3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV

Issue #  32 /  February 16th, 2021

Are you ready to take credit but also accountability? leadership is seldom about how tough, how smart, how fast you are. Can you help the people on the left and right of you? can you support and lead them through? do you have the attitude of leadership? our attitudes come from our belief systems. As educators and parents, we play a very key role in building these beliefs in our students and children, every single day.

Check out today’s issue to help your student, your child and yourself along the journey of your own style of leadership.

Three Images For The Week

Two Thoughts For The Week

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. — Bill Gates

One Video For The Week

Simon Senek on Why Leadership is a choice. To give and accept help. Learn to listen? learn to be the last speak? hold your opinion till you hear others. Ask questions instead of nodding in agreement and shaking your head in disagreement…

When you choose your leader, what do you look out for? what are your leader’s priorities? is our leader making a better world that we will love to be a part of?

We want to make a world for ourselves that we love, even if we do not like it everyday. Like our students. Like our children. We may not like our students or even our own children particularly on some days but we continue to love them no matter what.

Guest Column

Leadership as an Attitude

Captain Mohit Tomar

Leadership Trainer, Indus School of Leadership

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Throughout ages, the concept of leadership has been decoded and demystified in myriad ways but every time it defeats the assigned definition. What makes this indispensable component of human race so elusive and inexplicable? First, its ‘non-stationary’ characteristic which makes it ever-evolving and adapting to the new era. As humans transited through different eras and epochs, the narrative of leadership too changed to suit the new requirements of the time. Second, different contexts or ‘domains’ demands a different understanding and utility of leadership. As such, the concept of leadership transformed over a period of time into new shapes and shades from autocratic to servant, visionary to situational, inborn to trainable, traditional to radical and so on, to serve the purpose of guiding the leaders.

However, in delving deeper and peeling off the contextual layers, at the core certain universal, timeless and self-evident principles emerge which decides the meaning and means of leadership. The forms may change but the fundamentals remains fairly constant. One of the most famous definition, by General Montgomery, truly brings out the essence of the concept called ‘leadership.

“Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence”.

These profound words by one of the stalwarts of military leadership portray the true meaning of leadership by capturing the physical, intellectual, emotional and most importantly, the spiritual dimensions of leadership. As a ‘capacity,’ it is a hard skill that needs to be acquired throughtraining and experience. The mention of ‘men and women’ denotes the socio-emotional precinct of a leader which demands him to connect to people. Every leadership endeavor affects people in a positive way. A leader need to ‘inspire confidence’ through his ability to produce results wherein his wisdom and judgement play a key role. Most importantly, the ‘common purpose’ is the real driving force of leadership which fuels all other aspects. This spiritual root of every leadership endeavor cannot be bought or borrowed but has to be searched within and ‘without’ through one’s journey of life, and may need a divine providence along with one’s experience, exposure and education. The ‘alone’ time of retreats and reflections, by default or design, of all leaders caters to this precept of leadership. The ‘purpose’ is the cause from which arises the vision, goals and objectives of the leader. Last, but most importantly, the ‘will’ is a key factor to initiate the whole journey. It is this deciding power which ultimately determines the leader’s initiative and industry.

The key question arises – is Leadership an Attitude? Without catering to this principle of leadership, the whole concept of leadership will crumble due to lack of foundation. ‘Will’, in humans, the power or capacity to choose among alternatives or to act in certain situations, independently of natural, social, or divine restraints. It is the capacity to decide, whether to act or not act. Leadership is generally understood using the scientific philosophy wherein the measurable is measured. But the scientific boundaries find it difficult to capture or contain its spiritual essence. As such, our understanding floats around the traits, skills and styles of leadership but what primes a person for leadership is missed.

We need to dig deeper and get to the root cause. What acts as a launch-pad for a leader, his decision and initiation? Even with all the capacity and an important cause, a leader may not be born. Leadership starts with a Decision. There is enough to be done in this world… enough to be rectified and repaired. But very few people are ‘moved’ to take a decision, because the initiative and industry to change will emerge from the need ‘within’. It is an inside job. The sense of ownership and response-ability will impact the person to take a decision and lead. It all depends on ‘how we see the world?’ Firstly, ‘something is not right’ and secondly, ‘I should do something about it’.

We all have ‘a way’ to see the world around us which somewhere is affected by the world we carry within us. A human is unique due to his or her belief systems otherwise, physically or intellectually or even emotionally, we all are similar. This belief system is the software we carry within us and all individual beliefs are the applications that decide our output. These subtle beliefs determines the way we see and interprets the world around us – our attitude. They decide whether we look at things like a helpless and hapless organism, or decides and takes a decision to bring a change not only around us but also within us. As a human, we have the capacity and will to even program us through a right belief system. The old irrelevant regressive beliefs need to be replaced with progressive, positive and powerful beliefs. A human is a collection of a few of his or her most deeply embedded beliefs and as such, they need to be reviewed and replaced if not providing the right attitude. The central dogma of all leadership endeavors is

belief -> attitude -> decision -> action

Elucidating this key aspect also explains the cause of all conflict and consternation. In real sense, no one is wrong, as everyone is right in one’s judgement and wisdom as per one’s beliefs. What makes a leader truly ‘pathfinder’ is his or her capacity to see the situation in a particular way. The challenge, chaos and complexity of a situation which is so truly an innate nature of ‘nature’ is just a way of life to emerge and evolve. The test and tribulations of time bring the best in a leader if one sees the situation in an optimistic and opportunistic way.

Every species, since last 3.8 billion years, have displayed its leadership through an attitude to bring a positive change within or ‘without’ to bring in survival, sustainability and success. It is this attitude of ‘life’ itself to not give up but be proactive and productive, which created conditions for the human race to come into existence. We need to be grateful to the first fish which moved to land, the first primate who got down of the trees, first Homo erectus to catch hold of fire, …. the first person to sail across seas and mountains, first person to change from hunting animals to harvesting crops, first person to explain the laws of nature, first person to think of going to the moon, and so on. Each of them not only ‘showed a way’ but brought a positive change for species and races to flourish and fruit. They all displayed an attitude – ‘a change is required and I need to do something’.

As such, we can conclude, that attitude is the key to great leadership. It is ‘how we see the world’ and ‘how we see ourselves’. The world is in dire need of positive changes, whether it is environment, society, business, education, politics or any other domain, to make it a better place. But we will be passive bystanders till the time we change the way we see the world around us. The groundbreaking need to happen within self where we need to develop and display a higher sense of empathy and emotional quotient. The positive and proactive attitude emanating from the powerful beliefs will determine the quality of decision and action, in essence, the leadership being displayed.

An ex-Army officer and an IIM alumnus, with diverse experiences ranging from military to corporate to education, Capt. Mohit Tomar, lives his purpose and passion of unlocking human potential through his innovative and insightful training programs.His book ‘When Journey Becomes the Goal’ is one of the best sellers on Amazon. His passion for challenging experiences enables him to inspire his participants in the spirit of ‘leading by example’

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And Finally…

Dear reader,

I have been a research scientist, a journalist and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and I write.  With this weekly newsletter, I intend to share what I read, learn and experience while I engage with students, parents and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions and ed-tech organisations.

3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms Niv  is a newsletter for you to subscribe and enjoy your learning journey with me. This week, it consists of:  3 images, 2 thoughts and 1 video.

If you have created any material, virtual or physical that you think can be reviewed and/or featured in this news letter, please feel free to write to me at : niveditamukerjee10@gmail.com