5 Traits to Help You Rise as a Successful Leader

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
John Quincy Adams

The world is getting increasingly complex. We’re witnessing a sharp rise in volatility and uncertainty across businesses and environments in general. Trust is declining, and people are becoming sceptical about what they accept as true or good. This is the ‘New Normal’, and even through an ambiguous environment like this, leaders today have to show sustained business outperformance while driving positive change.

The challenge ultimately is to unleash the full potential of employees and situations, which is possible only if there is a high degree of passion. At Mahindra, we have a core purpose and a ready framework, that guides us towards achieving this goal. We call it our 3+5 framework, which effectively brings to life our core purpose – Rise.

The 3 refers to the Rise pillars, which must come into play seamlessly and effortlessly in any situation, and which together lead to sustainable competitive advantage – Accepting No Limits, Alternative Thinking, and Driving Positive Change. We will look into these in detail, in an upcoming blog.

The 5 refers to the five traits which will bring the three pillars to life.

1. Balance: Through the whole mind approach where we combine the left brain of logic, intellect, and rationality with the right brain of emotion, connection and empathy.
2. Democracy: A leader who is a multiplier of energy, passion, engagement and a sense of ownership. This involves the ability to do deep listening, respecting the views of others, asking the right questions and co-creating answers with the teams we work with. Far from wanting to control and prove that ‘I am the best’, one must get genuine joy in seeing a thousand flowers bloom and have no shame in admitting that others know more than me.
3. Courage: Through managing fear and leveraging failure. For innovation to occur, people need to experiment and take risks. We need leaders who help people to manage and overcome their fear. It is equally important, to leverage the learnings from failure to create success.
4. Mindfulness: Being open to all possibilities that exist in any situation, by not being a prisoner of the past and instead by being fully in the 'here and now.'
5. Credibility: With scams everywhere and a general overload of information, it’s natural for us to experience a trust deficit. But, with authenticity – saying what I think and doing what I say, and doing so continuously – trust can be earned, and kept.

In the end, it is important to remember that one must not lead purely with an intent to lead or with a desire for authority or power. When one leads with an aim to impact, inspire and help people Rise, it’s only then that this leader is truly successful, and remembered for being so.