You are a Leader……..Unleash it.

I have placed a parable below which each one of you would have come across in the internet or heard it somewhere.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The moral: "Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition."

I tried to understand this from different perspective:

1.      The King referred to above is the “God” who places obstacles or challenges in our life path. We have many options like:

Ignore and carry on like the merchants in the story; Get into the problem mess it up and blame circumstances and all individuals around us who may or may not be involved; or like the peasant untie the knots and reap the benefits and understand lessons for the process The choice is ours.

2.      We hate obstacles or challenges in our comfort zones; we crib and blame all and sundry because it is an easy way to cope. We hesitate to take up initiative and responsibility to clear the path. We do not realize that there are successive generations following us for whom we must keep a clear path. The merchants and courtiers had titles but failed to take initiative to clear the boulders. Titles do not matter in leadership!

3.    The peasant demonstrated that leadership is not about title. It is a sheer choice to change the existing situation. Title and authority is not leadership. “Leadership does not automatically happen when you reach a specific position, pay grade or level of seniority.” (George Ambler). Leaders become visible by their actions and results.  It’s the conviction to clear the path which makes the peasant in this parable a true hero or a leader.

In our work atmosphere or locality, even in our domestic set up we would have come across people who take the initiative to help and clear obstacles. They may not have titles or position but are true leaders like the peasant in the story above.

 “Lord Jesus” and “Lord Krishna” had not titles but are timeless leaders.

Mahatma Gandhi had no position but a legend and timeless leader.

Mother Theresa had only an idea but a great leader with conviction.

Recently we saw how Anna Harare brought about a paradigm change in our thought on corruption.

I saw a video which seems to illustrate the above story… Do not miss to watch this. There are lessons to be learnt from the young.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3DDjeVeJu4

In conclusion the message is let us not be insensitive to the boulders in our path. Let us say 1..2..3… Go and initiate change, remove and clear the path and reap the hidden treasures.

Let the succeeding generations not blame us for leaving behind a path with stones and boulders.

Leadership is there within each one of you…..just ignite it……. Followers will follow….