originates with the leaders' will and determination.

Imagination is the mainspring of your actions. If you can give positive shape and proper directions to your imagination, the results would be positive and productive. In order to direct your imagination in the optimistic channels you need faith, self-confidence and enthusiasm.

According to Dr. Maxwell Maltz, "the human being always acts and feels and performs with what he imagines to be true about himself and his environment".

Albert Eienstein once observed that imagination is more powerful than knowledge".

It is the positive mental attitude and the earnest desire to lead, reshaped the thoughts and actions of several industrial leaders.

Individual differences

Human behaviour according to modern psychologists does not just happen but is really caused.

No action, no emition, no thought of a person ever occurs spontaneously. How an individual responds to any particular situation depends upon what he brings into the situation in terms of his abilities, attitudes, skills, desires, understanding and habits.

This has given rise to the concept of individual differences. Although many things are common among humans, strangely no two individuals behave or respond in an identical fashion to a given situation. The interaction between the individual and the situation determines his behaviour and his total leadership qualities.

Thus, the unique and outstanding attributes that makes a person constitutes his distinctive leadership qualities. The study of these attributes enables us to distinguish and differentiate between effective and ineffective leaders.

Positive thinking and optimistic outlook are the basic essence for successful leadership. Positive mental attitude enables one to acquire a success oriented personality.

Positive orient leader enjoys quick grasp, quick understanding, quick solutions and quick actions. The quality of your leadership depends on the quality of your thinking.

Pessimist

On the other hand, pessimists are perpetual mourners. They have grievances against all the events and incidents. They are confirmed pessimists who invariably for see gloom, disaster and failure before they set out on a mission.

As they lack self confidence, they imagine difficulties and invent excuses. They hesitate, argue, hide and postpone all issues and naturally brings disrespect and disrepute to their team.

In your leadership build-up, the following points merit special consideration. To begin with, ask yourself:

1. Do I know my strong points and do I make full use of them?

2. Am I striving to improve upon my weak points?

3. Am I fully at ease physically and mentally, without irritating mannerisms or emotional tension?

4. Do I feel genuinely happy to be in the company of my team?

5. Do I feel like helping my team, rather than making demands on them?

6. Have I mastered any feelings of inferiority towards others?

7. Do I tackle problems with determination, confidence and courage?

8. Do I appear cheerful to other people?

9. Do I find too many convenient excuses for not doing or postponing a thing.

Dont's

1. Appreciate others trying to help your team. Offer valuable suggestions and recommendations.

2. Be generous with appreciation and motivating words.

3. Avoid arguments. Discuss your problems. Share your ideas. Never argue.

4. Do not bear grudges. If someone upsets you, go and tell him in a straightforward, friendly manner and then forget about it. "He who forgives first, wins the day."

5. Do not be jealous. Jealousy is a negative emotion. Admire and get inspiration from those who are well ahead of you.

6. Avoid gossip. Never indulge in gossip. It will prove to be your worst liability.

7. Do not boast. If you blow your own trumpets, you will become unpopular. Your achievements should speak for yourself.

Do's

1. Give honest compliments. People like to hear praise when they have done something praiseworthy.

2. Respect the rights of others. The rights which you enjoy are not your sole privilege.

3. Be prepared. Do not keep your friend waiting while you get things ready.

4. Keep your words. Whatever you undertake to perform, complete them fully. You must not make vague promises.

5. Be a good sport. You cannot have everything your own way. Accept cheerfully the wishes of others when they are different from your own. Smile at your setbacks.

6. Watch your borrowing. Make a rule to borrow only when there is no other possible solution, and return them promptly.

7. Be cheerful. A ready smile is the best asset for you. It helps others to see that life is not so gloomy as some of them think.

8. Be punctual. Get a reputation for always being in time, both in keeping appointments and in completing your assignments.

Check points

1. How is your appearance? As general appearance matters a great deal, pay attention to your clothing and personal hygiene.

2. Is your voice attractive? People often asses you by how you look and hear from you. Pay equal attention to your voice and appearance. Speak colourfully, melodiously and enthusiastically.

3. Do you smile readily? You can win friends and influence people through a friendly smile.

4. Are you considerate? Your personality will be marred if you wound the feelings of others, hurt their sensibility and annoy them by your behaviour.

5. Do you show appreciation? Appreciation means giving credit to the people where and when it is due. Your appreciation must be honest and sincere. It should also come from the heart and not merely from the lips.

6. How good is your conversation? Be neither dumb nor a bore. You must take effective and interesting part in a conversation. More than anything you should be a very good active listener.

7. Are your manners perfect? Manners and etiquette are expected from you at all times. If you are lacking in them your personality will not be effective.

8. Are you an optimist? If you want success, you must have an optimistic outlook in life. Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities, a positive attitude always pays.

Personality break-up

The following factors play a dominant part in the development of a powerful personality.

1. 'Knowledge is power' and "to know is to win" knowledge gives you the necessary confidence. One of the basic requirements is deeper knowledge in your special field as well as in general matters.

2. Knowledge by itself will to be enough unless you have the capacity to communicate your thoughts in a forceful and convincing manner. Your ability to talk in an impressive way is, therefore, extremely important.

3. Capacity to take a decision without hesitation is yet another important aspect of your personality structure:

4. Getting along with the people is also an equally important attribute.

5. The key to success is to know yourself. Understand yourself and develop your strengths.

Present yourself well

Whether you like it or not, others judge you by how you present yourself. You appearance matters most. Research reveals that 90% of us make decisions about others in a few minutes.

Over 50 per cent of our personal impact is through our appearance, our body language and facial expressions. Here are few practical tips on how to present yourself well and create the right impression.

1. Look at yourself in a full length mirror.

2. What do you see? Undertake a head to toe review:

* Is your hair clean well groomed and well arranged?

* Are your eyes clear and bright?

* Are your clothes clean, neat and tidy or do you look unpleasant?

* Are your shoes clean and shining?

* Are you standing tall or slouching?

* Are you obviously overweight and unfit or do you look smart?

* Are you steady? Is your confidence reflected in your face? Organise yourself and lead your team!