Want to be a leader? Tips from a young and “unapologetically ambitious” CEO

• It helps to do our existing job in the best way possible so that we earn credibility and trust.
• New opportunities do not sprout out of anywhere but from the soil of our existing work.
• Sharing feedback in a helpful way enables us to bring out the best in others.
• The skills that make us a leader are not the same skills that allow us to stay in that position, and we have to learn new skills for our new role.

• As a leader, we will confront all kinds of people, and have to try and surround ourselves with excellent peers who may even disagree with us.
• This provides us with new insights, ideas and experiences that broaden our mind. 
• We also have to make it easy for others to point out when we are wrong.

If our message is simple and easy to digest, while having the required substance, it can easily be etched in peoples minds with consistency and repetition. Your narrative and expectations should be crystal clear to your subordinates and peers.

It also helps to have the required information readily accessible for all using the various information portals.

• As leaders go up the hierarchy, they lose touch with ground realities, with multiple management layers in between.
• When the leader feels that people around them are not being completely honest, it is a red flag that needs to be addressed.

One needs to create a culture where people from any level can be brutally honest to us, and catch any blind spots, creating a transparent, trusting environment.