Are You a Leader?

Suresh is a qualified, chartered cost accountant and a PMP with more than 30 years of experience in organizations engaged in various industries, such as ceramic tiles, automobiles and engineering.

  Leadership  

Someone forwarded me an e-mail written by their COO. It was to one of their vendors, who was complaining about non-receipt of payment. The tone of the message from the COO said it all. He asked the vendor: “Who asked you to contact me directly? Do you know who I am in the organization? You should be contacting some AP clerk for these small issues.” The COO copied the CFO, who I am told took corrective action.

First of all, I am amazed at the rudeness of the COO, who instead of feeling embarrassed is exhibiting a destructive ego. If I were him, I would apologize and take steps to pay the vendor. Not only that, I would want to make sure this was a not a systemic issue in the company.

You may be wondering whether this is really the job of a COO. On a day-to-day basis, no! But as an issue that is bought to his attention, the answer is yes. It is not necessary for him to reply directly, but he should be responsible and responsive enough to ensure that the vendor gets the issue resolved.

This made me think about leadership traits and what the true definition of leadership is. Let me first talk about some myths in leadership. I have heard the following responses so many times in my career:

• “I can’t lead if I am not promoted to the top.”
• “When I…

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