Perhaps everyone knows Kawasaki from his work at Apple: it is to him, as the company’s chief evangelist, that we owe the craze for “Apple” technology. After working in Cupertino, Kawasaki invested in dozens of startups (including the mega-successful online image editor Canva), became the face of Mercedes and a professor at Berkeley (California). When Kawasaki writes instructions for creating a successful startup, he knows what he's writing about.

We are publishing an excerpt from Guy Kawasaki’s book “Kawasaki Startup. Proven methods for starting any business,” which was published by Alpina Publisher.

When I was young, I thought that finance, accounting, production and operations were incredibly complex and that in order to understand them all, you needed to get an education. On the contrary, I did not find anything difficult in management, motivating people and the ability to lead. Therefore, I thought, there is no need to learn this, everything will work out on its own - easily and naturally.

You probably guessed what I will say next. I was 100% wrong.

Financing, accounting, production and operations are the easiest. They are important, but easy to learn. Or hire specialists if this business is not going well for you. Management, motivation and the ability to lead is a completely different level.

If you believe that being a leader means defining your desires and ordering people to fulfill them, I feel sorry for you. Reality has an extremely unpleasant surprise in store for you, and even Google doesn’t know what it is. The purpose of this chapter is to help you become a great leader - so that your name appears on the first page of any search engine for the query "leader."

1. Be optimistic

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, a leader cannot have bad days. You cannot afford fear, doubt, or despondency. You are expected to be optimistic - every single day.

"I've never seen Steve Jobs broken."

It’s not that you should completely ignore problems and mistakes - in this case you’re of little use, you’re even worse than a pessimist, but I can’t remember, for example, Steve Jobs being sad and loaded with problems. Angry, irritated, indignant - yes, but broken - never.

When you feel discouraged and overcome by doubts, cry to your spouse, colleagues who have nothing to do with your startup, a like-minded person you completely trust, and finally, your mother. But never, ever, complain to your employees. They should always see that you believe in yourself and in them. And believe after you.

2. Instill a culture of performance.

A leader is always responsible for the results of his organization, and the results directly depend on the performance culture. Everyone must keep their promises - of course, if nothing extraordinary or unforeseen happens. Not everyone will succeed, but everyone in the company wants to achieve their goals, and not lose over and over again. Here are the steps to develop such a culture in people:

• Clearly formulate goals and communicate them to employees

This will greatly increase the chances that these goals will be achieved. All employees will be on the same page, clearly understanding what needs to be done at any given moment. This is important at any stage and in any area: finalizing a project, creating a prototype, attracting first clients, delivery, collecting and analyzing information, hiring new employees, preparing marketing materials... The list goes on and on.

• Track your progress

The goal setting method is good when you track your progress towards achieving them. As the old English proverb says, what gets measured gets done. To do this, you will need to choose a goal that would ideally correspond to the current state of affairs - otherwise you may achieve something completely different from what you expect. Any startup should measure its progress at least once a week. You can do this less often - say, once a month - when your company reaches a certain level of development and uncertainty in technological, market and personnel processes becomes less.

• Clearly define responsibility criteria

If it takes more than ten seconds to determine who exactly is responsible for achieving a particular goal, then something is going wrong. Good specialists are not afraid of responsibility. Excellent - they ask for it for themselves. Distribute responsibility among all team members - for its own good. The one who wants to achieve his goals is the one who knows that his achievements will be measured and his work will be appreciated.

• Solve problems

People see their boss as either a problem or a key to solving other problems. What is better: a culture of performance or uncontrolled, unjustified optimism? Your job is to “be an adult,” lead by example, and keep your promises.

• Encourage those who deserve it

Those who move a startup forward deserve to be rewarded. You can expand their powers, pay bonuses, publicly praise them, give them extra days off, feed them at the expense of the company - the form of encouragement is not so important. The important thing is that you recognize their merits and celebrate those who deserve it, and not everyone who comes to hand.

• Don't stop until the problem is solved or resolves itself

Everyone likes to work on something new and modern. In principle, it is human nature to move forward. Wouldn't you like to be part of a development that could bring about a revolution? This is much better than marking time, endlessly patching up the same thing, right? But you can’t abandon a project simply because it has become uninteresting to you. Yes, bug fixes aren't fun, but think about the people who bought your product.

3. Choose the “red pill”

In The Matrix, Neo chooses the red pill, which reveals to him reality in all its harshness and cruelty. If he had taken the blue one, he would have lived his whole life in warmth and comfort, never for a second taking off the rose-colored glasses generously distributed by the Matrix.

Every leader faces a similar choice - reality or fantasy. If you want to succeed, take the red pill and rush to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes. If it is important for you to feel reality, answer yourself the following ten questions:

1. What are our main priorities?
2. When will we start?
3. When will we run out of money if we never start?
4. How much do you need to pay to get one buyer?
5. How much do you need to pay to implement the project?
6. Who are we competing with?
7. What can our competitors do that we can't?
8. Who could work for us?
9. What can you get for free, what can you borrow, and what can you buy on credit?
10. Am I a good leader?

