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As part of our continuing exploration of this month's "Leadership Inspiration" theme, here's a guest post with a slightly different take on the subject. Vinay Kumar of Marketing General was kind enough to share a post with us about the leadership inspiration he's received, not from any one thinker or author, but from the leaders we can find all around us.

Here are Vinay's thoughts:

When I began my career, especially given my engineering education, I prided myself on having the ability to fix problems and offer solutions. When later I entered management and eventually in a leadership role, what once served me well actually became my handicap and the transition was a struggle to say the least.

While it wasn't easy at first and I did make lots of mistakes, I learned some important lessons along the way by watching the leaders around me. Mentors, supervisors, peers, and colleagues--all of them had a role in teaching me ideas that in turn changed the way I see leadership. I want to share a few of them with you:

1. In leadership, we frequently deal with challenges that do not have clear cut solutions. Make improvement in one area, and problems surface in another. For example, if we cut into our marketing programs to meet short-term financial obligations, we risk long-term negative impacts. We cut staff to meet expenses to keep an organization financially sound, but our actions lead to reduction of trust and lowering of morale, frequently leading to staff disengagement and lower performance. One is in a constant Catch-22 and dealing with an inner tug of war. Goodbye peace of mind. No longer does work end at 5.

2. As we rise, we enter into the sphere of uncertainty, where there are no clear-cut paths, clear solutions. One wonders which path to take in light of limited information and which path to avoid. With each path success is not guaranteed for today's success does not guarantee success tomorrow. It part science, part art. One has to become comfortable moving forward in the face of uncertainty. And know that mistakes will be made. When they do, learn from them and move forward.

3. When we're starting out in our careers, we are rewarded for having the right answers. As we rise into leadership ranks, we must let go of the need to have the answers and instead develop the ability ask the right questions, thoughtful and provocative questions.

4. It is important to remain humble, realizing that leaders too are human and that we don't necessarily have all the answers ourselves and that we don't do it alone. It's important to recognize that when we start to think we're invincible and success is due to "me" that our decline begins.

5. To succeed, we have to engage our staff, less from perspective of compliance and more from gaining commitment. Our words and more importantly our actions play an increasingly important role in engaging the minds, hearts and souls of our staff. We have to walk the talk.

6. Let go of "my way or the highway" attitude. Just because someone does something differently, doesn't make it wrong. Focus more on outcomes, provide the necessary resources, and leading rather than on how something gets done.

7. Leading an organization is challenging and requires significant energy and time. To drive performance over the long haul, it becomes crucial to have a clear vision, preferably one that is shared by rest of the team, and one that is fueled by sense of purpose. This helps us move pass the speed bumps.