A leader needs some followers as they are the ones who help her/him to walk the new path. However, a person becomes a leader only when she/he creates more leaders and not just followers.

There are many sayings about how the shadow leaves when it gets dark. And these statements have been made in different contexts. However, most of the time they have been done in the context of a leader being in the limelight to have followers. In this article I examine various aspects of leadership such as staying in the limelight, creating other leaders, and the ability to step down or return to a job when life changes.

Like a shadow, a leader is only as good as his followers, or so we think. Do we really need followers to show that we are leaders? If we want others to follow us, who are we following? As Joseph Campbell said, “If the path is clear in front of you, you may be on someone else's path.” And, as the saying goes, we are followers and leaders at the same time.

A leader needs some followers as they are the ones who help her/him to walk the new path. However, a person becomes a leader only when she/he creates more leaders and not just followers.

As per my personal experience I have tried hard to create leaders. Today, as I look back on my career, I see many of my colleagues occupying various senior leadership positions in different companies. They are the leaders of today and will shape the leaders of tomorrow. It is heartening to see many of my colleagues taking up the challenges faced by the corporate world today and trying their best to change the paradigm.

They say leaders should hire their future bosses. But let us look back over our careers to see how many leaders will work for the person they appointed. I have seen a few that have done this and they are amazing. When I asked them how they did it, I got a variety of responses but the common thread was that they all understood their limitations very well. It was all about the role they had to play and not the location or who they reported to. They clearly understand what stage they are at in life and therefore what motivates them. If I asked myself if I would do it, the honest answer would be that I would struggle. I can say that some of my co-workers are people I don't mind working for.

Many of us struggle to leave a powerful position or role. There is nothing wrong with that because we tried all these years – not to give up. However, personal priorities keep changing and we must recognize that and find a balance between personal priorities and work. Some struggle to go back after leaving a job. Personally I have been through this dilemma. We struggle with ourselves more than anything else. Did we fail and that's why we want to go back to work? So, as long as we have learned from experience, I don't see anything as a failure. Life teaches us everything we need. Only, we must be patient and reflect to be able to learn those lessons. I never felt it was difficult to go back to work when personal circumstances changed and I thought it was best for me to go back to the corporate world at that time. What is needed is flexibility to move forward in life by understanding the situation.

Walking down the street I crossed a street light and as the light came from behind me, my shadow suddenly appeared in front of me and was taller than me. I was following the shadow!!!

By: Ravichandran Venkataraman – Board Member – Educationist – Social Enterprise Leader

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