As J. R. D. Tata used to say, "To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with affection." He did that during his lifetime and everybody can see the results when the people who came in contact with him, talk about him as a father-figure who got them to give their best to the organisation. In Tips from a Manager, the editor says that he hates to see one phrase on any executive's evaluation, no matter how talented he may be. The line that troubles him is, "He had trouble getting along with other people." He says that this is a death-knell for the guy 'Why? Because this is the real problem, for we have not got dogs and apes around, only people. If he can't get along with his peers, he is of no good to the company. As an executive his whole function is to motivate other people. If he is unable to do that, he is certainly not a leader who can inspire. These days the model of a leader being that of a person who knows the best and has a better answer than his subordinates and can pull the organisation out of any crisis, is less functional these days. Today the leader is thought of to be a manager, a developer. This is so relevant for the present times because due to the information explosion new challenges and situations are being created. So Bradford & Cohen, in Managing for Excellence talk of a leader who is a developer of a vision who succeeds in giving meaning to work and is a source of inspiration, developer of a shared responsibility team and a developer of people i.e. a leader under whom people grow. An interesting example is the motto of a Branch of Large Bank system which, boasts of "Our branch is the branch that grows new talent".

Though there is no formula that can lead to successful leadership, yet one can train oneself to observe, not to react but to act, not to respond but to shape ideas. Leadership, effectively, means thriving on risks and also enjoying motivating the people.

The leader has a knack of convincing the other people about his goals. He moves with confidence with his project and his gait stresses "you gotta believe" in me and my principles. And people tend to do so. This is so because the leader takes care of small things which may be insignificant for the others. For example, he knows his people. He makes it a point to be familiar with the names of his people. Not only that, he also knows their temperament, their habits, how they differ and who are the important persons in every group. He also has the knowledge as to what are the dreams and aspirations of two people who are competing against each other to be on the top rung of the ladder. In short, the leader is well acquainted with the merits and drawbacks of the people working under him.

The motivator keeps in constant touch with his people, it may be over a cup of tea or saying a 'hello' to his people during a party in which he is entertaining the big-shots. The leader also has the ability to listen. He listens to all, squeezes out the solutions and comes up with the best solutions. Thus, though he believes that a decision reached by consensus is effective yet he also realises that it is not always possible. So he knows which decisions to make himself and which is to be left by him on the others. One way of delivering an effective leadership is not to lose one's temper and that is only possible when the work and the organisation go on smoothly. And for this, the leader plans in advance. He looks ahead and tries to foresee the problems. He can foresee that plans never to exactly as programmed. So he programmes his thinking on as to ' what could possibly go wrong ? How bad could it be? A successful leader is one who instead of creating problems works on preventing them.

This is where Jim Rohn's ‘Ant philosophy’ comes in. He says we can learn a lot of valuable lessons from the tiny creatures who work tirelessly with clock-work precision. They work all summers to collect food for the winters, thus we have never heard of an ant dying of starvation. They gather as much food as they can manage. As 'if you want to go ahead in times of uncertainty, you will have to intercept the future.'

Successful leaders are like ants who never waver even if a log is placed as an obstacle in their way. They have a knack of springing up after every failure. When Michealangelo was asked as to why he spends so much time in trying to perfect every piece of art, he replied, ' Trifles make up perfection and perfection is no trifle.

Perseverance is what moulds a leader. While the others give up, the leader goes on, learning from every small failure on the way. And he takes responsibility by standing up. Compromise is no word in his vocabulary. He knows his strong and weak points, he doesn't believe in pretending and he knows the meaning of organisation and the value of team-work.