The other Ted Talk was Drew Dudley's about Leadership and he hit on an important point. We all think leadership is about changing the world. You need to be Steve Jobs or Mahatma Gandhi to be a true leader. But that's not the case.
He pointed out in the course of our normal every day activity and the way we interact with others has probably influenced a change in someone. And we don't even know it until we're told about it.
However, I had my moment in 2005 in a club in NYC. I was with my sister and friends and they ran into an old college friend. I remembered this girl as an acquaintance, who was younger and quieter. She approached me absolutely thrilled. I was a taken aback by her enthusiasm. She pulled me aside in the loud club to talk, or shout as one does when they have such conversations with the music blaring.
"I wanted tell you that you were the first person I met that worked for a non profit!" she shouted to me.
"You remembered that?" I had started my career working for multiple large non profit organizations, and ultimately followed my interests and leaped into technology about 6 years prior.
"You had come to your sister's dorm and you were telling us what it is like to work for nonprofits. I never thought about that before."
It's important to understand that majority of Indian-American children are told they must be doctor, lawyer, accountant or engineer. It's rooted in the immigrant mindset of working hard and making sure your children are secure. I was the anomaly holding an English degree, while everyone else had science and engineering. It didn't matter if you liked it, you must do it. After graduation, I was planning to go into advertising, but some independent activities unexpectedly led me toward nonprofit industry.
"I'm now working for the Open Society Foundation." she said. I was amazed! Did I inspire her that much to go forward in this direction? It was so uplifting to understand I made an impact.
I had forgotten about this event, until I listened to Drew Dudley's point. I had experienced my moment of leadership by influencing one person to make a decision that was against the mainstream flow. And, with her movement into this direction, she has probably impacted many others either through advocacy in her work or just being an example of this career choice.
We have our daily moments of leadership - being a Mom, being the Subject Matter Expert at work, being a lead for community events. As a leader, we inspire and empower and enable others to do what they need to do be their best and bring them forward. Even if we don't rock the world, we know we are making small shifts.
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