Unlearning Leadership

Perhaps there was a time in history, when intellectual people and philosophers were rare. A coveted few among the masses, who asked tough questions and were not afraid to venture into the unknown. People heard them when they spoke and when they made sense, listened to them. Gathering followers everywhere they went, they became the de facto leaders.

The more time people spent with them, the more their blind trust clouded their judgement. This is also how cults are formed, but I digress.

Later on, leaders began being elected, appointed or recruited. There is a certain power-trip, the title brings. For example, the ability to be dismissive of your underlings without consequences. Even though a lot of things have changed and masses are no longer fooled by authority, yet an invisible barrier exists that provides supplements of superiority to the ones in power. And in news, in parliament, in our offices, we see these figures abuse this power daily.

We all have goals and KRAs that need to be fulfilled, and methinks it should be treated as a guideline instead of a paved driveway to walk on. If we do not leave room for change and experimentation, we are neglecting a huge part of being human. Believe it or not, a lot of these 'fixed milestones' are not far from being automated by AI. Just as well, then it would leave us more time to dabble in curiosity, right?

Wrong! You now have a different set of things in your checklist as provided by your manager.

From a 9-year old to a 90-year old, great ideas can come from anywhere, and is no more the sole purpose of a leader to provide them. We thankfully, have the means to learn and think for ourselves. In the vast sky of wisdom we possess, there are bound to be somethings that linger at the back of your head, urging you to explore deeper and imagine a solution that would work.

As much as a number of people believing in old-style leadership would want you to be slaves to routine and not threaten their existence, we invariably churn out something helpful.

Two things can happen- the credit is either shifted or you are shut down before you begin explaining.

What we would like more to happen is- a discussion and the freedom to pursue the experiment. It may crash horribly or it may soar. Either way, there is some learning in our pocket.

When an organization does not provide the space for failure, it blocks its own success.

A folly most often noted, is that genius is measured in: years of experience/ what university did you attend/ the position you are in. It might sound pessimistic, but I don't see this thought process changing anytime soon.

Case in point: almost all the job descriptions.

The leader's role needs to change from 'always at the forefront' to 'enabling other people to shine'. This will take away nothing from the said leader but only help affirm that they indeed are wise, even when they step back.

People work for money- YES. But people STAY for the environment.