Leadership is about balancing the interests of all-customers, employees and shareholders-with integrity and commitment. If any one of these is "out of balance", the organisation's effectiveness is compromised. For example, customer satisfaction is important but not at the cost of the other two competing interests.

Leadership is primarily about being people-centric, providing them with the required resources-tangible and intangible-and enabling others to perform. It's about treating people as equals and with respect. It is equally important to find the balance between delegation and empowerment on one hand and abdication on the other. One has to roll up one's sleeves and participate in solving others problems on occasions and leave them completely alone at other times. Mentoring and coaching should be done not by sermons but by working in real situations.

A good leader must get a team to think like a unit and provide some guiding principles on dealing with organisational challenges. When people have conflicting views about alternatives, it's about falling back on such guiding principles to choose the way forward. It's about making people feel that they can criticise and provide feedback without any fear of retribution.

Last but not the least, key activities a leader must engage in is to serve his customers to the best of his abilities and manage external relationships well. Dealing with the stresses and strains of business and corporate life, and simultaneously maintaining a calm and positive attitude at all times, is another important attribute a leader must have. It's important to remember that if you think you are beaten, you are. Predominantly, victories don't always go to the faster or stronger man, but to the one who believes in winning.