Eight reasons leaders shouldn't behave like bosses

By Amrita Premrajan, TimesJobs.com

The autocratic leadership style is passé. It definitely is not cool and doesn't help businesses anyway. It is one of the key reasons that drives away self-motivated and innovative professionals who could have actually brought in business value.

"Gone are the days when a leader was expected to tell people what to do. Leaders were seen as heroes who were expected to solve problems and execute their technical know-how to guide a team," Ambarish Deshpande, MD-India of Blue Coat Systems, an enterprise security solution provider, told TimesJobs.com.

In such a changing business environment, what is it that leaders need to imbibe to keep their best talent engaged, empowered and fired with passion?
Deshpande shares eight most powerful traits that leaders must cultivate:

1. Openness to change: The mark of a well-adjusted and stable leader is his keenness to accept change as a crucial aspect of organisational growth. To understand that change is a constant motivator of innovation and creativity is half the battle won. Leading a successful team through innovation can give rise to a host of attributes that include the ability to think creatively, possess an innate sense of curiosity and develop an attitude to question the status quo.

2. Be a facilitator, not a boss: Bosses need to display a commander's strength and force. That being said, leaders need to display a sense of trust within their teams to assure them that they are being valued and their opinion is of utmost importance and relevance to the deliverables of the organisation. Exhibiting this level of confidence in your team helps cross the chasm from being a boss to being a successful leader.

3. Usher in the age of transformational leadership: In a crisis situation, traditional leadership methods of delegating work to specific or all team members may be used. However, if there is a need to train individuals to think out of the box and creatively, such an attitude can only be nurtured through new age leadership methods of inviting and encouraging suggestions and feedback from all team members.

4. Be responsive: One of the most important qualities in a leader is dependent on how they conduct themselves with their team. A true leader is confident and can make quick decisions. However, a truly appreciated leader is someone who gathers inputs from his team and takes into consideration the group consensus before finally making that decision.

5. Understanding your resources and targets: Every leader needs to sit back and analyse the resources available at hand. Successful leaders will agree that their success is rooted in the care and well-being of those they lead.

6. Be intuitive: Most businesses today present decision-makers with situations that may be unprecedented and require responses that may not be traditional in approach. While wading through such unchartered waters, the new age leader understands these situations as unique and employs a solution that acts in the best interest of the organisation and its people.

7. Be inspirational: Inspiration is the key to driving a team. It breeds motivation that in turn yields high-productivity and a positive attitude within teams. People want to work for a leader that is inspirational, guiding and stable.

8. Keep learning: Lastly, a successful leader never stops learning. The new age leader will constantly challenge the status quo and be passionate about learning and applying the learnt knowledge to daily business processes. Ask yourself- who is doing what differently, and what can I learn from them?