The Hindu Business Line : Leaders need a personal learning strategy

Intellect, breeding, beauty — none of these things has much to do with whether or not you develop as a leader, declares Robert J. Thomas in Crucibles of Leadership: How to learn from experience to become a great leader ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com).

No amount of native talent can prepare a leader for the infinite variety of circumstances, he adds. Also, “No gene for resilience ensures that gems of wisdom will suddenly appear…”

What distinguishes leaders who continue to learn and grow is their approach to learning, the author finds. They have a PLS (personal learning strategy), both in the head and the heart. And three aspects of the PLS are vital.

First in the list is a method for extracting insight from experience. The second aspect is a powerful aspiration that encourages one to grow and adapt, Thomas explains. And the third is a regimen of deliberate practice that connects learning and performance.

The six perfections

The Leader’s Way by the Dalai Lama (Research Press)

Generosity is the first of ‘the six perfections’ in The Leader’s Way by the Dalai Lama (Research Press). Successful leaders are modest people who attribute good results to their team, the author says. “A leader who wants to take all the credit destroys other people’s motivation. A good chief executive must be generous in giving credit where it is due.”

The second trait is ethical discipline. “It is not wrong to become wealthy if the wealth is earned honestly and without harming others or the environment, but it is not acceptable that a person at the head of a company should become very wealthy while the company itself collapses, resulting in shareholders losing their savings and employees their jobs.”

The third perfection, justified patience, demands the quality to be cultivated as ‘the only way to be prepared when provocative circumstances occur, such as hostility, criticism, or disappointment,’ unless immediate action is necessary.

Enthusiastic effort, another trait of the leader, depends on his belief in the importance of the goals. Since enthusiasm can be contagious, the leader should be able to encourage it among his people. The fifth quality, concentration, is about the quality to focus all mental energy on one issue.

D. Murali

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Leaders need a personal learning strategy