Rajesh Ranjan's Weblog

We often come across discussions about leadership skills among budding professionals. However, it is more critical for senior professionals as they do influence their juniors.
 
I would like to share my bit of understanding in this regard especially for professionals entering the public domain. Though my view is predominantly shaped and influenced as and for engineers, I believe the same would be apt for others as well. This is primarily because behavioural traits are profession agnostic to a large extent.
 
Taking the Ownership and exhibiting Empathy – are two (2) most important attributes for anyone to grow as a leader in their chosen field of life.
 
Owning the responsibility is foremost prerequisite to see and execute the tasks as envisaged. Ownership simply means taking the charge of the situation as and when it occurs and then the magic starts. It is always preferred that a professional ‘consistently exceeds the requirement of the job’ than assessed as someone who just ‘consistently meets the requirement of the job’ or even ‘sometimes exceeds the requirement of the job’ and accordingly gets evaluated in the performance appraisal. The urge to consistently exceed the requirement set forth would certainly come from the ownership trait.
 
Another equally important attribute is empathy i.e., the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This brings to the fore the emotional quotient of the professionals in appreciating the other’s point of view. Once we are aware of the situation of our counterpart (be it junior, peer or superior; associate or customer, etc.), it becomes easier to converge and agree for action in order to achieve larger goal.
 
Ownership and empathy complement each other and reinforce the leadership skills and guide professionals in achieving success in their chosen career.
 
This post is in sheer appreciation for two of my valued colleagues who demonstrated the above-mentioned attributes in an assignment today. 
 
Best wishes!! Vinit K Verma GIRIJESH PRASAD

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