Abid Iqbal Khari’s

Abu Bakr, in the early days of his Caliphate, managed on the wage he earned by milking the cattle of one of his neighbors. Some time later, some Companions led by ‘Umar made him this offer: ‘As the Commander-in-chief of the Muslims, you have much work to do. Therefore, give up milking cattle and let us assign a fixed salary for your needs as Caliph.’

Abu Bakr spent from this salary for his living expenses and stored any surplus in a pot. He told those around his death-bed to hand that pot over to the one nominated to replace him as Caliph.

Source: http://www.thewaytotruth.org/

My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels. Of humble origins, Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world’s great religions, and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive. The majority of the persons in this book had the advantage of being born and raised in centers of civilization, highly cultured or politically pivotal nations.

Muhammad, however, was born in the year 570, in the city of Mecca, in southern Arabia, at that time a backward area of the world, far from the centers of trade, art, and learning. Orphaned at age six, he was reared in modest surroundings.

Source: http://www.mohammad-pbuh.com/

Someone has set out an intellectual journey through the world to find and know the Creator of the universe. After traveling in the realms of kinds of creatures, he said to himself: ‘I am seeking the Creator and Owner of this universe amidst these creatures. I should therefore before all else visit Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and seek from him the answer to my quest.’ He enters by imagination the blessed age of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and sees that that era really was an era of happiness for mankind by virtue of that being, who, as confirmed even by his enemies, is the most blessed of the whole creation, the greatest and the most accomplished commander, and the most celebrated ruler among them, the most exalted in speech and the most brilliant in intellect, and who has enlightened fourteen centuries with his virtues and with his Qur’an.
Source: http://www.mohammad-pbuh.com/

Gary Hamel’s Eight Innovation Myths:

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime,educate people.” Chinese proverb
Study of the history of mankind shows that no nation could make progress in the world with educating her people. Its only knowledge which makes a person or a nation stand ahead of others in race of civilization.

When they were constructing Taj Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Hiran Minaret and such useless buildings, Europeans and Americans had realized the secret of human progress and betterment and were establishing alam matters in the length and breadth of their homelands.

Charisma is a Greek word meaning divinely inspired gift. In the study of Leadership, charisma is that quality of leader which differentiates him/her from others on account of their personal powers, focus, vision and attitude. It is compelling, positive and attractive which make others want to be led by him/her. This makes a big difference between a manager and a leader. Both may accompalish the same task within same time and may exercise same performance level. But constituents, followers or employees led by  a leader would be more happy, satisfied and less tired.
According to Robert J. House, charisma can be defined in terms of its effects. The nine charismatic effects are as follows:
1- Team members trust in the correctness of the leader’s beliefs.
2- Similarity of group members beliefs to those of the leaders.
3- Unquestioning acceptance of the leader.
4- Affection of the leader.
5- Willing obedience to the leader.
6- Identification with and emulation of the leader.
7- Emotional involvement of the constituents in the mission.
8- Heightened goals of the group members.
9- Feeling on the part of group members that they will be able to accomplish, or contribute to, the accomplishment of the mission.

Attitude + Attribute + Aptitude + Altitude = How high you fly

Lets examine each of them now …

Attitude = How you behave to yourself and to others, positively or negatively? How you react to what happens to you, positively or negatively? How you react to success or failure, that is very important.

Attribute = Your personality has made up of what qualities? What skills you have acquired? What is level of your knowledge? To what extent you have groomed your personality?

Aptitude = Your aptitude is your inherent capacity, talent or ability to do something. Having a high aptitude for something means you are good at doing that something. To succeed, you have to choose the job, you love to do.

Altitude = How big you think? How broaden is your vision? How much you have expanded your horizon? And this is what determines what you do and what you achieve in your life?

Once a senior bureaucrat said, “Leaders are also mad. The difference between ordinary mad man and a leader is that ordinary mad visualize some extraordinary things but cannot believe that it can ever happen and due to conflict between his thoughts and beliefs, looses his senses. A leader is also a mad man in a sense that he also visualizes something extraordinary and he also believes that it all can be achieved. This is difference in both types of mad men.

Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly…
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

…Ralph Waldo Emerson

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” - Albert Schweitzer

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams

Lives of great men, all remind us, We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.
(Longfellow)
Watch Mr. Khari’s talk show “Positive Plus” on PTV HOME, every Thursday at 7:50am and repeat telecast on Saturday between 1 to 2pm.

These principles of leadership were told by some sage to Mr. Akram Zaki when he started his career. Mr. Akram Zaki (former foreign secretary) told these principles while addressing Creative Leaders Conference in Islamabad.
1- Be firm but not harsh. One should be firm when it comes to implementation of rules, regulation, policies and procedure. But one should not loose temper and be harsh. Always be polite even when dealing with enemies.
2- Be accessible but not approachable. Be within the reach of every one but no one should be able to influence you to do something wrong. A leader is always within an easy reach of the follower but no one can approach him to do anything wrong.
3- Be kind but not indulgent. A leader is always kind towards his followers but he also maintains desired level of dignity.