In today’s world, leaders exhibit two distinct personality traits. One extreme exemplifies subservience or a compliant nature, chosen for the role due to their willingness to conform to those in positions of greater power or status. Conversely, the other extreme embodies self promotion, is ego centric – focuses on me, me and I, and often aligns with the concept of “budtameez” in Urdu.

The prevalent belief holds that effective leadership necessitates adherence to one of these extremes. But this discourages many able individuals from pursuing leadership roles. Those who lack agreeableness and fear, are not assertive and loud, falling somewhere in the middle like most humans, hesitate to take on leadership responsibilities.

I have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand in several organizations and have also experienced it myself. Individuals who perceive themselves as non-conformist and who struggle to emulate either extreme, while burdened by their inherent nature, can burn out under the weight of their leadership roles.

However, leadership does not have to entail servitude or rudeness!

Leadership is a skill that can be developed by being curious, self-aware, disciplined, and willing to endure hardship for a greater purpose. It involves caring for others and leading purposefully.

We require a new kind of leadership characterised by impact, integrity, and vision. We need more and dfiiferent types of individuals, not fewer, to assume leadership roles at all levels.

The current leadership models are inadequate for the evolving world and should be discarded. We must transcend the cultural myths associated with these models and embrace a variety of personality types who demonstrate distributed, accountable, and values-driven leadership.

Leadership should not be reserved for those who compromise their principles to conform to extremes. The future of leadership must be more collaborative and not be about the most vocal individual in the room. It should be about creating the culture that enables others to thrive.

Worth thinking about 🤔