4. Find your Morpheus

Every medicine - even if it is not a medicine, but the truth - must somehow be delivered to the person who will take it. In The Matrix, this function was performed by Morpheus, the character played by Laurence Fishburne. Do you have such a Morpheus?

"The head of the company decides what to do - Morpheus asks what could go wrong."

If not, find it immediately. He must have at least ten years of field experience and must understand financial, accounting and operational areas. He must know how the company works. Not a skeptic, but a realist.

A former consultant, auditor, banker, journalist or analyst is not suitable for this role: there is nothing complicated in theorizing, but not everyone can handle putting theory into practice. The best test for this case is one simple question: “Have you ever fired or laid off your employees?” If the answer is no, keep looking.

At different stages of development and to solve different issues, you may need different Morpheuses:

• Morpheus of R&D who will tell you why what you do is bad.
• Operations Morpheus, who will tell you whether your systems can cope with the current volume of operations.
• Morpheus on finances, who will tell you whether you are spending too much or, conversely, too little.
• Morpheus on ethical issues, who will tell you whether you have the right values.

In any company there is a person who does not want to follow the intended course and questions everything that is possible. Sometimes this is even beneficial - it is from him that you learn that the “experts” who predict your collapse may well be wrong. But such doubt can be destructive. This is what Morpheus is for - he will help you distinguish the “correct” doubt from the “wrong” one and indicate where you are wrong.

5. Hire the devil's advocate

From 1587 to 1983, it was customary in the Catholic Church to appoint people who challenged the possibility of canonization (canonization) of a candidate. Such people were called advocati diaboli- devil's advocates. This “position” was introduced specifically in order to study the personality and biography of the candidate and find out how well he corresponds to the high status.

In 1978, John Paul II became Pope. It was he who put an end to this practice in 1983. As a result, what could well be called a “boom of canonization” happened: during his pontificate, no less than five hundred people were canonized (for example: in all the previous years of the 20th century, only 98 canonization procedures were successfully completed).

Morpheus and the devil's advocate are not the same thing. Morpheus tells you the truth - as it is, without embellishment, but also without unnecessary pessimism. The duty of the devil's advocate is to exaggerate, and it does not matter how much this corresponds to the real state of affairs and whether he believes in it himself. Have no doubt, such a person is really needed: he is an indicator of whether the company is ready to accept criticism and whether management is open to a different, sometimes even extremist, view of the state of affairs. He also helps to establish internal communication, because it is through his mouth that those who are dissatisfied speak.

It is not necessary to involve him in resolving all issues at all - limit yourself to strategically important ones ( advocatus diaboli participated only in those cases that related to canonization).

6. Only hire people who are better than you.

Steve Jobs liked to say: Class A players hire Class A players, Class B players hire Class C players, and Class C players hire Class D players. Following this logic, you will very soon reach Class Z, and instead of a “field of wonders” you have it will turn out to be a “country of fools”1.

“The best professionals you hire must not only be better than the head of the company and the management team - they must also be different from them.”

I dare to expand a little on Steve's concept: "A players hire A+ players." If job responsibilities members of the board consisted of one single point, then this point would be “hire only those managers whose professional quality superior to your own." For this to become a reality, the director and other managers of the company must have three essential qualities:

• modesty - to realize that there are people in the world who can do their job better than them;
• wisdom - to distinguish class A players from class A+ players; self-confidence - to decide to hire those who are better than them.

Not many entrepreneurs realize this, but any startup needs three types of A+ players, depending on what stage it is at:

1. Kamikazes who are ready to work 16 hours a day just to make the project happen.
2. Performers who come after the kamikaze and create the infrastructure.
3. Operators who enjoy the fact that everything is debugged and works flawlessly.

Thus, your professionals must not only be better than the head of the company and managers - they must be different. IN good startup people should have different skills and abilities to complement each other, rather than doing the same job at different levels.

If you're an engineer, imagine a team made up entirely of engineers, each of whom is at least as good as you. Such a team will not produce anything good. What about a company where the manager has a better understanding of sales, marketing and finance than his deputies and heads of relevant departments? With such a mediocre team, nothing will happen to this startup.

Do all the workers you hire know their job better than you?

7. Make people better

It is easy to recommend hiring A or A+ specialists and give the example of the Apple division that worked on the Macintosh. But it’s hard to call it a startup. No, no, my advice stands, it’s just that the reality is that not every startup can follow it. What then? Pray that a large sum of money will suddenly fall on you and you can afford to hire the most the best professionals? Perhaps it is possible, but it will take too much time, and management usually precedes financing, and not vice versa. So there is only one way out - to hire those “minimum viable professionals” that you can afford. If only things got done.

The logic here is the same as Eric Ries' idea of ​​a minimum viable product. By waiting for perfection, you could waste valuable time. “Minimum Viable Professionals” will make your product a little more viable, which in turn will increase the “viability” of your talent.

Think for yourself: class A or A+ specialists are not born, they are made.

8. Focus on strengths

Hiring people who are better than you means that you hire people for their strengths, not for their lack of weaknesses. A good leader always sees strengths his subordinates and sets tasks for them that would allow them to develop these strengths. He also hires those whose strength is the ability to help others overcome their own shortcomings, and teach them to do this. This is how - and this is the only way - you can achieve best result, and this is certainly better than wandering forward without understanding the road.

