Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

There's tons of articles on what makes a good leader.  After one again having the opportunity to meet my old MD from NCG, I wanted to present my thoughts on what good leaders are:

• Risk takers - Leaders need to know when to take a massive risk.  Being conservative only maintains status quo, but the whole idea of leadership is not just ensuring the survival rate of a group, but moving forward as well.
• Omniscient - Seeing from the peripheral is necessary to provide as much of an unbiased, objective viewpoint as one can take.  One must be able to absorb much input from different sources, filter it and provide an opinion that is beneficial to whatever the objective is.
• Decisive - A leader cannot be schizophrenic and unwilling to commit to a decision.  Regardless of the outcome from a decision, it's more important to make that decision than to sit and wait for an outcome.
• Able to take responsibility - This means that the person is willing to not hide when the heat is turned up a few thousand degrees and is able to accept consequences.
• Vocal - Ever hear of the saying "the squeaky wheel always gets the grease?"  People are not mindreaders, but if you don't speak up, how would people know what you want?  More importantly, are you the type that's able to speak for everyone and act as their representative?  A person who has no voice but is smart, might as well be a researcher in an isolated lab.
• Detail Oriented - Unless you have an amazing memory, you're going to need to take notes.  You'll need to itemize what you do, what goes around you and all the steps necessary to move forward.  I haven't seen many sloppy, disorganized people move forward as leaders.  This doesn't necessarily mean if your room is a gigantic tornado heaven that you're doomed to failure.  But you do need to provide clear details to your subordinates who'll follow your command.
• Earn respect,  don't just demand it - Wherever you go, people are always going to challenge you if you're attempting to manage them.  At a certain point, you'll be confronted by someone who wants your position.  To keep it, you'll have to prove to them why you are there.  This is show don't tell situation.
• Be respectful to others - Respect the individuality of people.  At least give them an opportunity to prove to you that you can trust them.  I feel that leaders who lack respect because of huge egos tend to also receive a lot of criticism or backlash once their flaws emerge.
• Communication Skills - More and more I find that the importance of communication goes beyond your hard skills.  It's a thing that cannot be simply taught, but experienced and learned.  Knowing what to say and when to say it are equally important as how to say something.  After all, what is the idea of charisma anyway in terms of leadership?
• Demand and Strive for Excellence - Never cave in to the lowest common denominator.  Make people meet your expectations.