Who is a leader ?
Well a lot may answer this question based on their experience and somebody who trust Google more than themselves may find this "a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal".
Joseph Stalin , was undoubtedly an influential person who worked towards achievement of a goal but why is he coined as 'The ruthless dictator' as well rather than a leader who transcended USSR to another level irrespective of the ways he adapted . Pointing out the ambiguity on the definition itself, there is one more trait which makes disparity between a leader or a dictator which is the method of exercising ethics on how to achieve the goal . Fidel Castro , who was inspired by the same communism as Stalin is respected all over the world as a great leader . Leadership is not just about influencing people by a person's vision towards a goal but also the way it is done begets the difference of a leader or a dictator . Having said that , this blog is about few leaders not essentially known by the world but if a person has an eye to view extraordinary out of the ordinary , you would notice leaders everywhere .
Instance #1:
One fine day , I was standing in a bus stop waiting for my bus to arrive , I saw a lean lanky man in the bus stop followed by 15 students in Trivandrum . I assume he is their teacher . A bus was moving incessantly as a commuter inside the bus threw an empty water bottle which fell down in a bus stop where atleast 50-60 people standing and watching the scene . I was watching , it didn't create any disturbance to my conscience .(After all , I am also one among many Indian who justs promotes swacch Bharat on Social handle and not in reality). This lean man who was walking gradually towards the water bottle , bent down and picked the bottle .The entire bus stand watched the lean man taking the bottle and he was searching for a dust bin which was 400 meters away and a bus which he is going to leave was arriving as his students were looking at him .He sighed at them and waved at them, asked them to go in this bus and he will join in the next bus .Students waved back they shall wait . He slowly took the water bottle and dropped it in the dust bin .Seeing the sight of the lean man doing this , one of his student , picked up two other bottles near to him and ran to his teacher . He dropped the bottle in the dust bin where his teacher has dropped earlier . Teacher smiled softly at the boy and patted in his back . One lady in her late 50's was about to drop a water bottle after having the last sip just refrained from doing so seeing all this . A simple lean man in late 40's who taught the entire bus stand including the kids a lesson without even a single effort to persuade them but by uncomplicated way of inspiring people by leading as an example .He may be not rich or he may not have a biography for him but certainly was a leader .
Instance #2 :
It was a hectic day at work , I was just relaxing a bit staring around since it's a open office style I could see the others from other project as well . I was seeing my friend super depressed , was not sure though (after all in IT, people stare at their screen with a sad face normally ) . So I went to his seat and asked what happened .He then said he had messed something up and the issue has escalated . He was asked to join the call with a client . (Which will be like a meat thrown to a crocodile pond ) .Then suddenly a man with a calm demeanour walks to his seat as i stepped 2 steps back witnessing what was going on . He calmly asked my friend what he had messed up . I was hoping he would thrash my friend with his scolding . The man who was talking to my friend was not his team lead or manager but a mere senior person with two additional years of experience . He joined the client call with my friend and taken the blame before my friend , had promised he would fix it by EOD(end of day , Corporate people would know). As he promised he fixed it as if it was his blame . The next day morning I was having a chitchat with my friend . And the calm demeanour guy who was shot walks to his seat and says 'If you have any doubts feel free to ask '. And my friend thanked him and asked 'it was really not necessary for you to take the blame ' . The calm demeanour guy responds ' If you mess up or I mess up , it's all our teams reputation which is at stake so that doesn't necessarily bother me who made the mistake as it was our team I am also as responsible as you . And being a fresher you are prone to make mistakes .Calm demeanour guy went on to win the Award . He was just 2 years elder to me or my friend but this anecdote taught me a very important lesson of what it is stepping up for a team and taking the blame for the less informed .
Open your eyes look around where ever you are , a leader is there . Monetary success or someone at successful position are not the essential leaders . Not just Jack Ma , Mahatma Gandhi and a lot more are the leaders , of course they are great no argument about but there is enough motivation for who seeks for it around . After all curiosity to learn and know drives a normal man to an intellect . So be curious and find a way to see extraordinary things out of the ordinary . Last but not least , answering the question based on my experience ,' Leader is someone who has a vision and influences people towards reaching there ,standing up for them and leading from the front in an ethical way' .
