Posted by Meerah Rajavel

Ethnicity plays a great influence on one’s leadership style and qualities regardless of the gender.  Coming from a small rural town in South India with very conservative culture, I can confidently say there are few tricks I learnt early in my life as a little girl/young woman that prepared me for the path of leadership.

  1. Courage – Most crucial attribute for leadership. In a conservative culture, your ability to stand up and speak is the first test for courage.  If you pass that bar in a conservative culture you are well set for a boardroom meeting!!
  2. Risk Taking – You learn early on how to take calculated risks. In tribes and communities, typically the girl’s decisions not only affect the individual, but it can leave a stigma on the entire family for generations. As a young child she learns how to take risk and calculate the consequences of the decision continuously, which is one of the crucial success factors for the leaders.
  3. Popularity paradox – If one can do the the above two, definitely you are not a popular person in some people’s good books. However, what it develops is to separate from the pack when needed and stand up for the cause/view she believes in. Leader’s role is not just to be a POPULAR person but be the person who stands for the right purpose, and do what is right for business and people of the corporation.
  4. Ability to influence – Though not being popular is at times a necessity, existing within the ecosystem is necessity for the girl for many reasons including security, which means building the right coalition with people of influence.  Most of the times, it is the father/grand father/ big Uncle of the family with strong views.  Men with big egos and good heart.
  5. Visionary thinking – Influencing the father/grand father/ uncle who know it all is not an easy task. Whether it is as small as deciding on the next vacation spot or as big as choosing the right partner for life. She has to paint a big picture with strong conviction and a little charm (i.e the leadership expression is ‘Charisma’) to persuade them.
  6. Connecting to the values – Doing all of the above is quite taxing and challenging. So if someone is doing it all, she normally has a higher cause that drives her than just an impulse. The successful leaders are ones who can articulate the purpose behind their vision succinctly to the team, which yields a stronger commitment and contribution from individuals.
  7. Empathy – At the end of the day she is still a little girl/young woman. Empathy and Compassion identify her as a person in the community, which she hears from the day she was born from her mother to grandma to Aunt.  This quality becomes part of her DNA, the most needed EQ skill of a leader.

For most of us these raw characteristics are acquired through early life experiences, however in this global world continuous sharpening of these skills are paramount, which is normally through experiences broader than ethnicity!!