There have been dozens and dozens of articles written about the art of leadership. All with very common themes about the characteristics and habits of leaders. In this article, Rohan Chandran discusses his take on leadership and what it means to be a leader.

1. What does leadership really entail?
There have been dozens and dozens of articles written about the art of leadership.
All with very common themes about the characteristics and habits of leaders. In this
article, Rohan Chandran discusses his take on leadership and what it means to be a
leader. Through the benefit of serving in leadership roles most of his life Chandran
has come to realize that among numerous other tasks there are three major
categories that describe the key activities a leader must engage in: focus your
teams, motivate them, then drive them to success.
1) Focus. Giving your team a focus is crucial. They need to understand what exactly
they are trying to achieve as well as a clear understanding of where they are at in
terms of that specific objective.
2) Motivation. Giving your team a reason why they need to achieve their specific
goals is very important to the success of your company. You need to give employees
and team members a reason to rally around their specific goal. Making your goal
something to work for however small or big it’s impact on the world is is critical in a
working environment.
3) Drive. After achieving the first two goals, its time to set your sites on the final
stage, drive. This is the most time consuming and decisive factor in achieving your
final goals. Getting your team to drive forward to get them over the finish line
requires you to play a variety of roles. A good leader must be able to adapt enough
to understand what his or her team needs and how to meet that need.
There are also several characteristics and behaviors that undermine efforts to be a
good leader:
1) Being a leader is not a popularity contest. Being respected is far more important
than being liked by whomever you are leading.
2) Leadership is not about micromanaging. Giving team members a strict process to
follow without the “what” and “why” is ineffective. Manage to a result, not to a
process.
3) Leadership does not absolve you from participation.
Observing, guiding and providing continuous feedback is the best way to help your
team succeed. There is no need for micromanaging; you need to be part of the team

2. as a leader, not as a friend. When it matters, leaders are able to drill into the relevant
detail to keep their teams on path to success.