Leadership from streets of Delhi
Few years ago I visited Delhi after almost 7 years. I grew up in Delhi, so I take a sense of ownership when people have anything to share about Delhi. Over the last few years there has been frequent bad news about Delhi’s pollution and crime, but as I spent my 10 days in Delhi, I felt the intangible functioning of the society are unwithered by any negative news. Now, these observations may apply to India overall, but all I know about is Delhi, hence my focus on such.
India is all about adjustment. Personal space does not exist. People rub shoulders with passersby everyday and are squashed together while riding public transportation, but unknowingly this demonstrate an exemplary trait of leadership.
Here were my few observations:
Focus on Solving a Problem: There is always a way and the moment is always now. No Indian lets the train just pass them by, literally. All 100 or so passengers find a way to make it on the same train. In fact, the unspoken sense of community is absolutely beautiful as no one is left behind as there is no selfish thoughts of “me” but only “us.” It’s a game of Tetris as everyone fits in all the nooks and crannys without a fuss. This characteristic is an untapped potential in personal growth aspirations.
Networking and reliability: To get work done that’s outside your area of expertise or you just need a helping hand, open your network and connect with anyone who can get it done. Delhiites always have a community around them; everyone is their friend. There is no limit to the chain of command…someone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone and it’s endless. The surprising thing is the person at the bottom of the chain ALWAYS shows up for the task.
Persistence: There is a sense of pursuit in everyone. People don’t take no for an answer, they continue to negotiate until someone lets their guard down, and even then they keep persisting. A great lesson. Maybe that’s where I learned to keep trying and somewhere along the way, or adaption to my environment, I forgot and this trip reminded me of that. Sometimes you will be successful and others not, but keep trying.
Embrace: Change comes fast and often. People don’t just adjust, they embrace change. From food trends that hit Delhi: pizza and fried chicken, to burgers and now the latest — pasta. People in India change, they are like chameleons who can blend with their surroundings seamlessly. Some type of change is happening every day and people are adjusting and adapting to it. This shows that people can and will change if they are given the right mix of resources and tools. Implementing a tool and then not following up on it will not bring change. Change is embraced when the process is continuous and not when there are long gaps between the two events.
Adaptability: The city is all about adjustment. The famous line heard on the streets of Delhi is “tu adjustment kar ley” which means “just adjust” in such a nonchalant manner no matter how big the adjustment. People might get mad, and throw tantrums for a few minutes, but in the end they all adjust.
Patience: People in Delhi have low patience especially when they are a customer. Customer loves to get angry at the vendor for any reason small or large. The new age customer service sector working in big malls or establishments have adjusted to this clientele relatively quickly. This is a pivotal change in Delhi because oftentimes somebody’s politeness is taken as a weakness where the customer for the first time is seeking to extract unfairly gains from the shopkeeper. Anyone who has been to or lived in Delhi has witnessed a customer losing their temper for virtually no reason and get nasty very quickly. These new ages CSRs folks are handling that type of temper without losing their composure and being apologetic at the same time. During several occasions I witnessed an employee tactfully handling an angry customer without any sweat on his/her face. It was like Zen like moment. That level of patience is purely commendable.
Negotiations: This is something that is deep rooted in Delhi and continues to prevail. People negotiate. On everything. If anyone wants to get real life experience on extreme negotiation travel to Delhi and navigate the shops of Karol Bagh market with a Delhiite to learn the art of Negotiation.
I know there are lot of things that need to improve in Delhi and I hope these traits will help with those improvements and foster positive change in the city. For me those 10 days taught me and reminded me things about leadership that I have once lived but never noticed.
