Name: Anurag Sharma

Title: General Manager

Organisation: IIHMR University

I have two decade of experience in Education industry and have worked with top organizations and universities.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Anurag's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

- Honing Effectiveness. ...

- Inspiring Others. ...

- Developing Employees. ...

- Leading a Team. ...

- Guiding Change. ...

- Managing Stakeholders. ...

- Set goals for yourself and your team. ...

- Delegate more to others.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I started my career as an executive with major KRA of calling up clients on phone to promote courses. However i knew this is not my goal.

I started suggesting new innovative ideas to seniors and started taking more responsibilities. Soon i was give a small team to executive my ideas. Idea is to do something different which others are doing.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

Waking up early is key. I am in office at 9 am. Team casual interaction over tea/coffee till 10 am (Standing and walking only). Here we discuss what my teams members have on plate today and any bottlenecks of yesterday.

Go through leads along with senior team members. By evening daily report is analyzed. Low performers are given a pat on the back and encouraged . Late evening i jot down tomorrows task again.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

Inspiring others by doing it.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't is a management book by Jim C. Collins that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

If you have a team.. nurture them. Don't hire and fire. Some staff may be low performers and it's your job to make them perform.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

There was a man on horseback who saw a group of exhausted soldiers digging a trench. On the side is their section leader who was barking orders.

The passerby asked the leader why he isn’t helping his team. The leader just said that he is in charge and tells his people what to do.

The man decided to pitch in and help the soldiers dig until the trench was finished. After that, he approached the commander on foot and told him that the next time their rank prevents them from supporting his men, he should notify the top command – and that he will give a permanent solution to it.

The section leader then realized that the person he was talking to was none other than the historical figure, General Washington.

Moral of the Story:

The best leaders are eager to help and give aid to their followers. In the context of work, this might mean reaching out to their employees to check in and do actual work.

They also adopt a progressive mindset instead of being attached to being in charge.