The clichéd leader

Leader. Leader. Leader.

As soon as you saw the word leader, an image must have cropped into your mind. After all, it is indeed a powerful word, inspiring desire and pride. The image must be of a popular and powerful leader. Somewhat like this:

If you are an aspiring and ambitious professional like me, you must have the 'leadership skills' question thrown to you quite a few times. The context will be specific to each individual but the intent is uniform: you have to be a leader!

Thus, bowing to that need, I started preparing myself, with my armada of technical know-how and a backpack of soft skills, to conquer this so called 'leadership' adventure. I gazed at the image above and imagined myself as one among them... and that was my undoing.

How could a regular guy like me ever live up to the names of Mandela and Keller. I am not a genius like Einstein nor am I strong as Ali... how can the world ask ME to be a leader?! A guy who takes pretentious pictures like this (below), how can that face be adorned next to Gandhi!

I did begin a journey, not into leadership, but into self-doubt, insecurity and apprehension. The spiral was steep and slick making the mental downfall, swift and crippling. I had to hold on to something, a sliver of self-discovery, to halt the fall. Like any regular, internet-fed millennial, the first thing that my stretched-out fingers grabbed was a personality test: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test. It is the same kind that would explain what exactly the four letters in any bio means.

I was hereafter dubbed 'a Protagonist' and was suggested to add the letters, ENFJ as a suffix to my bio. The test results indicated that I am naturally passionate of inspiring others, leading them on to do good things. Not a bad one to go, leadership-wise, but yet the cover image for the Protagonist was that of King Arthur wielding Excalibur. My barely-recovered morale took one look at the symbol of being chosen (literally!) by destiny and fell into misery. I did not have either a sword or a scar on my forehead, chosen one indeed!

As suddenly as Arthur had realized his fate at the stone, did a new knowledge dawned to me: I was looking at the wrong place for leaders! I was trying to bestow on leadership, the images of only famous and accomplished leaders; whereas leadership as a quality is alive and thriving in personalities not quoted as 'leaders'. Upon bringing my gaze down from the heavens towards the biosphere around me, I could see bright golden orbs of leadership within people I have known all my life! These are people I identify with very well and they are leaders in their own right. As I brought the concept of leadership down from a pedestal, the little stub that my confidence had become, began to grow taller.

The first instance was my mother, who has juggled many roles in her life, most that of a teacher and a housewife. A random internet article about leadership terms 'leading by example', 'effective communicator', 'open-mindedness', 'empathy' and 'integrity' as essential qualities of a leader. My Mum has exhibited all of those. She would be the first to wake and last to sleep, exemplifying hard work; knew our needs and wants before we do and thwarted our untoward desires with her words, showing her empathy and communication skills and the best, being open-minded and accepting our right to our own journey through life. I stepped out and I was floored with personalities that lead so well! The traffic policewoman, leading women into a man's occupation, directing the cars with strong gestures, her confidence of directions shining through. The farmer, who cares for the crops and the animals; nurtures and leads a spectrum of biological and natural variables to work in his favor and towards a common goal: to provide.

Being a leader is not a standalone occupation, every small occupation has glimpses of leadership in them. I corrected my course in the voyage of leadership: I was not to become a leader, but to discover the leader in me, unearthing him with every small pull. I would attempt to break apart the cliched leader in my head, make the idea attainable. I plan to follow this simple quote: Lead yourself, the world will follow.

I am a scientist working, post my doctorate, in the consumer goods industry to innovate products and technologies for markets across the globe. As I come out of academic hibernation, I am discovering facets of my professional personality, often through cross-functional meetings, Toastmasters speeches and recently, a LinkedIn article.

P.S. all images above are from stock websites, I do not claim credit for any, except for my own picture.