"A true Master is not the one
with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters. A true leader is
not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most
leaders." — Neale Donald Walsch
There is a debate in the Indian media
whether Indians are leaders or followers. There is a narrow observation that
Indians lack leadership abilities and they follow others easily. It is time to
discuss and debate this topic whether Indians are leaders or followers.
For many years, Indians were ruled by
British and we followed a typical mindset to follow the orders of others rather
than to frame and implore others to execute them. Additionally, Indian culture
emphasizes to respect elders and parents, and we rarely question them. Although
it is a cultural issue, at times, it hinders us to lead. However, I feel that a
good follower is a good leader in the long run. Only when people follow others,
they will be able to emulate others, learn the ropes, cultivate leadership
qualities and grow as leaders. When you look at several successful leaders
globally, they are all followers to their leaders first and then evolved as
leaders. For instance, Plato followed Socrates, Aristotle followed Plato, and
Alexander followed Aristotle. It is obvious that every great leader is a
follower first. It is also observed that some of the followers overtook their
leaders in terms of charisma and performance like Alexander.
Amit Chakma commented, “Leadership
skills are innate to all of us, but how much we develop those skills is, in a
large part, determined by the opportunities as we have to take on leadership
roles, and how readily we embrace those opportunities.” Leadership is a skill that can be honed by
reading, training, experience and observation. Hence, leadership is the not
monopoly of any particular country, community or region. Anyone can excel as a
leader if there is passion to lead from the front. To conclude, leadership is a quality that can
be partly inherited and partly cultivated. Indians must cultivate leadership
qualities by questioning others, following their role models and taking risks
in their lives. Jai Hind!
“The signs of outstanding leadership
appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their
potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do
they change with grace? Manage conflict?” — Max De Pree
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