Am I a Leader?
Traditionally, when we talk about leadership, it’s mostly about leading a group of people or having a highest position where we can direct people’s actions. We always associate leadership with people who have extraordinary charm, charisma and intellect. It never crosses our mind that we ourselves could be a leader.
Last week I came across a new definition of leadership. This definition was presented by Drew Dudley in his TedTalk “Everyday Leadership.” He had a quite unique take on it. According to him, everyone can be a leader and it doesn’t require us to have fancy character traits. He redefined leadership and made it more accessible to everyone.
If we can do small acts to make someone’s life easier, we are a leader. If we take responsibility of a task without anyone telling us to do it, we are a leader. And if we can take the ownership of our actions, we are a leader. Anyone and everyone can be a leader.
Everyday we are presented with so many opportunities to be a leader, but we still don’t take them. We have made the idea of leadership so glorified that we can’t imagine ourselves as leaders.
So I hear you asking, how can we get out of this mindset?
As pointed out by the amazing folks at Amal Academy, there are multiple ways to practice leadership. One of the ways is to start by fixing things around us. This can provide us with the opportunity to take responsibility of a task that no one asked us to do.
And what’s the best place to start?
Our own home! So that’s exactly what I did.
I had always been a messy person till my teen years. My room used to look like a store room that has never been organized. Dirty laundry on the bed, low quality posters on walls as wallpaper, unorganized cupboards, and books scattered all over the room. For a room with only one window, it was a horrible look. But when I entered my twenties something changed. I became more organized and I changed the look of my room in matter of weeks. New wallpaper, new curtains, organized bed, clean study table and most importantly organized cupboards. Fortunately, I’ve been able to maintain the look of my room for 5 years now. So when it came to fixing something, there was nothing in my room that needed my attention. I looked outside my bedroom and voila! Dining table.
The dining table had become our new cupboard for all kinds of things, from appliances to medicine, bowls and condiments. Over the years it had accumulated almost everything from the house. It became so messy that everyone in home stopped using the dining table for its original purpose. When I saw its sad state of affairs, I knew what I needed to fix.
Around 5 pm in the evening, I started by checking which objects were placed on the table. Then I decided how I wanted the table to look like once it’s organized. My idea was to remove everything except the glass stand, fruit basket, sugar pot and jar of homemade biscuits. I couldn’t just throw everything in the kitchen, because that would’ve caused more chaos. So I started by making space in the kitchen and cabinets. This meant I had to organize each and every cabinet of the kitchen.
One might argue the effectiveness of this method. But I couldn’t find a better way. It was quite evident that I needed to make space for everything before I started to organize the table.
After organizing three more cabinets, I started working on the dining table. It was 9 pm and I was exhausted. But I kept going because I knew that the destination was closer. To keep my energy up I also baked some potato wedges to snack on (best decision ever).
I removed everything from the table and started putting them in a new space that I had created. In half an hour all the clutter was gone. Then I cleaned the table and changed its sheet. After washing and drying the table mats, I placed them on the table. Now it was time to put the limited objects on the table. First was the fruit basket. I placed it in the middle. Then I placed the biscuit jar and sugar pot. In the end I placed the glass stand.
After organizing for almost 6 hours, I could see the fruits of my labor. It was a weird sense of satisfaction. I felt like I had accomplished something. My mother and sisters also gave me a lot of compliments, which contributes to further encouragement. These feelings were not new to me because I felt the same, when I had cleaned my room. But these feelings never get old.
I felt proud of myself for taking the responsibility of a task and completing it. It was a success. Would’ve I still done this task if I hadn’t been asked to do so? Absolutely yes! As mentioned earlier, I clean and organize my room on a daily basis. I wanted to clean up the dining table before Ramadan so we can use it. It was also one of my goals to organize small portions of my house after I graduate from University. Now that I’ve graduated, I can spend some time looking after our house. Next on the list is the drawing room. It needs some decorations and I’ll be doing it in the next few weeks.
If you asked me, what would have I done it at the same time that I did it now? My answer would probably be no. Because I do things at my own pace and sometimes it can take me months to complete a task. But if something requires intimidate attention, I do it instantaneously. For instance, while I’m writing this, my extension cord decided to fry its plug. So I’ll be fixing it right now.
The plug requires replacement and fortunately I’d a spare that can be used.
All new!
Thankfully, the main extension cable was not damaged and I was able to fix it without any problems.
Leadership is all about taking responsibility and initiative of a task even when we’re not in a position of power or authority. We don’t need to be a manager or a CEO to practice leadership. We can start by taking ownership and responsibility of small things. It can be as simple as fixing one’s house. When we fix something in our surroundings, we reinforce the idea that we can lead ourselves. We can bring small changes and leadership is not some distant idea that only few people can enjoy. We all have the potential to be leaders. All we need is Amal.