Draw a line between personal contribution and the ability to lead others. You can hire a great programmer or a great sales person. It's okay if they don't know how to lead at all - as long as you don't put them in leadership positions.

It goes without saying that after working in a company for some time, people begin to count on promotion, that is, on moving to the rank of managers. (At the same time, everyone understands that after this there will be much less practical benefit from them.) This approach is fundamentally wrong: people should do what they are good at. You should only promote those who really deserve it - the best of the best - and only if you are absolutely sure that this will benefit the company.

9. Start with your own shortcomings

A good leader questions himself first. It is likely that the mistakes of your subordinates are your responsibility. They say that a manager who had to fire an employee should be fired next - after all, it was his leadership that led to such sad consequences.

Therefore, every “debriefing” should begin with the phrase “You could have a better leader.” People who are capable of such self-criticism are likely to succeed as leaders, if only because they know how to take responsibility for poor results. But what is equally important is that by his example he inspires his subordinates. Please note: “inspire”, not “frighten”.

Bad leaders evaluate themselves by their intentions, and their subordinates by the results of their work: “I hoped to achieve my goals, but you did not achieve yours.” Forgiving yourself your own shortcomings is much easier than understanding and accepting those of others.

You need to behave exactly the opposite: judge yourself by results, and others by intentions. You need to be more demanding of yourself than of others. Of course, you cannot always judge by the intentions of someone who makes mistakes over and over again and cannot achieve anything. But even in this case, first of all, you need to reproach yourself - for not recognizing the bad employee at the interview or not training him well enough.

10. Don’t force others to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.

For a long time, my favorite show was Dirty Jobs. Its host, Mike Rowe, travels around America and takes on jobs that many would consider disgusting: taking out garbage, mixing dyes in factories, cleaning sewers, cleaning utility rooms on farms, and so on.

“Never force people to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.”

On by example Rowe shows one of the main characteristics of a good leader: never force people to do something that you would not do yourself. This does not mean that you should turn into a psycho with masochistic habits, but this simple principle will help you get closer to your own subordinates and smooth out the possible confrontation “them against us.”

The point is not to turn completing every task into a holiday - this is simply unrealistic, and not to do all the most disgusting work yourself. The point is to understand your subordinates and work side by side. This is true leadership.

11. Celebrate success

The joy of one victory can more than cover the bitterness of hundreds of defeats. Therefore, celebrating every small achievement is a great way to motivate employees, especially if you value team spirit over individualism.

A small caveat: Good times They tempt us to start spending money - all these noisy parties in expensive hotels, and even with A-list stars. This is not only wasteful, but also imprudent: your employees may consider it overkill. Holidays, as they are retold to family and friends, should be “fun” and “cool,” and not “expensive” and “pretentious.”

For example, when the economic value of a State University industrial support service North Carolina reached $1 billion, its employees went on a bus tour of state enterprises. At each one they bought a sample of the product, and then took it all to the governor. It was not only fun, but also useful - especially for enterprise workers. A great way to celebrate success.

12. Remember this manifesto

Bob Sutton, a professor at Stanford University and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst, has compiled a list of 12 qualities that make a good boss. It was an excellent manifesto.

1. I don't fully understand what it's like to work for me.
2. My success, like the success of my subordinates, depends on how well I cope with simple and mundane tasks, and not on some mysterious, magical and revolutionary ideas and methods.
3. Yes, setting ambitious and clear goals for yourself is very important, but you still shouldn’t get hung up on them. I need to focus on small intermediate victories - this will allow my people to see their progress every day.
4. I have to strike a delicate balance between being too demanding and not being demanding enough - this is an important and perhaps the most difficult part of my job.
5. My duty is to be a human shield, I must protect my people from all distractions external factors, other people's interference and idiocy - including mine.
6. I try my best to be a leader and I want people to see that. I have the humility and wisdom to see that this does not always work out.
7. I need to stand up for my point of view when I am right and listen to the advice of others when I am wrong. And I must teach this to my subordinates.
8. The best test of how good I am as a leader and how well everything is going in my organization is the answer to the question “What happens when people make mistakes at work?”
9. Every company and every team must develop. Therefore, my task is to encourage and try in practice any new idea, suggested by my colleagues. But it's equally important to help them weed out the bad ideas - as well as most of the good ones.
10. The bad is stronger than the good. Therefore, eliminating shortcomings is more important than trumpeting advantages.
11. How you achieve your goals is just as important as the goals themselves.
12. The power I have is dangerous: there is always a risk of starting to behave like the last brute. But it’s even worse not to see it in time.

13. Change your mind

At the launch of the very first iPhone in June 2007, Steve Jobs said, “Our innovative approach, based on Web 2.0 standards, allows developers the freedom to create completely unique applications without impacting the reliability and security of iPhone.” If we translate this phrase from marketing language into human language, it means: Apple does not provide for installing applications on the iPhone. The only way to expand the functionality of the device was additional modules to the Safari browser installed on iPhone. This is exactly how “reliability and safety” was achieved.

