Are leaders made in heaven?

Thanks to "pen" at least - nobody can stop me from writing, what ruminates in my mind. I can at least dissect the human, social or even organizational behavior. I take this from Steinbeck, who says "If they bully me and do what they choose I have them over a barrel. They can't move until I pick up a pencil. They are frozen, turned to ice standing one foot up and with the same smile they had yesterday when I stopped." in Paris Review interview. In a way, this notion of "leaders are made in heaven" is pretty satirical, you may think !! Yes, you are right, it is. I know, this blog may not be the right platform to vent your frustration but I will defy the unwritten discipline. The reason, I ask this question is to "shake us" to think and challenge the kind of mindset that still rules the way we think of leadership. If we do not challenge the remnant of pre-historical definition of class / color / race / gender / Intelligence Quotient based defined or perceived "kind of" leadership, this attitude is going to and will bar many prospective aspirants to move up the ladder of "professional growth" through "equal opportunity".

                                                     Source: www.google.com  

You may ask, “Why is that?” - You may say, "Well everything is fair in like love and war and that applies to any organization" In contrary, I will be saying - "This way of thinking will encourage silos mentality and sadly which exist" In order to understand further, let me walk you through the kind of leadership that dictates South Asian society, which defines that leaders are made in heaven, where Godly figures or Kings or birth by certain class are only eligible or legible to lead. You may think, I am pontificating on my "political or social" discontent. Well, I am sharing the fact, what I can authoritatively tell you of Nepal, where Dalits (Eng: Untouchables) comprises 13 % of the total population are still treated in a sub human way. Sadly in Nepal, such system of "untouchables" was introduced by Kings and country's civil codes. Nepal National Dalits Social Welfare Organization reports, "Such discriminatory legal system and hierarchical social structures, in course of time, formed as a rigid ‘value system’ and ‘codes of social behavior and practices’. This value system and attitude is still dominant in every sphere of the society, which is propelling ‘untouchability’ and caste-based discrimination" I can guess, this must also apply to other neighboring countries in the region. So, my ethical question, "Do we subconsciously harbor such social ills that can affects the way we see the social landscape and thus our behavior?" This is one question that has haunted me recently.

I do not have an answer to above question but I can try to get an answer through a kind of social experiment that I did - i think, this will throw some light in understanding the very question that I have. In Nepal, we have a traditional instrument made up of hollow wood and leathers of cow or buffalo. This hollow instrument is locally called Madal. This is popularly used for folk songs, without it - our folk music will be tasteless. This instrument is designed and prepared by the same dalits. It is so beautiful, the same instrument has different names - Kabaro in Ethiopia, Tom Tom in English, Dholak in Hindi, even Jhangu (mini) in Korean and the music it creates is melodious that we all can enjoy. So, leadership must be like a music created by madal / kabaro / dholak / jhangu in unison nurturing the skills each individual potentially possess. After all, each of us can be master, if we practice, practice and create a learning environment. Good leader or manager therefore should not neglect the very beauty the simple instrument can create and produce, just you need to have an attitude to listen and listen properly.

Finally, somebody great said,” A common leader says, "let's do it", while a great leader says, “Let us all do it together"