How To Think Like A Leader

If we ask you, what do you do for a living? We bet you will have an answer to it.

You may be working in a marketing firm, a factory, a shop, an institute or a hotel.

If we ask you, how you do it? With experience you will have an answer for it too.

In a marketing firm, you may be analysing the market, studying the consumer behaviour and based on it chart out a marketing plan.

But,

what if we ask you, why do you do it? Why do you work in that firm, why do you own that business or why do you teach in that institute?

An answer to this can be difficult but it’s necessary for your success.  In an ordinary man’s life this question may or may not stand before him.

But when you are in a position to lead, you have to know the why part of your job. To become a leader it is imperative.

Consider that you are a manager in a chips producing factory. You call a meeting. In the meeting you tell the employees that you want to increase the production rate. This will require them to follow your plan and work hard.

 Now, the employees will follow your plan because it’s their job. The production rate will increase.

 But there is a high chance that the result won’t be satisfactory. You will then increase the man hours which will agitate the employees and the production rate will drop.

What went wrong? You told them what to do and also how to do it. Still the production rate didn’t increase.

Now,

What if, you start your meeting by sharing the why part of the job. What if you say that, ‘we believe that a thing as small as chips can bring a smile to our customers face. We are able to do it on the basis of our technology and quality. What we need to do now is to reach out to more people. Spread more smiles.’

This time when the people leave the meeting hall they have a purpose in their life, they believe in what you believe. Now they won’t be working for their salaries but to put smiles on more faces.

When this happens the people will work with their sweat and blood.

The policy is the what part of the job. It appeals to the analytical brain. The implementation of the policies is the how part of the job. It appeals to the reasoning brain.  But the reason behind the policies is the why part of the job. It appeals to the emotional brain. When you touch your employees’ emotions that’s when the change happens.

The emotional brain is the most ancient part of the brain. This is where the decision comes from, though we might think that it comes from the analytical brain. If the person is not touched emotionally, he won’t listen to what you have to say no matter how many reasons you give him to listen. This is how great leaders have been able to accomplish great success.

But no great thing in life, comes easy. You need to focus on your objectives, and keep your why clear. One of the best way to do this is the 5 senses loop technique.