The Weekend Leader - Top Leadership Qualities One Needs for Success

Control is passe in leadership, enabling holds the key

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Usha Prasad

06-August-2016

Vol 7 | Issue 32

How does leadership inspire, influence and achieve results?  How to develop the qualities of good leadership that are essential for career and organizational success? How has leadership evolved over the years?

If you are seeking answers to these questions, or need some tips to improve your leadership skills, read on.  

Venky Rajgopal, MD of Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd, believes that leaders have to excite the people around them into action (Photos: H K Rajashekar)


“Leadership is not about commanding someone to do something or giving an instruction, but it's about enabling the people around you to give their best in terms of talent or the potential they have,” said Venky Rajgopal, MD of Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd, a Rs. 500 crore turnover apparels company.

Delivering the keynote address at a conclave organised jointly by The Weekend Leader and Madras Management Association in Chennai last week, Venky set the tone for the proceedings focusing on the three core elements of leadership – People, Purpose and Passion.

The 1979 batch IPS officer, who quit the civil services in 1989 to embark on a business career, argued that leaders make a strong impact on the people they work with.

Leaders Meet: From left A Afzal, CMD, Parveen Travels, Prateep Philip, ADGP, Economic Offences Wing, Tamil Nadu and Venky Rajgopal, MD, Indian Terrain Fashions


“When you go to your work place, you may not think that the leadership which is running that organisation would impact the way you live, but the quality of the person who goes back home after work is impacted by the leadership they encountered during the day.

“So it's not just about leadership influencing you in the work place, it's about leadership influencing you as a person,” Venky said.

“People, purpose and passion are not linearly related. All the three are flying in different altitudes. It's like a formation of an aircraft which are not aligned. If you want to align the three and fly in formation, then the singular magic which can make that happen is great leadership,” he added.

Bonding over Selfie: C K Kumaravel, Co founder, Naturals with Venky Rajgopal


Talking about passion, he said while working with people it was not enough to be a concerned and compassionate leader.

“You also have to excite them into action. So, leadership is not a soft word, it's not about just emotional quotient, it's just not about loving the people who work for you, it's about your ability to charge them with action; charge them with action of a calibre and a quality that they look up to. Every day you have to set that standard,” he asserted.

“As a leader, if you have that ability to excite your team in anything they do on a daily basis and also keep them at the very centre of all that is important, the purpose and passion will follow,” Venky added.

Prateep V Philip, ADGP, Economic Offences Wing, said leaders give direction and not directions to their team



When it was his turn to speak, Dr. Prateep V Philip, ADGP, Economic Offences Wing, Tamil Nadu, who pioneered the Friends of Police Movement in the state, observed: “Everything in the world rises and falls on leadership. It is the law of gravity of human management.”

The creator of EQ Thinking, a new thought process, Prateep quoted some of his writings, which he calls Fillipisms. “Leadership is all about giving direction, while management is all about giving directions.”

“Leadership is about moulding people. It is not something that you do to people, but for the people and with the people. It's not a one-man affair, it's a team affair,” he stated.

Prateep Philip with C K Kumaravel, who chaired his session


Sharing from his experience as an IPS officer and the way he dealt with people, Prateep said, “Leadership is not something to just demonstrate on the outer, but it is to create a deep inner change in the attitudes of people.

“Leadership is about enhancing and enabling people to do their very best and to achieve their highest.”

Another powerful speaker, Renu D Singh, Founder of Samadhan, an NGO based in Dehradun that works with female survivors of rape, sexual assaults and domestic violence, shared how she was very clear with her vision and what she wanted in life. She started Samadhan at the young age of 15.

Renu Singh, founder, Samadhan, (left) acknowledging audience applause. Seen also in the photo is Shobana P Ravi – Chief – IT, Innovation and Learning Officer, TAFE , who chaired the session


Renu said: “Passion is the key for a leader. When the heart, soul and mind start feeling and working together, miracles do happen.

“Don't look for miracles to make your life easy, look for miracles to make your life happening. Passion has to become your purpose. If you don't have passion and purpose, you would not be good at anything. When you have passion and purpose even resources will follow, which is not money, but people.”

A Afzal, CMD of Parveen Travels, who started with a single Ambassador car in 1980, and now heads a Rs.400 crore business conglomerate with interests in transportation, restaurants, holidays and logistics, stressed on the importance of creating the second line of leadership in your organisation.   

A Afzal, CMD, Parveen Travels, stressed on grooming the second line of leadership. Looking on is C V Subbarao, Deputy Managing Director, Chemplast Sanmar, who chaired the session


“As a good leader, you have to sit behind and steer your team to create more leaders within the system,” he said.

Highlighting the growth and success in his journey of four decades in the transport sector, he said: “It is our passion which keeps us awake all the time to grab the opportunity whenever it passes by.

“A leader should understand the simple needs of his team and deliver. Then they will in turn join hands with you and work towards the growth of the company. When you take care of their basic needs, they add strength to your organisation.”

From l to r: Gp. Capt. R Vijayakumar(Retd) VSM, Prateep Philip, Renu Singh, Shobhana Ravi, P C Vinoj Kumar, C K Kumaravel, A Afzal and C V Subbarao


Giving a clarion call to strive for excellence C K Kumaravel, Co-Founder, Naturals, a hair and beauty salon chain, exhorted the audience, "Learn to work hard on yourself than you do on your job. If you work hard on your job, you'll make a living; if you work hard on yourself, you'll make a fortune. And here lies the difference between people who are surviving in life and who are successful in life."

"Focus on whatever you do. And improve on your focus every day, which is very important. Give time to focus and improve. Focus, improvement and time are very important to become a good leader, that's when a Genius is born," he remarked.

P C Vinoj Kumar, Editor, The Weekend Leader, said: “Leaders cannot exist without the people they work with or work for; without the purpose that defines their mission and without the passion that fuels their journey. Leaders have to work and deal with these 3Ps of leadership.

P C Vinoj Kumar, editor, The Weekend Leader, said leaders from any field and any level need to deal with the three Ps of leadership - People, Purpose and Passion


“This definition applies to leadership at any level and in any field - be it the corporate world, business, politics and even social movements.”

Shobana P Ravi – Chief – IT, Innovation and Learning Officer, TAFE Ltd and C V Subbarao, Deputy Managing Director, Chemplast Sanmar Ltd also spoke.

Sharing his experience as a participant at the conclave, Siddharth Jairaj, Director, TVS Dynamic Global Freight Services Ltd, said: "The conclave had a good mix of people, with leaders from different backgrounds following their passion."

Participants said the speeches benefited them


M H Raja, MD, Lead HR Services Pvt Ltd said, "The conclave gave a strong message that if you have passion for the people, the purpose will be automatically taken care of." 

Gp. Capt. R Vijayakumar(Retd) VSM, executive director of Madras Management Association said, " One might have learned a lot from classroom teaching, but it is only by observing and listening to successful people you can become achievers and leaders.”

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