A leader is a leader only when there are followers. We choose our leaders and follow a leader based on their leadership qualities. The power of the leader could be measured by the strength of their following.

A few months back a member in my team Senthil Vel shared a book ‘Listen Up, Leader!’ by David Cottrell. I enjoyed reading this because it helped me empathize with the followers. The message was loud and clear in the book - ‘we want to follow you leader but you need to understand that we have some expectations from you’.

The strength of the leader can be strengthened if they understand the followers expectation. Then, the very first question arising is

What are the qualities that make a Quality Leader?

It’s important to look at this from the followers’ perspective and understand their expectations.

Let me answer this question with the help of a public poll results announced in a recent article published in Times of India news paper. It lists a dozen qualities for a leader in the order of priority (On a 5-point scale)
01. Honesty (4.71)
02. Efficiency (4.51)
03. Ability to inspire (4.50)
04. Education (4.49)
05. Ability to judge people (4.46)
06. Can carry people along (4.41)
07. Courage of conviction (4.40)
08. Willingness to learn (4.39)
09. Vision (4.35)
10. Fairness (4.24)
11. Charisma (3.92)
12. Ability to delegate (3.50)

Dear Leaders, rate yourself on the qualities of leadership to determine your quality of leadership. This could act as your personal Leadership Checks and Balance Chart. Just to remind you, Honesty is on top of the list…

There are different kinds of assets an organization speaks about. Assets such as Cash, Gold, Stocks/Shares, etc., are the Movable Assets and assets such as Land, Building, etc., are the Immovable Asset. There are some assets meant for long term and some are highly convertible.

There is one kind of asset which does not show up in the balance sheet of an organization, that the living asset - The Human Asset. The human asset is what ultimately builds the movable assets, immovable assets, tangible assets, intangible assets, intellectual properties, etc. So, the Human Asset is the Super Asset, lets focus on that…

The human assets are constituted by The Head, The Legs and The Belly.

1. The Head - Employees who contribute to the top line of the organization. They relate to the brand image, brand equity, order bookings, etc.,
2. The Legs – Employees who contribute to the bottom line of the organization. They help in keeping the organization moving or running the show such as the profits, the productivity, etc.,
3. The Belly – Employees who do not either contribute to the top line or the bottom line. Some times they act as the negative force and slow down the momentum of the growth of the organization.

Unlike other assets, the living assets have a very different management process. Organizations should be careful in the cycles of Attaining, Training and Retaining these assets.

“Is your pot belly growing?” A question to be asked by every organization and definitely the startups cannot afford fat being accumulated.

Attain right people; continuously train to burn the fat and retain good people…