Leadership as a lifestyle

Leadership is a lifestyle, a way of life. True yoga practioners  feel the same way, and abhor the use of  yoga as a weight loss technique. We have been blinded by images of leaders as swashbuckling, phone totting executives, dressed in sharp suits making blink eyed decisions worth millions. The HBR article "Extreme jobs" gives a chilling account of the rising breed of corporate executives who consider sleep (and at times even family), a necessary evil. Thankfully recent medical research has reiterated the importance of rejuvenation for the body. Perhaps we will soon be taken over by robots who won't need to sleep, eat and pause, but until then we have to make the most of the cards handed to us - a magical set at that. Our incredibly designed bodies, minds, family, friends, nature, and even the material things that surround us.

When asked to name our favorite leaders, the pick is usually a politician, a business leader, or an artist. But in reality the influence of these leaders on our day to day lives is minimal - at best it is that occasional spurt of inspiration when we think about them. Most of our lives are actually spent with others like us, and we are influenced by and influence them in countless ways. For example, in academia it is not uncommon for professors to zealously guard their course material. But one of my colleagues generously shares her course material with me, and my learning curve has risen sharply as a result. I am now inspired to pay it forward. Isn't that an example of supreme leadership from her?

Leadership is the antonym of followership. It is the ability to influence others to achieve a goal. Leadership is proactive than reactive, and is different from management. Management is about maintaining status quo, while leadership is visionary. Leadership is thus to take charge, which is it why it is better conceptualized as a lifestyle, and not as a 9-5 job. More so because technology is rapidly blurring the professional and personal boundaries of our lives. Managing our lives in this flux will require constant leadership. As Aristotle said" Excellence is a habit. We are what we repeatedly do"  True leadership therefore has to be a habit, a lifestyle,  - a way of being. This is not easy, and requires years of practice, reflection, failure, risk and education.

Research in organizational behavior indicates that if there is one common thread that runs across humanity across the globe, it is autonomy: the desire to be in control of our lives. Being in control could however mean different things to different people. For some it could be to raise a solid family, for some it would be a life of service, and for some it could be the pursuit of material comforts. But the key is that  these goals should be yours and yours alone to decide.

Frank Sinatra's immortal "My way" (lyrics by Paul Anka) captures the  - leadership as a lifestyle- concept envisioned in this blog.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows, and did it my way!