I have always admired SMALL
THINGS in life, it is encouraging to know how everyday events can provide us with valuable lessons on
leadership. Today we “Women Pilots” symbolize one of the most powerful form of
leadership and our qualities are discussed at various forums. I would like to
share my thoughts on how for me it started from simple things at home with the
women I admire the most. To know it we need to go back in time-
A
young girl from a small village in India a good orator, an excellent sports person,
an outstanding swimmer, and a woman who could lead from the front. A girl with
dreams to work and bring the change. Indian village did not provide many
opportunities back then, also there were no talent hunts to spot young blooming
minds. As the fate could have it, she got married at 19yrs and greeted her
first child within a year. This was the story of many women in India, most of the
women in the era of 70’s can relate to it because they all have been asking
themselves some questions till now. Why did their career never took off? Why
did all the skills they had got wasted? Why the only fate decided for them was
marriage and children? Was “sacrificing herself “ for the family is the only
thing expected from them?
But
my answer to all these questions is “NO”. Marriage and motherhood are not
something one thinks about as being a “useful role” in terms of leadership. But
I believe Leadership is vast and it does not depend on roles. I believe that talents
and skills never go waste, leaders are always vigilant looking for another
opportunity if they miss one, their qualities become their personality and finally
they shine in whatever role they undertake.
The
story above is about my mother and I am her first child. I have two more
siblings doing great in their respective fields. All three of us have something
common in us the qualities we learned from our mother. The man of the house
definitely takes the family forward but it’s the women of the house who sets
the environment and pace for it so today
I will restrict myself with the “WOMEN at HOME” .When I read about leadership now
I can relate each and every skill she taught us and how she applied these
concepts in day to day life. I would like to discuss some of them it will help
us better understand how to approach the role of leadership which starts at
home.
CRITICAL THINKING- It is a
process of analysing the facts before forming a judgement. From childhood we
were inculcated the habit of discussing our problems with each other, analyse the
different viewpoints and then arrive to the best decision. I still fall back to
her for suggestions when I get stuck. We as a family still recommend ideas to
each other when we are in the thinking process. Critical thinking and problem solving
is the skill I learned from her.
RISK TAKING- I am a military
pilot and it is HIGH RISK PROFESSION. Not many have the guts to fly an aircraft
after knowing the life threating environment we operate in. But it is a normal
practice for me because I was taught that “unless you take risks you will never
rise up from being COMMON”. She was daring, we have handled many eve teasing’s
together I have seen her valour. She always told me “BETA DARNA NAHI” and so I
did. It was simple learning back then which became my personality trait later, today
I have a daughter and I want to inculcate the same courage in her. She gave me
a life lesson “A strong mother raises a stronger daughter”.
DELIGATION OF DUTIES- We at
our home always worked as a team. Every individual in the family is respected
and given the due for the skills he/she is best at whenever there is a task
like functions, events , job hunts or adverse situations we represented a
strong team .She was the manager of the house who decided and placed the right
person for the right role. My father was always the great planner whereas
brother and I shifted roles as required. Delegating right person, the right Job
is best quality of a leader.
VISION- Whenever I talk about
leadership the one quality, I feel is the most important is VISION. Vision for
a company, business or organisation sets up the pace for every individual working
in the team. Having a vision
means we have a clear sense of purpose.
It means we have a much larger picture of our business, or
our life, than simply setting and reaching short term goals .I strongly feel
that the women sets the vision for the family as she nurtures and is responsible
to seed her young minds(children) to have clarity in mind, to be visionary and to achieve the unachievable.
HIGH EQ- Emotional
intelligence is defined as the ability to understand and manage your own
emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you.
Leaders often have the responsibility of effecting any necessary changes in the
organization, and if they are aware of others’ possible emotional reactions to
these changes, they are able to plan and prepare the most optimal ways to make them.
Who other than mothers can teach us better about EQ. This quality is the basic
requirement of every great leader.
Leadership qualities never
goes waste, leaders never fail without opportunity, rather they believe and
create opportunities for themselves and others. She is the same women who never
got the opportunity and I know many of them who lead their life’s better than many
males to foster these qualities for generations ahead. Leadership is not just
about reading definitions; it is about inculcating the right qualities at the
right time. Today when I read about leadership lessons, I find these were
already taught to me since childhood. Homemakers have great responsibility;
children learn life skills at home and read about them later during their
education. Let us look forward to simplify this learning and extend our support
to raise FUTURE LEADERS.
