What is Leadership?
A good Share from FB by Shashank Ravi
While I got stuck at the breakdown I wrote this article which I thought will share with you guys. Please let me know your thoughts
Adventure at 1 am while going in a SETC bus:
What is leadership?
Here you are, as a conductor for a setc bus in the middle of nowhere between Kanchipuram and Sriperumbudur. Your bus breakdowns and it is raining heavily. There is water leakage everywhere inside the bus. You have 48 angry passengers who are shouting at the top of the voice since the rain is making them fully drenched both inside and outside the bus. The bus is also completely broken down.You are not able to diagnose the cause of the problem but still maintain the calm amidst the chaos and keep trying different methods to solve. The odds are against you.
After 45 minutes of trying hard , you stop another setc bus and ask them for more tools. But still this not solve the situation. Meanwhile calling the head office to ask for an alternate bus to substitute this bus is of no use. The reason being the office is riddled with red-tapism and every guy picking the call is passing the buck to someone else. Finally you get hold of the chief manager of setc. Instead of solving the problem he goes on to ask a million questions annoying all the passengers even more. You give up on that route to solve.
Finally after being completely drenched in rain, you stop a random lorry on the highway and get more tools and ask for help. Get yourself completely dirty by going under the vehicle and trying your heart out to zero in the issue. The lorry driver (who now everyone regards as another hero) joins the conductor and driver from nowhere. Three of them fix all of the problems. Now the vehicle starts off smoothly and all the passengers go back to their places and remain silent. Bus goes back to normal operation.
Now this conductor handled 48 angry passengers (one less because I was neutral watching this pan out) , red-tapism, bureaucracy, bad weather conditions and a nervous driver with extreme tact. He fought even when all odds were against him and remained cheerful without showing a hint of worry. He cheered up everyone when everything was going wrong. He knew only couple of English words “no problem” and still conveyed his intention. This is what leadership is all about. He got help mysteriously from outside but he believed in himself. When I asked him about what he studied, he said barely made it to the 12th grade. This is what India is filled with. Talents and leaders who not always found from top B schools and educational institutions. They are present everywhere but we just fail to appreciate such people. We as Indians are not aware of our strengths. We are much more than what we think. No hurdles are enough to stop us from achieving what we need.
I might have paid just 383 rs for the ticket and he might be close to 55 years old and a random conductor in a tamil nadu bus but he has taught us a great crash course in leadership !
PS: You can use Facebook to make a Jasleen kaur case or you can use it for this purpose. Choose wisely!
Some say humans of New york, some say humans of Chennai but I say these are our day to day heroes whom we need to honor.
In the photo Conductor Jayapuri on the right and driver Venkatesh on the left.
– Adhi Shri
TNSTC Blog - TamilNadu State Transport Corporation Blog 