Effective leadership examples are floating around us, in our day to day interactions, and all we need is to keep our eyes and ears open to pick them up.
A few months ago, on the occasion of my elders daughter's birthday, we decided to celebrate with a small party in a restaurant we've been visiting frequently.
With my driver on leave for personal reasons and I being allergic to driving, had no other option but to hire a taxi for reaching the restaurant.
Being a regular visitor to that property, for more than a decade, they took utmost care of me by arranging a private Cab while returning home and we - me, wife and 2 daughters - finally headed for the destination at 11 PM.
I knew it'd be quite expensive at that hour with hardly any cab available, however, to be in the safer side, I asked the driver about his charges and to my surprise it happened to be twice the normal rates.
Well, my attempt at negotiating a better deal - quoting 30 pct less than his initial demand - was coolly silenced by a broad smile that would keep haunting me for a long time for the right reasons -- of acceptance, and without any argument at all.
He agreed to my offer and with a smiling face, what you rarely come across these days, drove us safely back home.
And without any compulsion, rather on my own, I decided to pay him what he initially demanded.
The reasons:
1. The Flexibility and the maturity that he demonstrated while dealing with an inebriated person, at an odd hour, impressed me genuinely.
2. The positive energy he'd been continuously radiating through his gestures - smiles, talks etc during the drive - motivated me to acknowledge his leadership skills with some sort of rewards.
3. Because, he made me feel better and helped me being at peace with self.
Did I really need any more reasons to reciprocate?
No!
Hence, I tried my best to make him feel better too -- may be with a few extra bucks.
What is leadership after all ? Isn't it about making the other persons feel comfortable? Isn't it leaving a permanent mark behind? It is and, he did just that.
Remember, you may never learn the secret to success in life by simply going through tons of books and articles but keeping your eyes and ears open, picking up every hints of positive approaches, sometimes from the least expected sources.
A few months ago, on the occasion of my elders daughter's birthday, we decided to celebrate with a small party in a restaurant we've been visiting frequently.
With my driver on leave for personal reasons and I being allergic to driving, had no other option but to hire a taxi for reaching the restaurant.
Being a regular visitor to that property, for more than a decade, they took utmost care of me by arranging a private Cab while returning home and we - me, wife and 2 daughters - finally headed for the destination at 11 PM.
I knew it'd be quite expensive at that hour with hardly any cab available, however, to be in the safer side, I asked the driver about his charges and to my surprise it happened to be twice the normal rates.
Well, my attempt at negotiating a better deal - quoting 30 pct less than his initial demand - was coolly silenced by a broad smile that would keep haunting me for a long time for the right reasons -- of acceptance, and without any argument at all.
He agreed to my offer and with a smiling face, what you rarely come across these days, drove us safely back home.
And without any compulsion, rather on my own, I decided to pay him what he initially demanded.
The reasons:
1. The Flexibility and the maturity that he demonstrated while dealing with an inebriated person, at an odd hour, impressed me genuinely.
2. The positive energy he'd been continuously radiating through his gestures - smiles, talks etc during the drive - motivated me to acknowledge his leadership skills with some sort of rewards.
3. Because, he made me feel better and helped me being at peace with self.
Did I really need any more reasons to reciprocate?
No!
Hence, I tried my best to make him feel better too -- may be with a few extra bucks.
What is leadership after all ? Isn't it about making the other persons feel comfortable? Isn't it leaving a permanent mark behind? It is and, he did just that.
Remember, you may never learn the secret to success in life by simply going through tons of books and articles but keeping your eyes and ears open, picking up every hints of positive approaches, sometimes from the least expected sources.
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