When we generally ask the question of a gathering as to who thinks they are a leader, very few hands go up. This is because we see a leader as someone successful – a politician who has made it or a very senior corporate person who is on top, etc. We tend to believe that leaders are those who have seen it, and done it all kinds of people.
The flooding in South India brought out leaders from real life. They were everywhere. From the person who swam in fast-flowing water risking his life to save a family, to someone who cooked and fed hundreds who needed food, to someone who gave his boat (read his source of livelihood) to rescue people, all of these people are leaders.
Yes, leadership is everywhere. It is within each of us. It is for us to recognize it, awaken it, and let it flow. You were a leader when you stood by your family member when s/he needed you when you told the truth to your parent despite knowing that you would be scolded, when you accepted and apologized for an error you made, and when you kept your calm under fire. There are thousands of such examples of leadership that we see and experience in everyday life that we need to acknowledge or appreciate.
Also read – Source of Ego : Samar Mahapatra
I came across this picture and I think it is relevant. Anyone with these aspects to them becomes a leader irrespective of their role in Life or Office. When people start seeing them as role models, they become leaders, irrespective of their actual position in the organization. They end up building informal networks, they can influence the way the organization thinks not because of the power of their position, but because people see them as someone who they can trust and would like to emulate. I am sure each of you reading this article is smiling because you already are thinking of someone who is like this or you are such a person. At home, your family is watching you. If you are a person who walks the talk, who is transparent, who is filled with love, who has the time for the family, you are the role model.
When the floods in South India caused havoc, many people decided to help out the impacted. I was one of them. I sent out an appeal for contributions and a few of us worked to organize storage, transport, and then distribution to many flooded areas in Chennai. People travelled 2 hours to get relief material into our central location in Bangalore. Something amazing happened when one person put out my request within his group. He organizes pilgrimages, and prayer sessions and helps people without expecting anything in return. A mail from him to his friends brought in close to 5 tons of relief material. On the day we had to send the materials, we ended up with 7.5 tons. 25 people helped us pack and load the truck. Each of these 25 volunteers did not know who the materials were going to. They knew that they could make a difference by volunteering, contributing, by coming forward to help when it was needed. Leadership is not about winning. It is not about power. It is about the ability in each one of us to empower ourselves and others.
As John Quincy Adams says, “When you inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
