What Makes an Individual a Great Leader?

Background

My friend Pio came to America in the 1990s when he was just under 30 years of age. He had been born and raised in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. For the previous ten years of his life he had been in a Catholic seminary in India, on his way to becoming a priest. However, before reaching the final stages of that journey he took some time away from the seminary and decided to enter the secular life so as to provide financial support for his family, whose business was failing. He enrolled in school for Information Technology (IT) and after earning a degree in a short amount of time was approached by head hunters from America who hired him to come to the US and work in the IT department of a major US financial firm.

His first destination in the US was the Midwest, but Pio found life here difficult: it was too quiet and he felt that he stood out from the many white faces all around him. He asked to return to India but his employers found him to be too valuable and they asked what the trouble was. He told them honestly that he was uncomfortable in the quiet environment of the American Midwest. His employers decided to transfer him to New York City, where Pio immediately felt more at home: here was a more chaotic, busier, livelier and diverse environment that reminded him of life in Chennai, the city where he grew up in Tamil Nadu.

He once more set to work as a lowly IT engineer, working for the firm, constantly sending money back home to support his family. He lived in a small apartment and endured a long commute to work every day. After a while, however, he felt the situation was untenable and he complained to his supervisors that he should return home: he barely had enough to live on, as prices were so high in the city and everything he could spare went back home to his family in India. His employers could not understand: they said, But youre making $50,000 a yearhow is that not enough? He said, Yes, you are paying me $50,000 but my head hunters are taking a big cut of that and what is left goes back home to my family. His employers again did not want to lose him, so they bought out his contract with the head hunters and gave him a raise on top of thatand Pio was again a happier man.

Then Pio received a call from his parents back home telling him that he was to return to be married: they had found a wife for him. Pio dutifully returned and married the woman his parents had selected for him. He literally...

While away 9/11 happened and his return with his new wife was delayed for some timebut eventually he was back in New York with his new wife and they began a small family.

Over time, Pio continued to please his supervisors and he developed many new skills so that he was able to work his way up to the top of his IT department. He was not satisfied with simply doing okayhe wanted to be the best so that he could provide the best possible life for his family. He was driven by faith and virtue to work hard and constantly develop himself. He eventually became a manager of his own team and when he realized he was putting on...

…can be especially useful when I am working in groups or on teams that are having a hard time coming together. It is often the case in my work that different personality types clash and it causes team work to bog down. But if I can incorporate emotional and social intelligence into my approach, I can come onto teams with more understanding and acceptance and help to build relationships and trust in this manner so that everyone is able to accept their roles.

Commitment is something that I can work on as well. Commitment requires holding oneself accountable and not backing down on promises made. When I give my word to do something, I need to keep itno matter what comes up or how tired I might be. A word is a bond, and when that bond is breaking it does harm to relationships and to ones own reputation. Even in the small things, I can strive to keep my word, no matter how trivial and that will remind of the importance and value of keeping my word in the big things as well.

In society, in the workplace and in my life and I can also incorporate better communication skills so that people know what I am thinking, what I want, what I expect, and what I am prepared to do. In my own life, people often complain that they do not know what I am thinking and that is because I dont share these thoughts openly enough. I tend to be too reserved and it makes people nervous. I can do better in communication by being more outgoing like Pio with my neighbors, with my family, and with my associates at work. This is the way that people come to understand one another and unite behind a vision when it truly…