Is there such a thing as leadership instinct or is a leadership a skill that you develop? In this article posted on Deccan Herald, we read the story of a woman overcoming the odds in a man’s world in Banaras by tapping what should come naturally to leaders – assertion, independence, courage, and the ability to withstand humiliation – and how this has helped her build more effective and driven team members.
Leadership Instinct
Entrepreneur Asita Prabhushankar said every human being has killer and leadership instincts in them, which would be developed based on the interest.
She was delivering a special lecture on ‘My Experience As Woman Entrepreneur in US,’ at JSS College for Women here on Thursday. She said: “Women have more leadership qualities than men. Leadership skills should be developed and used in every step of life.”
She called upon students to assert themselves, which is the first step of being a good leader. Sharing her experiences, she said her strong inspiration were her grandmother and mother who thought about educating girls in those days when there was prejudice against girls and thought to be unfit for bold jobs. Her grandmother encouraged her daughter’s education though she had three sons.
Asita said she developed a sense of freedom, independence and courage when they moved to Banaras. “It was a place where discrimination was faced by people of other languages.” She opined that Indian education system provides a rare opportunity while it is difficult in other countries to learn while earning.
She said her passion was in entrepreneurship and not in engineering which she studied. She identified her leadership skills which were stronger than her academic skills.
Perhaps there are certain people who are so-called born leaders, but that does not mean that all of us do not possess leadership instinct. As human beings, we all have the same basic characteristics. By looking at the characteristics of successful leaders, we can all learn to cultivate what may not be flourishing in ourselves and help bring out what is best in our teams.
