A leader has the two-fold job of being a coach-cum-player. He is not only one of the players in the company, but the lead player who has acquired experience, knowledge and skills over the years. He should have the capacity to inspire his team both as a player and a coach. As the coach or mentor of his team, he should provide direction and help his team formulate the right strategy.

	Going By The Book
	Taking The Blinkers Off
	Ready, Fire, Aim

The coach-mentor aspect becomes predominant when it comes to giving long-term direction and setting his company's cultural foundation. The player element of the leader comes to the fore in case of hardcore financials. This is a more contemporary view of leadership in today's flat organisation as opposed to the more traditional views, where the leader leads more through direction and inspiration than active management.

A very important aspect of leadership is a high degree of professional and personal integrity. Having said that, integrity should be a quality that you look forward to being inherent in a person.

Practice of fair play-in American parlance, the reward and punishment system-performance and the communication of feedback, is a critical aspect of leadership. The system should be reflected in an individual's compensation and career progression. A leader needs an efficient apparatus to support his value system. In that sense, leadership is a science and not just an art.

If you are a good coach-player, have a performance evaluation system, a high degree of integrity and a demonstrated track record, you don't need to do much as an individual. Each member of the organisation will work as a team and be achievement-oriented.