But 11 months passed, and the headline of the next Apple press release stated: “At the Worldwide Developers Conference WWDC-2008, executives Apple will present application platforms for Mac OS X Leopard and OS X iPhone.” Translation: now you can make programs for the iPhone, and Apple really wants to answer every consumer whim: “There is a special application for that.”

People tend to view this kind of behavior as a sign of stupidity or weakness: Apple's directors chose the wrong policy and did not understand what they were doing. Following this logic, leaders have no right to change their minds. And if they change their mind, they must do everything to hide this fact from the public.

This logic has nothing to do with reality. When leaders publicly change their minds, it shows their intelligence (they saw a mistake), self-confidence (they were able to admit it), and courage (they were willing to put everything on the line to correct it). These are all qualities of a good leader, so feel free to change your decisions and don’t be afraid to do it in public.

13. Show employees that they are in demand.

Michael Lopp, author of Managing People: The Scary and funny stories narrated by the head of the development department software”, states that the main three words that a boss should say during an interview are: “We need you.” You have to remind your employees that the startup needs them, that they are a better fit than anyone else - that's what it means.

When the unemployment rate is high, it is very easy for an employer to imagine that he is the king and god of the personnel market and therefore can treat people as he pleases. This is the worst thing you can do: if we're talking about about a specialist of the highest class, he will always be the king and god in the personnel market, and not you. Always.

If you decide to hire the person sitting in front of you, turn on all your charm: show that you are interested in him, show him the office, arrange a meeting with other employees in an informal setting, tell him everything he wants to know. The most difficult moment in the process of hiring a new employee is when the previous employer already knows that they are going to leave him, and the contract with you has not yet been signed. There is a risk that the applicant will be offered more profitable terms at my old job.

On the other hand, if this does not happen, think about whether the specialist you are about to hire is really good and valuable.

Of course, the employee is not considered hired until he starts work, but even in this case, you should not relax. Imagine that another organization “stole” a wonderful specialist from you. How soon will you give up and stop trying to persuade him to come back? I would have fought for at least a month.

14. Say it

AND last tip on leadership: remember four simple phrases and use them in conversations with employees, clients, investors and partners. The better the boss’s leadership qualities, the less afraid he is of these phrases:

• "I don't know"
• "Thank you"
• "Do what you think is right"
• "It's my fault"

I will not say that these phrases ever came from the lips of some famous and successful leaders, but I think that if they ignored them, it was deliberately, contrary to generally accepted practice. And I don’t believe and never will believe that real success can be achieved only by becoming an asshole.

Leader is a person who moves towards his goal and is able to lead other people along with him. A leader is not born, but made, and you can become one. To do this, you need to know what qualities a leader has that sets him apart from the rest.

Leader Qualities

1. Having a goal and seeing the result

The goal is the driving force of the leader, it is the meaning of his existence.

She is his God, a beacon in an impenetrable night, and nothing excites a leader more than achieving his goal.

What a leader does is also important. But the way to achieve the goal, the business in which the leader is busy, does not concern him as much as the vision of the final result.

A leader has two fundamental attitudes in his head: for what and with whom.

Leaders know where they are going and how they are going to get there.

2. Self-motivation

25. Maturity

Contrary to popular belief, age is not a measure of maturity.

Young leaders can act like seasoned professionals, while many older people can act like teenagers.

Maturity is based on actions consistent with the behavior of a mature person, which is especially evident in difficult situations.

Additionally, your self-confidence and your ability to move forward without excuses are some of the most important indicators of maturity.

26. Example for others

Actions mean more than words. People will definitely notice if you are dedicated and work hard to grow your business.

But if you're lazy and don't care how things are, your team will follow suit.

Great leaders always set an example for others.

27. Ability to build relationships

It's all about who you know. Leaders need no further reminder that there is a lot of truth in this statement.

You need to understand the value of building long-term relationships in your industry with others and bet on mutually beneficial partnerships.

Building a collaborative network of valuable people is critical to your long-term success.

28. Social skills

Most often, the leader is charismatic, sociable, friendly and open.

He talks to people in a calm, respectful and engaging manner.

Just as employees want to work with people they like, customers want to shop with people they like.

So you need to become one of those people if you want.

29. Public communication skill

Leaders should have no problem with public speaking.

Situations in which public communication occurs can range from simply speaking in a meeting to pitching a new idea to a room full of people.

Communication skill not only allows you to effectively convey information to listeners, but also increases your authority as a leader.

30. Honesty and openness

Every year the world becomes more transparent, and there are fewer and fewer secrets in it, which is why honesty is the best policy.

People respect those who can honestly share information with others and handle good and bad news calmly.

This is the only way to act on the situation and timely adjust the plan to move forward.

31. Listening skills

To give your team members feedback, encouragement, and consideration, you need to make every effort to listen when they share information.

Leaders listen first and speak later.

Listening is more than being silent because you also need to ask the right questions.

32. Devotion

Leaders remain true to their values ​​and relentlessly pursue their goals, despite external pressures that try to change them or make them conform to the usual framework.

