Thanks Sangeeth for your message about the successful Young Leadership Program sponsored by Microsoft.

It is pleasing to see LeadCap’s values-in-action in making space and time available to nurture India’s leaders of the future, even if they may not have seen themselves as leaders prior to the camp as your message suggests….

The 21 Microsoft Student partners (some of them, the brightest youngsters that I have ever met), who attended the LeadCap YLP boot camp walked in with a clear focus on technology. However, we would like to believe from their excitement that they walked out with a bigger picture of what they could do with this technological edge  - for their institution, for their society and for their nation. The first day set the basics right - on what is leadership, what is the purpose of YLP and what are the expectations out of them. At the same time, we did face some amount of skepticism on that day- mainly on why the MSPs should add one more thing to their workload, and even on why they should be leaders - when all they should really be focusing is a job.

However, the second day was a magical turn around. The same people who expressed skepticism, came back renewed. Probably, the homework session did them good, helping them internalize learnings. They could suddenly grasp the bigger picture, and why they should be utilizing a part of their energy to nurture more people and for a bigger impact on the nation. They had found most of the answers themselves - on how they would proceed, and in fact addressed some of the critical management problems of intrinsic motivation, accountability etc. They were truly talking the leader’s language - of finding solutions than posing problems. Especially, I am glad with the support that our ‘Leadership Village’ initiative and online action networking platform received. I can already see that a lot of activities are already happening, where they have set up LIVE groups to set goals and charter the progress.

The momentum is on. We are on track. At the same time, this would not have possible with out the help of those who supported us in this journey - Microsoft, Dr.Richard Norris, Dr.Ram Raghavan, Prof.Rajeev Gowda, Suhas Gopinath.

Your program demonstrates the power of small ‘l’ leadership, that is, when individuals take on the responsibility for their own learning, living and life opportunities.  Small ‘l’ leadership is about knowing ourselves as well as possible and this includes being mindful of our own values, strengths and weaknesses and how we like to learn and interact with people etc.  Indeed, it is nigh on impossible to be a capital “L” leader without this commitment and it will be fascinating to track where these young leaders end up and what they do with their lives.   

Another way to look at this is through Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs and the pursuit of self-actualisation as the aspiration for us all with an eye towards transcendence.  There is much to teach the West on these matters from the long and rich Indian traditions too.  Here are some of the characteristics of self actualisation:

• creative, inventive and original;

• keen sense of reality

• see problems in terms of challenges and situations requiring solutions

• need for privacy and comfortable being alone

• reliant on own experiences and judgement

• not susceptible to social pressures

• democratic, fair and non-discriminating

• socially compassionate - possessing humanity 

• accepting others as they are

• comfortable with oneself

• a few close intimate friends rather than many surface relationships

• sense of humour directed at oneself or the human condition, rather than at the expense of others

• spontaneous and natural - true to oneself, rather than being how others want

• excited and interested in everything, even ordinary things

• seek peak experiences that leave a lasting impression

In closing, what are your thoughts on small ‘l’ leadership and the paradox it creates?  The more selfish we are to take the time to know ourselves better the more other-centred we tend to become!!

Guest Blogger
Heather Davis
Centre for Leadership Excellence, Australia

August 2009

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