“Hopped on the flight, everyone sat clean & neat;
Boundless joy erupted, as I got the window seat!
Cities of joy below & plains so vast;
I forgot my life – paced & fast!
Loosening the seat belt, I realize;
I see no human below, to my surprise!”
Imagine yourself, Mr. A, as a team leader with hundreds of people working under you. Now imagine yourself in an airplane sitting at the window seat and all people down below – unseen from those heights, living in those cities – as your team members.
Now let’s see what Mr. A has got. He has got a panoramic view. He can see much farther as compared to what all other team members working down below can see. In other words, Mr. A has a much bigger, better picture of things below.
Secondly, sitting on the window seat, he has got all external noise blocked off, no calls, no texts – nothing can distract him. It is in absence of distraction that a leader can take meaningful decisions. Sitting there, there isn’t much to say, there is ample time to see the situation below & think.
Opposed to this, people living in those cities below can just look & interact with each other. Such team members, spend good lives; interact with each other but can never have the vision of the leader – just because they are so down below!
A certain Mr. B, a promising team member might want to have a bigger picture. For this, he might travel to other cities to interact with different teams (travelling is analogous to extra efforts made by Mr. B), but still Mr. B cannot have that picture which Mr. A has. Why? Just because the leader is at a much higher level; up in the air; he just needs to look down once to get the big picture.
So what does a team member, who wants to be a team leader should do? What to do in order to have that bigger, better much more holistic & true picture of things?
SIMPLE! TAKE THE FLIGHT!!
The flight is analogous to the path a person can opt to take. Did anyone say examples?
A coveted degree, that essential skill, those mid-career breaks which give time to think, virtually anything that can propel you to achieve that level of leadership.
But again, how does the team member do this?
First of all he THINKS that he has to be up there. When he thinks he can lead; he has already taken the first step towards achieving his goal of leadership. This is THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. All true leaders know in their hearts that they can lead judiciously. It is only when this belief has set in; they go ahead to book tickets for that coveted flight.
Even before boarding the flight, there is a lot of groundwork to be done. One has to plan his travel; book tickets; arrange luggage; get boarding pass ; get security check etc. This screening process, the groundwork is the MANTHAN – the churning – the hard work – the sleepless nights – the burning of midnight oil. What encourages one to go through this tough process? It’s the PASSION IN SOUL; FIRE IN THE BELLY; HUNGER IN THE EYES !!
Such a person, ready to grow, with a strong foundation can be compared to a tree. A tree aims for the skies, it grows tall, but it’s roots are firmly into the ground. By growing in this manner, the tree attains height - A human who goes this way attains a higher mental order, less volatility & greater humbleness.
“Be a tree my friend, that grows tall;
Still the roots are firm, in no measure small;
A tree attains physical height, and in this way,
You will attain mental might!”
Let’s get back to Mr. A, our team leader, flying high up in the sky. Does he always keep flying? No ! The flight always lands & he always gets out to take a stock of situation at ground zero. This time he interacts; mingles with his team members; listens to their viewpoints & gathers all inputs he needs.
While mingling with the team, he chanced upon that promising team member, Mr. B!
Mr. B has been travelling across cities to have a bigger, better view of the situation.
Now what does Mr. A do? He will take Mr. B with him in the next flight he takes. In this flight, Mr. A will take the middle seat & will put Mr. B in the window seat. He will help Mr. B as in how to figure out the situation below by looking down from the plane. This is MENTORING.
If Mr. B performs well, Mr. A will book a window seat for him in another flight; maybe in some other region; to overlook a new geography below. This is CREATING LEADERS OF THE FUTURE.
But alas! It is also possible that sitting at the window seat, away from the hustle bustle, in the lap of comfort, Mr. B goes to sleep! This is the case when, despite being trained, Mr. B doesn’t perform well. In this case, Mr. A gets him landed, tells him his flaws & guides him to the previous level – visiting different cities – on the ground, as he was doing before. Next time, when Mr. A & Mr. B meet & if Mr. A feels that B has actually acted upon inputs given to him, he puts him on the window seat again! This is CORRECTIVE LEADERSHIP.
Now, Mr. B is much like Mr. A. He has spent a lot of time peering down on different geographies below, landing from time to time, further creating leaders. This way, the cycle continues, new leaders keep coming up; travel high up in skies & land. But all go through that phase of the leadership cycle – sitting on the WINDOW SEAT!!!
So next time around you take a window seat in your flight, think where you stand; where would you like to be! & finally, enjoy the magnificent view mother earth offers down below!! - A.J.
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