Every success story you've heard probably has a downside: long hours of grueling work and many failed attempts.

But a leader cannot be stopped easily because he is true to his word, committed to his work and has a long-term focus on his goal.

33. Empathy and compassion

While you focus on your goals, you must also pay attention to the needs and feelings of others.

Goals are achieved not at the expense of the people around you, but with their help.

After all, the law of the market is: identify a need and fill it. Everything you do, you do for the end consumer.

You need to know not only how much influence you have over people, but also what you need to do to be understanding and compassionate towards others.

34. Ability to stand up to others

Most people try to avoid confrontation for fear of controversial issues. But leaders know how to offer a fair and mutually beneficial way to solve a problem.

Solving the problem on initial stage its occurrence will save a large number of time, not to mention the headache, compared to a situation where it remains unresolved.

35. Delegation of rights and responsibilities

As a leader, you should encourage others to make the right decisions.

Delegation is not only about giving your team the freedom to make their own choices, but also about giving everyone necessary tools so that the decision made is effective and efficient.

36. Negotiation skills

Leaders know how to get what they want and can be very persuasive about it.

To achieve the desired result, they meet the needs of others by building trusting relationships.

In resolving disagreements on big deals leaders are practical, fair, and firm in the negotiation process.

37. Clarity

Leaders are able to clearly communicate their thoughts in a way that can be easily understood and then ensure that there is no misunderstanding.

This ensures that projects and tasks delegated to other people are completed without errors.

38. Ability to teach others

Leaders must share the methodology and processes that form the basis of their projects with their team members.

If your managers are poorly trained, your employees will be equally poor, which will negatively impact the bottom line.

The best way to understand something new is to teach it to others.

39. Interest in feedback

Leaders not only have the quality to impart knowledge, but they themselves value learning and have a willingness to ask for advice.

They are open to feedback and are able to take criticism positively so they can use it to make necessary adjustments that can benefit their path to success.

40. Trust in your team

This quality of leadership may be questionable, but the credibility of your team has a lot to do with the people you hire, their willingness to learn, and the work you delegate to them.

It's important for you to trust your team to get the results you want without having to manage every element of your projects.

41. Ability to inspire

It's hard to love every part of your job, no matter what you do.

But leaders inspire their team members by letting them know that what they do has a huge impact on everyone around them, because their work is a way to touch something great.

What do you even understand... Nike is not a sneaker, but a triumph of athletics. Apple does not create electronic devices, but changes the world.

A leader is able to direct others to do what he wants because other people want to do it.

42. Transforming a goal into reality

Not only do leaders have their own goals and their own vision. They have the ability to turn goals into working strategy, which will be accepted by other people and brought to life over time.

43. Take the best from others

By understanding what people really want, you can help them perform better by properly incentivizing them to do their jobs, and not just by providing material benefits.

To get the best from others, a leader must understand his own motivations, as well as those of his team, and be positive, generous, and open-minded.

It is important for you to find out what your environment wants for itself: fame, money, recognition? Develop by developing your people.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “If you want to build a ship, do not call on people to gather wood, divide labor and give orders, but instead first teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

44. Reward

People tend to expect recognition from the people they follow, so it's important to reward your team members for their contributions, especially when their performance stands out from the rest.

Monetary rewards are always appropriate, but a well-thought-out system of various titles and qualifications and the presentation of personal awards can be no less effective.

45. Ability to act according to circumstances

One of the qualities of a leader is the ability to carefully and quickly assess a situation or person.

Being decisive does not mean making a quick decision, it means making the right decisions on time.

However, don't let your determination alienate team members from the process.

46. ​​Conducting effective meetings

Unfortunately, most meetings are never as productive as originally intended.

As an entrepreneur, you usually have to interact with people you like, which can be a distraction from your work process.

Effective leadership is about maximizing efficient use time allotted for the meeting.

Start with an agenda, eliminating distractions, and setting a start and end time for the meeting.

Encourage everyone to actively participate in the discussion, remind them of the importance of taking notes, and monitor the effectiveness of the meeting after it ends.

47. Respect for others

When you show respect for other people, it is much easier to build trusting, mutually beneficial relationships.

You must keep your promises, stop gossiping, believe in your team members' ideas, stand up for them when necessary, and thus truly care about everyone's well-being.

48. Coaching key people

You should be sure to nurture the success of your key team members and help them grow within your organization.

In order for you to successfully lead an increasing number of people, promote the most significant employees, which will undoubtedly be facilitated by holding various seminars and trainings.

49. Justice

The ability to fairly evaluate people and events is important, since this quality allows you to adequately assess the situation and be attractive to others.

Without taking fairness into account, you will notice how the project's progress will slow down, and the outflow of your team members will exceed the arrival of new people.

Leaders who are honest and fair with their communities receive loyalty and respect in return.

50. Swiftness

Competitors don't rest on their laurels. There is always someone who will breathe down your back.

Leaders understand that in most cases it is about being first in some area, so they value persistence and speed of action.

51. Determination

Decisiveness involves having a confident and effective mindset that allows you to make quick decisions and take swift action.

