by Anantinee ‘JHUMPA’ Mishra

Have you ever had that experience, when you think that one particular task is a piece of cake for you when in reality it turns out to be completely the opposite?

I have had that particular experience, and trust me when I say this, it is no less than a slap to your face, or a punch in the gut.

Generally speaking, most of these experiences, occur in leadership or being in a position of authority. It is a common misconception, that being a leader means giving all the orders, and making people run around for you, and just sitting in a red high velvet chair like a boss. While this may be true for a certain number of organisations or teams, it is a common factor in us thinking that leading a team can be anybody and everybody’s cup of tea.

It is not.

Being a leader means, in the simplest possible words, enduring different kinds of people, with different kinds of objectives, with different kinds of attitudes. Being a leader means skyrocketing your tolerance levels, your patience, your energy level, and a lot of other things. If I start naming and mentioning each and everything, then I will require many more hours than what is deemed suitable for a short and sweet article.

But, the point of the matter is, being a leader is no piece of cake, by any definition of the world.

But what exactly makes leadership so hard?

What makes leadership hard is that every capacity, every circumstance, every choice, every decision, asks you, as a leader, to put yourself last.

It’s a………removal of ego. You can’t rage out, stop talking to a member of the team or organisation because he or she said something about your leadership skills.

You can’t show your frustration–even if everyone else is. You can’t sit back and complain when times get tough. You have to be the positive force that changes the tide.

You, as a leader, have to take a step back from your impulsive, emotional reactions, and instead operate from a place of calm understanding. And that’s a skill that isn’t taught in school or after school clubs, or even on sports teams.

It’s learned through watching others closely who embody that trait.

And it’s learned through diligent self-inquiry, and constantly practicing the art of being flexible in the way you communicate and lead others.

From a teenager’s perspective, this particular hard endurance shapes our personality majorly. We learn to manage different kinds of people, we learn to be patient.

Overall, we learn to be that particular person, who stands in front of the line while working, and at the back while receiving appreciation and accolades.

To being a leader!

About the Author:

Anantinee ‘JHUMPA’ Mishra is a prodigy author, poet and TED speaker. She is twelve years old studying in std.8th at Apeejay School, Saket, New Delhi.  She has published two books and many stories and articles in magazines and journals. At the age of ten, she published a 21,000 worded anthology of stories called ‘Treasure of Short Stories’. Last year her debut Novel ‘Manhattan to Munnar’ got released. Recently she has been conferred with a title ‘PRODIGY AUTHOR’ and an ‘HONORARY DIPLOMA’ by the Hon’ble Vice President of  India Sh. M Venkaiah Naidu.