“Leadership is not a position but a mindset”

Leadership has always seemed like a concept that’s out of reach for most of us – conventionally, a leader is dressed to the nines, takes quick decisions, inspires people, and in most cases, saves the day. 

As Drew Dudley says in his Ted Talk about everyday leadership; having such a unidimensional definition intimidates people. It keeps them from taking charge or showing initiative because they don’t think they could ever match up to the ideal of leadership that has been shoved down our throats for years. 

In a recent meeting for one of our projects, we experienced an extremely unique form of leadership. This took place with the help of a YouTube video where a random guy from the audience displayed a true form of leadership. We had an insightful discussion as each one was viewing the same video with a different perspective. This blog is an amalgamation of six overarching perspectives about the video. 

The video reflected the simplicity of true leadership – sparking a movement can sometimes be as simple as breaking into a jig. It’s not the significance of what you do, but how you have the courage to stand out from the crowd. 

It was the perfect depiction of a leader leading by example. The man was just randomly dancing without caring about anyone’s opinions about him. People were mocking him, making fun of him but he didn’t stop. I feel that this is a phase which each leader goes through. A point where no one supports them but they have to keep going on as they are the face of their team, they are the initiators. This attitude is what inspired others to get up and make the effort to join him in his dance.

However, it’s worth noting that it was the support of the first follower that made other people follow. His involvement was the game-changer in this video. If the follower wouldn’t have joined him, such a big group wouldn’t have been a part of this – and that’s the case in any form of leadership. Even if someone is the best leader in the world, without the support of their team members, they cannot go very far.

The video inspires people to keep standing out and to not be afraid of what society thinks of what they’re doing, even if it’s very unorthodox. It’s helped us realize that the only thing that really matters is how we feel about what we partake in. There will always be people who will say things that might make you feel like you are doing wrong but you have to believe in yourself and just embrace the people who believe in us. 

It is also indicative of the power of fitting in – the same people who jeered at the dancers later wanted to mingle and participate in the revelry. Essentially, the key takeaway from the video has been that getting people to follow is as much a psychological tactic as anything else – if you make people feel like they have something to lose from not following suit, they’re bound to do just that.

At the end of the day, leadership is still an abstract concept. There might be metrics in place to assess the effectiveness of a leader, but there’s nothing that undoubtedly shows someone how to get there. Good leadership comes from small moments – of solidarity, of support, of recognition, of compassion, of empathy, and most importantly, of a sense of belongingness. 

This video breaks down a seemingly normal incident and delves into the psyche of the people around the dancing guy, and eventually, builds a solid case for the power of conviction and consistency. Or maybe, it just does a good job of showing the best way to have fun at music festivals is to let your hair down and dance like there’s no tomorrow. 

It depends on how you want to look at it. We looked at it through the first lens because we believe it’s a tangible example of something most of us think we’re incapable of – getting someone to follow in our footsteps. It may not have been the dancer’s intention to have people join him, but that’s what ended up happening.

And that’s the exact note on which we’d like to conclude this blog – according to us, leadership, above all else, is about taking responsibility for the people we work with. It’s about being prepared to deal with outcomes you hadn’t thought of, leveraging serendipitous opportunities that come your way, and most importantly – being able to roll with the punches. 

Co-authored by:-

Pooja Agrawal

Hemang Agrawal

Adwait Rayate

Ronit Chamadia

Jay Chandrani

Dariya Budhani