Islam and Leadership

Islam and Leadership

Islam encourages its followers to practice and develop the qualities of leadership, Teamwork, Partnership, Consultation and Joint Planning.

Islamic Leadership means a person or a group that will lead humanity from the brink of destruction to the way of Allah (SWT) the Almighty. Leadership in Islam is a trust (Amanah). It represents a psychological contract between a leader and his followers that he will try his best to guide them, to protect them and to treat them fairly and with justice. Hence, the focus of leadership in Islam is on doing good.

Every movement has a need for leadership and the importance of leadership is like the engine of a train. The train doesn't move anywhere without the engine moving. Only Islamic leadership can solve the problems of humanity.

A successful leader is one who attains his ends in the best possible manner, with the least inconvenience to the team, at the minimum cost, in record time and with a high quality performance. Whoever wants to be a leader should educate himself before educating others. Before preaching to others he should first practice himself. Whoever educates himself and improves his own morals is superior to the man who tries to teach and train others.

It is an art to exhibit the qualities of a good team player. A team player is one who performs effectively and efficiently. Getting along with everyone at work is considered as a skill. Being a team member or a team leader per se is for the purpose of working together and getting along till the objectives are achieved. It also means friendship at work. Teams are made up of individuals that will, now and then, differ with one another.

What makes a team aggressive in achieving the goals is the attitude to  take those differences and turn them into opportunities for development rather than turn the teammates in opposition to one another. We can call it as strategic alliance at the workplace for a common objective.

Remember, to get help from someone we must have helped them before. It is a give and take situation at work. So let us put that as a forward thinking action and lend the helping hand in our work place. Learning to be nice to people around us does not cost at all. In particular, we should not hesitate to ask for help from people who have rich experience. Most of the time, we hesitate due to being addressed as ignorant or lacking knowledge.

We need to give and take from one another at workplace and be open and receptive to new ideas. An employee can achieve his /her best when working in a team. Those of us who have worked in different teams realize that working together closely as a team is difficult in reality. All of us have had our share of difficult colleagues and teams.

The guidelines

Team is above the individual in situations. As a team player we must remember to follow these guidelines.

• Adapting to change
• Not taking credit for the colleague's work
• Learning to appreciate and recognizing other members presence
• Treating everyone with respect and dignity
• Not involving the issues that are not significant to team's values
• Meeting the targets or keeping the deadlines
• Being a good communicator (special reference to listening skills)
• Cooperating with others in the team
• Sharing the information and knowledge that benefits all in a team

    

A team member enhances his / her value in the organization by demonstrating characteristics of committed players. Every individual should understand that his / her work is an integral part of a larger organization and is binding on the company's overall performance. Remember, if an employee is an unruly team player we cannot expect any productivity from him / her in the team.

(source:http://www.ezsoftech.com/stories/mis45.asp)