Four business leaders have been identified who over the last decade have transformed their companies from being small, unorganized players to market leadership. These CEOs share one-character trait in common. They were all athletes during their formative years. This athletic endurance has shaped their perspective on several matters. The four profiled are Herman Gref from Sberbank, Alexander Dykov of Gazprom Neft, Vitaly Saveliev from Aeroflot and Eugene Kaspersky, associated with Kaspersky Lab. The athletic mindset allows for three fundamental qualities, common to these three. One was their formative experience that bestowed them with a self-confidence and winning mentality. The second quality highlighted in the book Athletic CEOs: Leadership in Turbulent Times, is mental toughness. As all four of them had met with several tough challenges during their sporting careers, they refused to get bogged down under any situation as CEO. They have also honed the ability to keep their emotions under check to keep their cool required for sound decision-making. Another quality is mental adaptability, or the ability to mend their ways according to the situational demand. This allowed business innovations to flourish at their organizations such as Aeroflot’s Saturday School or Sberbank’s Lean Production.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/turbulent-times-call-for-athletic-leaders-8026

Uploaded Date:18 January 2018

There is rarely a one ideal leadership style that is pervasive or universal. Tu put things into context, few professionals have the fortune to work with a rock star boss like Bruce Springsteen. Most work that management graduates get involved in, requires substantial collaboration. Leadership styles can be based on the composition or needs of the team as highlighted in a paper written by professors from Georgian Tech and UCLA Anderson. Some leaders like Apple’s Steve Jobs or Yahoo’s Marissa Meyer are Directive, so they lead from a pedestal. Others like Nike’s Mark Parker are more Participative, so they take part in the actual hands-on process. The corporate strategy is handed out by the leaders in the former case, while it is honed along with the team in the latter example. The personality trait may get rejigged depending on the condition. Leadership style also depends on the trends of the times. At present. The participative style is a lot in vogue. Whatever the style, the leader has to take a strong decision on the coordination patterns and how such reports will be generated for all to access.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/choose-your-leadership-style-7971

Uploaded Date:09 January 2018

Business leaders will often need to fight situations single-handedly. The more one reaches the top of the pyramid, the space tends to be lonely, so these business leaders ought to embrace solitude. A number of examples have been cited from history by writers- Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin- in their book Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership through Solitude. Henry David Thoreau captured the essence of solitude after spending two years in the wilderness. Similarly, Dwight D. Eisenhower spent time off alone, before the D-Day landings in Normandy. Thomas Edward Lawrence had a bout of dysentery that crippled him for ten days, a duration when he envisaged a guerrilla warfare by the Arabs to regain their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Even Abraham Lincoln retreated to his own chambers after missing out on an opportunity to defeat the Confederate Army in 1863 during the US Civil War. In order to visualize the corporate strategy and innovations to be implemented, business leaders must spend time on their own reflecting, on their thoughts.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Take-a-Timeout-Leaders?gko=4a3e6

Uploaded Date:09 January 2018

Most star managers and business leaders emphasize on continuous, on-the-job mentoring rather than formal classroom session. However, in practice, most fall back on traditional management training, formal reviews and professional introductions. The best of business leaders however are teachers, who spend time with the employees, imparting technical knowledge, discussing corporate strategy or even life lessons.  These leaders have left their legacy on moulding employees over years to develop a more professional approach. They have helped recognize points of craft among individuals. They also value perfect timing at work. That is why, they feel that on-the-job training is way more effective as professionals get the hang of when to do what. The instruction needs to be curated for customized learning with scope for questions. Based on the responses, an internal modelling is performed.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-best-leaders-are-great-teachers?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Uploaded Date: 09 January 2018