I’m no iconoclast of the stereotypical image of a leader that many have formed in their minds. But, leaders are not what you typically think as some divine gifted spirits who know what to do (and do always right). No, it is not true. It is not always about the fan following or the multi tasking abilities. The dichotomy (often the secret) of leadership is such that: Followers think they learn from the leader while the leader is learning from his followers.

So, to nail my point on its head, every leader is also being lead in his life. The person who leads me is whom I call mentor—professionally or personally. Since the days of my graduation at IIT Kharagpur, and me stepping into the professional life, my mentors were different than who they are today. That is how leadership is…you evolve with support from your mentors and look for a new mentor talented with leadership quality and management.

But that look out isn’t any kind of outrageous ranting of victory. Remember, every step you took to climb higher, are the ones set up by your previous mentors. They have literally built the stairway of success to walk on. Winning is partly a product of co-relating with your mentors and partly working towards being a winner. However, these mentors aren’t the ones you go searching for but are discovered—each time surprising you. “They happen.”

It is true that surprises aren’t many in life—at least the pleasant ones. After a point, discovering mentors get harder reducing the number of people whom you could align your thought process and discuss challenges with. And this sets in lot of pessimism and frustration among leaders, leaving them lonely at the top—like they say. Now the only alternative is to turn around towards your team and build a solid team of first line managers who could hitch up with you.

Until those line managers are established, leaders are loners with often an artificial face of serenity trying to hold away that frown on their forehead even at taxing times. It is a good sign of leadership. Or is it the culture of leaders? Like at Cisco we have these ten tenets on each of the smart cards sashayed by our employees spanning the globe. It talks about integrity, frugality et al, representing my company’s culture in certain ways, so are leaders across the world sharing a certain culture.

If being composed at tough times is one of them, being goal driven, challenged, focused and motivated are certain others common to all leaders. This is simply the culture of the school of leaders no matter where they are. Now different leaders experience these cultures differently. And here is brief on mine.

Composed: When I walked into Cisco in 2001, the charter was to increase our engineering force by twofold and set up our own campus in Bangalore. Soon, due to the meltdown that happened globally, my new mandate was put off on hold. My job: Remain composed and show no signs of frustration. Little signs of apprehension by leaders will lead to great confusion. So, it is not only about adapting yourself to changing environment but also leveraging it.

Goal Driven: I have constantly looked at the bigger picture and shot towards the goal. I always take a high-level view on any objective or goal set by the company. For example, our team here works for global markets. My job is to make them look at our products from a global angle than a local one.

Focused: Leaders primary duty is to constantly facilitate employees in being focused to achieve the bigger goal. It is important to see the big picture and narrow down your focus to that objective transacting quickly through that smaller window of time. Or else not all of the objectives get fulfilled.

Challenged: To keep oneself challenged is secret sauce of my success. I always want to do something different, something lateral each time. Like the old adage goes: life is what you make it to be. You can challenge yourself even while doing the most mundane thing. It is bettering your performance each time and not how long you have been doing it.

Motivation: In the industry we work in, 70 percent of our awake-time is spent at work. And my motivation as a leader comes from the very fact that I get to witness 70 percent of each of my 2000 engineers at work (4500 are partner employees). Also analogous is the fast paced growth the tech industry sees every day. When there is no griping of opportunity, challenged people are internally motivated.

The art of challenging has for years proved right for motivation every single time—be it employees or myself. The moment challenges stop in either’s case, the ecosystem for growth is halted. But my observation is such that, it is not only the work you offer all time but also how you offer that counts. Meaning: How much do you relate to the people whom you’re working with. What is it that they like you doing and don’t.

To take a leaf out of myself, my leadership practice is based on my conviction that informal settings and attitude towards your employees helps in faster delivery of results and even, transmission of the vision. Now as you set an informal atmosphere, it is important for you to be there at the beck and call of your employees—just by doing so success for a company is almost assured. Second to that thought would be a leader’s right attitude of having an eye for detail, but not micromanaging. Once he’s cleared this murk around, a committed cause inhabits in the minds of the engineers. And the leaders role would simply zero in on empowering every individual he comes in contact with.

Sadly, it is true that not all employees can establish contact with their leaders in big organizations. But my measure of motivation, happiness, performance or anything—you name it—inside the company is measured only considering one aspect: first line managers. Once you get the pulse of those direct reports, you have instantaneously received the pulse reports of all your employees. Like they say face is the index of your mind, it is these first-line leaders who are a reflection of your organization. Tight as a drum they’re, better they sound.