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Pranesh Anthapur, Chief Operating Officer, Yahoo! India Research and Development

What qualities make a great leader?

Leadership is about leading and driving change fearlessly. One develops these qualities if he or she is not concerned about personal benefit from change, but is instead driven by the desire to ensure that the change benefits a larger section of the population. Leaders should have vision and the ability to transform that vision into reality. This requires experience, creative thinking and skills of persuasion. I have rarely seen a great leader with low energy! Employees want their leaders to be ‘energy givers’ rather than ‘energy suckers’! Leaders have to develop the art of ‘being on all the time’.

A leader also has to be compassionate. He has to develop the skills to get work done while helping the team-members achieve their individual goals. For a team to respect its leader, he or she should build credibility by being open and honest.

An incident from your life or what you observed, which you think was great leadership?

I respect the way Apple set a vision and launched products such as the iPod and iPhone. That was a great example of transformation! Also, there are several NGOs that have demonstrated inspired leadership by trying to make a difference in their communities.

Two or three ways in which you think young managers can develop leadership skills?

In order to develop leadership skills, young managers should build strong value systems and place the organisation above themselves. They should articulate what they stand for and what constitutes a win in their eyes.

Get global fast. Global experiences have always been and will be a premium in a round or flat world. Getting global may mean reading up (a diverse selection), working on a global job or having a point of view beyond self-representation and an interest in other cultures

Get more entrepreneurial. This may mean taking more risks in one’s career, a change of roles or jobs in a planned manner, thinking of creative ways to do things, questioning the status quo, starting a company and undertaking CSR initiatives. — Pranesh Anthapur, Chief Operating Officer, Yahoo! India Research and Development

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