To make the best decisions, evaluate each option carefully and carefully, and don't let indecision paralyze you.

52. Leaders are not afraid to make mistakes.

Often, behind failure lies one of the greatest opportunities in life.

In terms of learning, failure will yield much more than success. In fact, failure is the next step to success.

Leaders understand that they must operate under conditions of uncertainty and risk, which are an integral part of any business.

Michael Jordan said: “I've missed over nine thousand shots in my career. Lost in three hundred matches. Twenty-six times I was trusted with the decisive shot and missed. I failed again and again. That's why I was successful.”

53. Flexibility

The business world is changing rapidly, and there is no pause in change in sight.

An important quality of a leader is the ability to recognize these changes and make appropriate adjustments to the direction of the business and management of the organization.

It's surprising how many businessmen and managers refuse to make changes to their projects when there is a clear need for it. The effect of an “established mentality” is triggered.

Top managers who refuse to learn and adapt to new conditions will eventually be left behind.

To be an effective leader, your mind must be open to new things.

54. Perseverance

Leaders know firsthand the difficulties on the path to success, because they have had to face adversity and problems head-on.

When things get tough, leaders move toward their goals with extra strength and determination.

When most people give up and get left behind, leaders step forward through adversity.

Martin Luther King said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he is in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”

55. Resourcefulness

Thanks to this quality, leaders can find a creative solution to a problem.

Being resourceful, you evaluate the resources at your disposal and adapt by using new approach, sometimes breaking the rules, and never being afraid to ask if you lack something.

56. Making the right decisions

When you make good decisions, you build trust with your team, which allows you to make faster choices in the future.

Making good decisions involves analyzing possible alternatives and carefully examining each option.

Once you've made a decision, make a plan and be sure to learn from your own and others' mistakes.

57. Strategic thinking

To think two steps ahead, you need to engage strategic thinking using analysis possible options, your experience and previous decisions.

When you are considering long-term action, you need to plan and then start the process while assessing the situation as a whole.

A leader knows how to influence events and also creates them himself, instead of waiting for an event to happen.

58. Managing uncertainty

After making any mistake, you usually have two options: refuse to continue or find a better way.

Leaders know when it's time to push and when it's time to pull out. They establish control over uncertainty by making thoughtful decisions.

59. Organized

You better not go to sea in your ship unless you know where the sail is. Likewise, you will not be able to run your business if you are not organized.

Leaders know how to keep their affairs in order because this is the only way to be truly effective.

60. Creativity

Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not an innate quality of leadership. This skill can be developed.

Absorb new knowledge and gain new abilities, be open and constantly ask new questions.

Often the basis for creativity is not the creation of something fundamentally new, but the combination of already known elements in a unique way.

61. Intuition

If logical thinking is akin to mathematics, then intuition is rather an art.

Leaders often listen to their intuition.

It can be difficult not to use logic in some situations, but risk and uncertainty in business sometimes make it necessary to resort to intuition.

Stop blindly believing everyone around you and learn to trust yourself.

62. Gaining new experiences

To be prepared for unexpected events, leaders actively develop experiences that allow them to learn and grow.

Set more ambitious goals and challenge yourself to become better while enjoying new experiences.

63. Reading and education

Read everything related to your field of work.

Leaders know that education doesn't stop at graduation.

To stay on trend, you need to stay up to date with both time-tested and new information.

64. Interest

Leaders often have an insatiable desire to learn, to push themselves beyond their own limits, and to explore what other people haven't touched.

Expanding your horizons can be as simple as reading a book. To do this, you just need to ask yourself the question “Why?” more often. and enjoy the journey into the unknown.

65. Professionalism

Professionalism presupposes the presence and constant improvement of the skills necessary for the development of the project, as well as a serious attitude towards one’s work.

A professional does what he has to do, and an amateur waits for inspiration.

66. Focus

Life is full of distractions, but a leader knows how to stay on track and stay focused on the goal.

It is important to be able to purposefully allocate your time and eliminate non-essential work.

Max Lucado said: “The man who wants to lead an orchestra must turn his back to the crowd.”

67. Improving life around you

Leaders are focused on a brighter future, so they want to share their success with those around them: business partners and clients, family and friends, employees and their families, etc.

Leaders demonstrate generosity and gratitude, making a positive impact on the lives of those around them.

Making other people's lives better also means helping them become better people.

Help others grow by helping them reach their potential, both professional and personal.

Remember to lead by example by allowing people to learn from your experiences.

68. Helping others succeed

You get more satisfaction from the ability to give than from the ability to receive.

Leaders take pride in helping other people succeed.

69.

Like a professional athlete, leaders strive to become better every day.

They know that there are always opportunities to develop themselves and their team.

Leaders are very interested in finding out what they can do and how far they can go.

70. Persistence

Perseverance means the ability to maintain enthusiasm and faith in what you love without giving in to failure for an indefinite amount of time.

Without persistence, perseverance and discipline, it is unlikely that you will achieve impressive results.

Not giving up for long periods of time is the quality of a winner.

71. Independence

There is no doubt that a leader knows how to collaborate with other people.

But he is deeply convinced that with or without some person, the leader will still achieve his goal.