Joseph Stalin , was undoubtedly an influential person who worked towards achievement of a goal but why is he coined as 'The ruthless dictator' as well rather than a leader who transcended USSR to another level irrespective of the ways he adapted . Pointing out the ambiguity on the definition itself, there is one more trait which makes disparity between a leader or a dictator which is the method of exercising ethics on how to achieve the goal . Fidel Castro , who was inspired by the same communism as Stalin is respected all over the world as a great leader . Leadership is not just about influencing people by a person's vision towards a goal but also the way it is done begets the difference of a leader or a dictator . Having said that , this blog is about few leaders not essentially known by the world but if a person has an eye to view extraordinary out of the ordinary , you would notice leaders everywhere .
Instance #1:
One fine day , I was standing in a bus stop waiting for my bus to arrive , I saw a lean lanky man in the bus stop followed by 15 students in Trivandrum . I assume he is their teacher . A bus was moving incessantly as a commuter inside the bus threw an empty water bottle which fell down in a bus stop where atleast 50-60 people standing and watching the scene . I was watching , it didn't create any disturbance to my conscience .(After all , I am also one among many Indian who justs promotes swacch Bharat on Social handle and not in reality). This lean man who was walking gradually towards the water bottle , bent down and picked the bottle .The entire bus stand watched the lean man taking the bottle and he was searching for a dust bin which was 400 meters away and a bus which he is going to leave was arriving as his students were looking at him .He sighed at them and waved at them, asked them to go in this bus and he will join in the next bus .Students waved back they shall wait . He slowly took the water bottle and dropped it in the dust bin .Seeing the sight of the lean man doing this , one of his student , picked up two other bottles near to him and ran to his teacher . He dropped the bottle in the dust bin where his teacher has dropped earlier . Teacher smiled softly at the boy and patted in his back . One lady in her late 50's was about to drop a water bottle after having the last sip just refrained from doing so seeing all this . A simple lean man in late 40's who taught the entire bus stand including the kids a lesson without even a single effort to persuade them but by uncomplicated way of inspiring people by leading as an example .He may be not rich or he may not have a biography for him but certainly was a leader .
Instance #2 :
It was a hectic day at work , I was just relaxing a bit staring around since it's a open office style I could see the others from other project as well . I was seeing my friend super depressed , was not sure though (after all in IT, people stare at their screen with a sad face normally ) . So I went to his seat and asked what happened .He then said he had messed something up and the issue has escalated . He was asked to join the call with a client . (Which will be like a meat thrown to a crocodile pond ) .Then suddenly a man with a calm demeanour walks to his seat as i stepped 2 steps back witnessing what was going on . He calmly asked my friend what he had messed up . I was hoping he would thrash my friend with his scolding . The man who was talking to my friend was not his team lead or manager but a mere senior person with two additional years of experience . He joined the client call with my friend and taken the blame before my friend , had promised he would fix it by EOD(end of day , Corporate people would know). As he promised he fixed it as if it was his blame . The next day morning I was having a chitchat with my friend . And the calm demeanour guy who was shot walks to his seat and says 'If you have any doubts feel free to ask '. And my friend thanked him and asked 'it was really not necessary for you to take the blame ' . The calm demeanour guy responds ' If you mess up or I mess up , it's all our teams reputation which is at stake so that doesn't necessarily bother me who made the mistake as it was our team I am also as responsible as you . And being a fresher you are prone to make mistakes .Calm demeanour guy went on to win the Award . He was just 2 years elder to me or my friend but this anecdote taught me a very important lesson of what it is stepping up for a team and taking the blame for the less informed .
Open your eyes look around where ever you are , a leader is there . Monetary success or someone at successful position are not the essential leaders . Not just Jack Ma , Mahatma Gandhi and a lot more are the leaders , of course they are great no argument about but there is enough motivation for who seeks for it around . After all curiosity to learn and know drives a normal man to an intellect . So be curious and find a way to see extraordinary things out of the ordinary . Last but not least , answering the question based on my experience ,' Leader is someone who has a vision and influences people towards reaching there ,standing up for them and leading from the front in an ethical way' .
That's a wonderful post Hariesh! :) Looking forward to read more of your writings.
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