Cleaverst Man around
A famous quote by Winston Churchill’s mother on meeting Gladstone and Disraeli is, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.” How people make us feel is so important — not only in Leadership but also in life.
I wouldn't know who is Mr. Gladstone or Disraeli, whatever that mother felt in her famous son's environment, depicts how a situation in professional or personal interaction mostly pans out.
I started my career as a software developer in MNC and hence the same rut of the corporate ladder to endure. It's a dog-eat-dog world. Unfortunately, I was more exposed to managers than leaders. Leaders inspire and empower while managers focus on tasks. Just as with any developmental stage, mine was the initial years of professional life in an industry that was just kicking off in the silicon valley of India Bangalore in the early 2000s when processes were finding their ground. The industry was deciding how to behave, either as a cookie-cutter environment of more developed Asian software markets like Korea, and Japan, or a more free office environment of American Silicone Valley. Indian Software Industry was as per the clients they serve, in you are servicing a Korean client, you lay your life in the alter of the client and forget you exist. Be available for the review call at any hour of the day and maybe multiple times a day to track the progress. Have had a client manager sitting at a position in the office with nothing else to do, but just to observe how we all do our work on computers on which you could just open the windows of work and there was not even Google and such to open. And that kind of manager was considered normal and dreaded too.
This exposure was repulsive to people managing or taking the next step in that direction. As that is not the kind you want to grow to. But the corporates are unforgiving they want you to grow at any cost. My career was sabotaged by this conundrum as I wasn't ready to be one of those cutthroat ones and I was expected to be one nevertheless.
By the turn of fortune, after a decade and later being a software developer and frustrated, could work as part of a startup. Not a smooth ride there too. You are expected to be everything in a department, peon, manager, executioner, accountant, HR, fundraiser, and leader too. So that's a different challenge, you are nowhere every time and you can be lost. That I was most of the first half and more of the decade with them. It was intimidating to be part of this fast pace world, where set processes didn't exist, and most of the time a Leader leads with his vision and you tuning into that or out is a challenge both for the leader to convey consistently and for you to be in tune with its dynamism. You can be just a follower and the experience would be no finer than in a corporate. You could grow to be more than just one and aspire to be the leader in the micro world of startups, owning up space in all departments needed to run a company. That needs more vision alignment and a lot of shedding of prejudices which you carry from its meant to be the leader.
Managers often prioritize their own significance, which can sometimes overshadow the individual they’re engaging with. On the other hand, true leaders recognize that their value lies in empowering and elevating others. When interacting with leaders, individuals feel valued, heard, and integral to the conversation. This contrast underscores the essence of effective leadership — a focus on people and their growth, rather than on personal status. It’s a reminder that leadership isn’t about hierarchy, but about inspiring and enabling others to reach their potential.
In the modern business landscape, the shift from traditional management to transformative leadership is gaining momentum, as organizations recognize the immeasurable impact of making individuals feel important and valued. Management is conflict-based, while LEADERship is focused on collaboration. Words themselves can communicate tone and philosophy.
Rick Warren once said, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” In leadership, it can be tempting to become enamored with status. However, it is crucial that leaders focus on their staff more than they focus on themselves.
Leadership is communicating people’s worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves. For this thinking beyond yourself in a humble way is very essential and that is not what most of the leaders around reflect. It takes a lot of looking around and inspiration gathering to emulate some of these in a world where showing someone else down is essential to growing up the ladder. While we all can coexist and grow with each other and all of us have enough space to flourish. Just need to find that space in our heads, others would facilitate that. As all of us enjoy that.
