Becoming a leader seems easy, as we think that we know a lot about leaders. There are thousands of biographies of great leaders and millions of books on leadership. Even the man on the street knows quite a bit about the life of popular leaders. We then try to copy our leaders, believing we know them well. We fail to become good leaders because we don’t know about the real leaders.
Why do good people fail to become good leaders?
Leaders are quite mysterious. They hide more than they reveal. Like an iceberg, there is much that lurks below the surface. Our dream to lead often sinks, as does the Titanic, as we need to get the full picture. In our quest to lead, we must first understand the leaders for what they are, inside out.
Every field lays down some criteria based on which we know if we are fit to enter that field or not. As far as leadership is concerned, no clearly defined criteria or attributes tell us whether we are leadership material or not. As a result, everyone believes that he or she can be a leader. This makes leadership the most deceptive game in the world.
The Secret Red Book of Leadership
“The Secret Red Book of Leadership” lifts the veil on qualities that are not disclosed generally but which often shape a successful leader. It is not a self-help book peddling a ready-made formula for success and leadership. The book describes the truth as it finds it—bitter or sweet. It explains reality without trying to be politically correct.
Salient Features of The Secret Red Book of Leadership
‘The Secret Red Book of Leadership’ is divided into six sections and has 34 chapters.
Part I: The Need for Leadership
This section deals with the importance of leadership and the role of leaders in society. We all have leadership qualities, and we can all become leaders. Yet, as motivational speakers or leadership books often state, there is no quick-fix solution to becoming a leader. This chapter busts many myths of leadership while enumerating the fundamental principles of leadership.
Part II: Dilemma of Leaders
Like most of us, leaders wish to do good in life by following the right means. However, few leaders are virtuous or have clean track records. Niccolo Machiavelli was right when he said, “Politics have no relation to morals.” This section explains why leaders have to constantly negotiate between good and evil, end and means, love and hatred. Great leaders must learn to use both masculine and feminine leadership styles. They must master the art of treating each person differently yet being fair and just in their approach.
Part III: The Necessary Evils of Leaders
If most people fail to become leaders, it is because they fail to understand that you can’t be good unless you master evil. This section deals with the evil that leaders must learn to live with. A leader must develop a burning desire and hunger for power to create energy and motivation to accomplish a difficult task. Leaders may have to create fear in the minds of others and use the principle of ‘divide and rule’ to accomplish the mission. The chapter ‘Why Leaders Need to Deceive’ explores the art of deception to defeat powerful and cunning opponents.
Part IV: The Facade of a Leader
This section deals with the art of creating façades to impress the followers. It is important for leaders to develop a pleasant personality and become a great actor. They may use propaganda to enhance their reputation and destroy their rivals’ reputation. This section provides practical methods to create a brand of leadership and develop Charisma.
Part V: Developing Leadership
Leaders are not born but must work hard to develop leadership qualities. This section deals with a few time-tested methods to develop leadership qualities. A leader must be a man of great ideas and know the reality ‘as it is’ and not a reality ‘as it should be’. A leader must have a great imagination to see the unseen and visualise the future. This section provides steps to develop initiative, risk-taking and courage to accomplish the mission. The chapter ‘Team-building’ explains the art of building teams to achieve difficult goals for the people.
Part VI: Practising Leadership
The book’s last section provides many practical methods to become effective leaders in managerial positions. Once you have become a leader, it is important not to fall from grace. Hence, leaders must learn to create trust and resist the temptations. The chapter ‘Managing in Organization’ deals with methods to deal with bosses, colleagues, subordinates and competitors. The chapter ‘Decision-making’ provides many methods to improve decision-making in the organisation. In the chapter “Cultivating Leaders,” we find the art of creating many leaders in an organisation to achieve excellence.
‘The Secret Red of Leadership’ was launched on 18th December 2014 in Chennai by S/Shri N Ram (Former Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu), K Srikkanth (Former Captain, Indian Cricket Team) and T S Krishnamurthy (Former Chief Election Commissioner of India).
Mr. Krishnamurthy said the book adopted a new approach to the ‘mysterious quality’ of leadership in the Indian context. The author has combined his experiences with the experiences of others. It is very lucidly written,” he said.
Mr N Ram, Director, THG Publishing Private Limited, The Hindu Group’s publishing company, said that the book had an assured tone and voice, with an ability to engage the general as well as specialist readers, and, from time to time, surprises them with its findings, hypotheses and assumptions. Pointing to the narratives pertaining to great leaders, Mr Ram said the book was ‘interesting in the theme or rather the web of themes it takes up, in the questions and dilemmas it examines and where necessary, confronts without inhibition.’
Former Indian cricket captain Kris Srikkanth stressed the need to read such books over and over again to sustain leadership qualities.
To learn more about leadership and the real personality of a leader, get a copy of the book The Secret Red Book of Leadership.
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