Leadership

[00:00:03] Hey everyone, this is Voice with Warikoo.

[00:00:06] With my name is Ankur Warikoo.

[00:00:07] I cover many things in this English podcast series.

[00:00:11] Career, relationships, personal finance, success, failure and frankly anything else that comes into the mind at times.

[00:00:19] Every week Thursday, on your favorite podcast platform, a new episode, Voice with Warikoo.

[00:00:28] In 2011, I stepped into the first CEO role of my life.

[00:00:33] It was the CEO of Group on India.

[00:00:35] Group on India started that year.

[00:00:37] And before that, the biggest team that I had led because I had been in the startup industry was about 10 people.

[00:00:43] No more than that.

[00:00:45] And in 3 years, I was to lead 800 plus people, which was a completely new experience for me.

[00:00:54] And here are three lessons that I learned in the journey.

[00:00:57] Number one, great leaders are idea machines.

[00:01:01] My role has changed dramatically.

[00:01:04] I went from being the go-to problem solver in the early days to the vision or the strategy setter.

[00:01:12] My team didn't need any task, but they looked at me for direction, for big picture thinking.

[00:01:18] And then I realized that the best leaders should be replaceable when it comes to tasks.

[00:01:24] It means that anyone can do your job.

[00:01:27] But they should be irreplaceable when it comes to vision.

[00:01:32] No one can imagine what you are like.

[00:01:35] Number two, you're always on stage.

[00:01:39] This was the biggest realization and it also helped me in my content creation journey.

[00:01:44] When you become a leader, the spotlight gets a whole lot brighter.

[00:01:49] A light always shines on you.

[00:01:52] I realized that what I say matters a lot.

[00:01:59] My actions are often mirrored, like I do, and the other teams do.

[00:02:05] And the standards that I accept, they very quickly become the norm.

[00:02:13] So my managers begin to accept the same standards.

[00:02:19] My mood was also determined by the office mood.

[00:02:23] It was crazy.

[00:02:24] It was almost like I was a celebrity while not being one.

[00:02:28] And that's when I learned an important lesson.

[00:02:32] As a leader, I have to be mindful of how I speak, what I am, how I act.

[00:02:40] And what standards do I set on a daily basis?

[00:02:45] Number three, avoiding the smart person trap.

[00:02:51] This is a curse of intelligence.

[00:02:53] I am not saying that I am smart or intelligent, but I have seen it often.

[00:02:57] This is a very easy trap to fall into.

[00:03:00] Every problem has to be solved.

[00:03:04] The problem that I had on my desk was my first reaction.

[00:03:09] I should solve it because that's when the problem came.

[00:03:11] But it was incredibly tough to resist and to step back and to ask questions instead.

[00:03:19] Because if you solve all the problems, your team will always be on your side.

[00:03:25] But great leaders do not offer great solutions.

[00:03:29] They instead ask great questions.

[00:03:32] Every day, when I play the role of leadership in the last 10-15 years,

[00:03:39] I remind myself that this is a very unique privilege.

[00:03:43] Not because I am putting an organization, a company, a brand into it.

[00:03:48] Because seeing me, many people's leadership language is being established.

[00:03:56] And it becomes my responsibility to give them a good definition.

[00:04:02] Do rely upon all the best.