72. Patience

The results you want will not happen overnight.

Leaders don't give up when faced with obstacles, work hard, but also know how to enjoy their journey in life.

73. Energy

Leaders not only have high energy, but also know how to use their time effectively.

To fuel your energy, you need to stay healthy and active, as well as passionate and positive about what you do.

A leader is a person who is able to lead others. Many passionately desire to become a leader, study hundreds of brochures and books of the same name, attend trainings under common name"Become a leader in 48 hours."

1. All managers are leaders

In fact: Some managers are able to lead people, others are not. Management is one of the possibilities of leadership, but not an equivalent.

Managers have well-developed communication skills and are able to organize the work process. They hire people to work. But if they are not able to identify the best employees, constantly improve the organization's work, and develop their employees, then they will not become leaders.

Leadership a priori implies favorable changes, continuous improvement and development.

2. Some people are born to be leaders.

In fact: even those who have a predisposition to lead must master leadership skills.

A child may have a predisposition for basketball, but if he does not practice hard, he is unlikely to become a great basketball player.

In addition, a predisposition to leadership is not always as obvious as it might seem at first glance. So it's better to focus on what you can do now than to think and look for life's purpose.

3. A leader always has the right answers.

In fact: leaders know how to ask the right questions and know where to look for the right answers.

If people in your company constantly come to you with questions that they could answer on their own, remember that you are depriving them of the opportunity to “turn on their brains and think.”

If you give a person fish, he will be fed for one day. And if you give him a fishing rod, he will be fed for the rest of his life.

Leaders don’t have “absolutely all the answers,” they just know where to look for them.

4. To be a leader, you need a high position.

In fact: to lead people, you just need to know when is the best time to do it and how to do it. And most importantly, you must be able to take responsibility for yourself and other people.

When I stay at a hotel, most of the people I encounter there - from the receptionist to the waiters and cleaners - do not have a high position or authority over people, but they are responsible for the comfortable stay of all hotel guests. Good staff are much more likely than top management (who, in essence, are the formal leaders) to be ready to take responsibility.

A leader always makes people's lives better. In successful organizations, any employee is able to bear responsibility, even if his position is low.

5. Leaders do everything themselves.

In fact: a leader is able to motivate himself and his team to work.

If a leader has a great desire to work on a task, but he cannot “infect” his team with the same impulse, he is not a real leader. This is what distinguishes a leader from a manager: a manager, as a rule, is focused on the task, but a leader can make sure that not only he himself is focused, but also the people on his team.

6. Leadership is ambition

In fact: Leadership is the ability and desire to benefit people.

There is nothing wrong with ambition, but it usually only plays into the hands of the person himself. If what you do only benefits you, you are unlikely to be considered a leader.

If what you do benefits others - customers, colleagues, suppliers, society at large - then you can truly be called a true leader.

7. Anyone can become a leader

In fact: Only someone who wants to become a leader can become a leader.

You cannot force a person to lead if he does not want to. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. In addition to talent and ability, you also need desire.

The phenomenon of leadership has existed for a long time, because a person has always wanted to look strong and self-sufficient in the eyes of others, to have influence and power. It is the leader who is the main character in the life scenario, endowed with exceptional prospects and access to something more. Most people associate the concept of a leader with certain innate characteristics that help achieve success, but in reality Every person is capable of developing the basic qualities of a leader.

To understand the nature of leadership, you need to study its structure and features. In modern psychology, a leader is a person who has a number of qualities and skills that help him “lead” people towards a certain goal.

The concept of leadership is quite broad and ambiguous. To understand it correctly, it is necessary to highlight specific stages of development of the personality of a successful leader:

1. He is his own leader. This is the basic first stage, which is a prerequisite for becoming a leader. You should learn to discipline and motivate yourself, take responsibility for your own actions, and develop the skills to set and achieve goals.
2. Leader in the situation. This is leadership at the micro level, when a person takes on leadership functions in a certain extreme situation, where the context of necessity forced him to take responsibility.
3. Team leader. This is the concept of macro leadership, where a person builds his team and motivates its members to achieve goals. Here situationalism disappears, replaced by constant initiative and responsibility for the quality of the work of one’s own team.
4. Leader in the system. Meta-leadership involves leadership of an entire system, where a person becomes a leader among leaders. Goals become more serious and global; successful leadership at this level requires many personal and professional qualities.

So what should a leader be like? Successful leader must master basic leadership skills and master the corresponding key qualities of a leader, without which productive functioning at any stage of development will become impossible. Key leadership skills can be divided into three groups: basic skills, communication skills and personal qualities at the level of personality development.

Basic Skills for a Successful Leader

Vision of the future

It is with this concept that leadership begins; vision of prospects and a developed ability to forecast allows one to be more flexible, change strategy and direction of movement, focusing on a possible situation. The ability to create a bright future in the team's mind serves as an element of inspiration and turns activities in a positive direction.

Setting goals

Goal setting serves as the foundation for successful vision and allows you to create conditions for a gradual, thoughtful movement of the team towards a big goal, achieving results gradually, in small steps. At the same time, it is final and bright, so that the team feels an urgent need to achieve it.

