LEADERS LEARN FROM OTHERS| SUSPEND EGO|

Very often we say I learn from my previous mistakes!! However, in today’s world of pace, we barely have the luxury of making endless mistakes and learning from them. The best way to learn is to learn from the mistakes of others!!
Rather than reinventing the wheel, the stories and live case studies around you are the best examples to support your leadership learning. Observing what works and what doesn’t can be strong evidence of how you can create your leadership legacy.
I have often shared leadership stories of famous personalities who we all know. Today’s example is someone who I had seen in one of my previous organizations.
As a department head, he had to get the goals accomplished and he took a lot of pride in doing so as well! However, in the closer analysis, I found that the way he made it possible was to sacrifice people without any prior notice. It is important to set a high vision and inspire others, however, playing dynamic games to achieve the means to the end is a tricky one. One also needs to be aware that the wrong that you do, may one day be served to you. Needless to say, our protagonist had a similar fate one day… Most of us learn strong lessons from such leaders who rise at the cost of others and soon feel hollow within about their conduct and where they stand. As leadership is not an individual sport where you defeat others to stand on the podium and hog limelight, it is a team game, and when the team is sacrificed for the goal, there is hardly much to showcase.
Yesterday I was reminded about this learning from stories around us when I saw ”AMI JOY CHATTERJEE‘, a Bengali film where the protagonist undergoes a similar fate due to his killing instinct and achievement orientation; and then finds his redemption through a coma and eventually OBE-out of body experience. An interesting drama that drives home the age-old fact that you are the creator of your bliss and burden in life.

What are the lessons you have learned from others’ mistakes? Do you think it’s a good idea to learn and engage with your teams, in occasional labs where you discuss such case studies and drive home the best practices and avoid disasters?