There are 235,000,000 hits on the Google search term on definition of
leadership. This is simply because the basic term or definition leadership implies
a whole range of possible meanings and theories; consequently, they say that
Leadership is not a Noun, It’s a Verb. So, in this article I am not going to
discuss and deliberate over the different leadership styles and types of
leaders but to investigate the leadership as a process and figure out the
paradigm shifts in this journey.#Whether a Leader is Born or Made?
This question comes every time in the scene whenever we discuss about
leadership. Let’s try and figure out the answer. For a long time the Hollywood sponsored model of leadership has created for us the glamourous image of a leader as a hero on a horseback. We have confused leadership qualities with with height, weight and cover boy appearance. Leadership has nothing to do with the looks, it's not an object that one acquires or what can be thrust upon a person from
outside. It is a set of subjective principles like awareness, vision, creativity,
dynamism, courage, adaptability, decisiveness and so on and all these qualities
emanates from within the self. So, leaders are born when people start sensing
these subjective resources within themselves. So, by this viewpoint, everyone
has the potential to be a leader as everyone has a Self, provided one could evolve upto the
Self-Awareness to realize the abundance what he has been provided by default.
Self-awareness is the key to all leadership qualities. Leader like Mandela is
revered and recognized world-wide for the sake of his own self. His whole life
stands for a cause-freedom, which is the innate value of every human being and therefore
he became a symbol and brand of freedom which encompasses the aspirations of
whole world looking for freedom.
#Self-Identification leads to the Greater-Identification
Leaders search very deep for their self- identity. A great identity conspires
great possibilities in life which facilitates profound action choices. A search
for our true identity is a kind of talent search within us by digging deep.
There are latent talents that sleep within us as seed of possibilities which is
having the blueprints to create a whole forest. When we discover these seeds,
they grow and bloom. Imagine, Sir Isaac Newton who was asked by his mother to
run the family farm saying that his identity was of a farmer! And if he would have
identified himself with this provided borrowed identity then world would have
lost one of its greatest revolutionary scientists who have changed the course
of the human history. So, leaders are autonomous beings and they live in self-referral
world. They like to assume responsibility for their own lives. The Greek
philosopher Aristotle said, “Whether your talents and need of the world cross,
there lies your vocation.” When our identity merges with the needs of the real
world ,great thing happens.
#Integration from Compliance to Commitment
Compliance is the old paradigm of leadership. The industrial
civilization taught us how to bind people through compliance. Compliance is a
form of white-collar slavery. Compliance breeds fear, resistance and
bureaucracy. A culture of compliance destroys creativity and disintegrates an organization.
In today’s information and
services dominated economy, the best talent always seeks those organizations
which could reflect and resonates with their inner values and could provide a
sense of fulfillment while discharging his duties. Bigger salaries and perks
are not going to motivate them anymore and which is very evident from the
alarming statistics of disengaged workforce worldwide.
So, #21st
century’s leadership is bound to provide greater meaning and purpose to their
people that could inculcate a self
sustained commitment toward their duties. Passion is the threshold of
commitment. But don’t mistake passion as a momentary fling at something that
fascinates our imagination. It is not like a matchstick that flares up and
snuffs out in a moment. Passion is that spark which ignites possibilities of
fire within. Passion is a sustained commitment to realize oneself.
Andy Grove, the former CEO and Chairman of
Intel, once said:
"No matter where you work, you are not an
employee. You are in business with one employer-- Yourself….Nobody owes you a
career-- You own it as a sole proprietor. And the key to survival is to learn to
add more value every day."
Leaders recognize that the only commitment that a human being can make
is a commitment to one’s own potential. We all are in this one business: to actualize our potential. Whether we are working for an organization or a
community or a family, the only commitment we can make is to ourselves. This
actualization of potential is a #living process like blooming of a flower from
a bud, and so is the #Leadership.
Let’s
Liberate the Potential Lies within Us!!