Successful adaptation

In our changing world, where endless streams of information pass through a person’s consciousness every day, it is necessary to be able to notice the slightest surrounding changes. Of the gigabytes of information, only that which relates to the company’s activities needs to be taken into account. Such adaptation is possible with a broad general outlook of the leader, who will be able to notice and highlight the most important trends and development strategies.

Flexibility

A manager must always have various strategies and methods in stock in order to be able to choose the most suitable option in each specific situation. The lack of options makes him predictable and weak in the eyes of not only the team, but also his competitors. Sometimes this quality works well on the basis of some kind of opposition to the system, which can lead to original, extraordinary solutions.

Perseverance

This quality of a leader is interconnected with the strength of personality, when a person does not stop in the face of unpleasantness and danger, and also takes justifiable risks. It is important not to confuse persistence with stubbornness, when a person is able to pursue his goal at any cost. This behavior borders on arrogance and turns the team away from the leader.

Communication skills

• Ability to persuade. This concept means effectively using your verbal intelligence, leadership emotions, to achieve the team's goals. The moment of truth comes when a person moves from his position or point of view to that of his opponent. The nature of persuasion consists of weighty arguments, because only in this way clever man can listen and accept the point of view of the interlocutor.
• Communication skills. Nowadays, this quality is of key importance for a person who wants to interact productively in society. A modern leader must be able to find a common language with various categories people in different situations and circumstances of communication. Effective method establish communication – master techniques for quickly establishing contact. Now there are many trainings where anyone can learn effective communication styles, improving their own;
• Confidence. In order for the interlocutor to quickly take the desired side, non-verbal skills should be included in the communication process. These include posture, gestures, voice intonation, speech rate, and others. Their nature acts on the unconscious sphere of the human psyche and will help establish trusting contact.
• The ability not only to listen, but also to hear. This concept means that a leader can not only speak, but also listen carefully, including all channels of perception in his actions. It is important to be able to choose an appropriate topic of conversation, win over your interlocutor, and then give him the opportunity to speak. At this time, you should use an active listening strategy, nodding your head and inserting short remarks in the right places. The ability to ask logical and accurate questions will help you obtain the necessary information tactfully and unobtrusively.

Personal qualities of a successful leader

• Self confidence. A confident leader is able to inspire trust and provide a sense of security to his team. His nature makes a person stand out from the crowd even by physical signs: straight posture, straightened shoulders, calm gaze, measured breathing. Speech is smooth and clear, without hesitation or long pauses.
• Proactivity. This quality differs from ordinary activity in the ability to independently initiate a situation. Such a person knows how to get ahead of someone else’s initiative and acts based on his own motives;
• Personal integrity. The ability to “control oneself” and show emotional calm in extreme situations belongs to people with a holistic inner world. The mental processes of such a leader are balanced, he is able to control his personal feelings and behavior even in unexpected moments when most people begin to get nervous or give up.

Video: irreplaceable important qualities of a leader:

All these skills and qualities characterize a successful leader as a harmonious person with a rich and holistic inner world, persistent life and professional attitudes, and the ability to respect the personal space of other people. Only such a leader can lead, instilling in the people he leads respect and trust in his personality and ideas.

Business management. Psychology of success Ponomarev Anton

8.5. You are a leader: how to lead people with you

Being a leader is not easy, but it is interesting. The main thing is to constantly develop your leadership qualities.

The first and main thing is the ability to see the essence of any problem, analyze it and divide it into smaller ones that are easier to solve. The team will be grateful to you when your timely intervention will help global problem break it down into several solvable small tasks.

Making decisions firmly, on time and correctly is a trait of a true leader. Never rush into making a decision, think carefully about your actions and words. It’s better to wait a little than to hastily make a decision and then change it, and even several times. Don’t forget the popular wisdom: “If you hurry, you’ll make people laugh.”

The main thing is to develop in yourself those qualities that you consider important in your professional field.

Great commanders were distinguished by their unique memory. Napoleon remembered a huge amount of information, while he was interested in details that seemed insignificant to others. Hence the ability to deeply analyze a situation and predict its consequences.

A good leader cannot do without the ability to remember a lot of information. Human memory is trainable and, as experimental studies show, is the result of thinking. Anyone who complains about a bad memory should think about the consistency of his mind. Suvorov said this: “I believe Locke that memory is the storehouse of the mind; but there are a lot of partitions in this storeroom, and therefore it is necessary to quickly put them where they should be.” Both Suvorov and Napoleon remembered information concerning them professional activity, extremely selective - only what was needed, and connected it with what had already been learned. That is, knowledge is sorted, as it were. Napoleon described this process as follows: “Various matters and various objects are laid out in my head just as they might be laid out in a chest of drawers. When I want to interrupt doing something, I close its drawer and open the drawer of another task; they don’t mix, and one thing never bothers or tires me while I’m doing another.” Here we see the lucky ability to switch!

And most importantly - positive attitude. Without the desire to succeed, it is impossible to achieve it. And believing in your success means already being successful at the moment. Leaders never fall into despair, always believe in a better future and lead their followers.