Leadership lesson from the movie “One”!

#IQ2EQ2SQ — Mammootty starter in Malayalam

Sanal writes an anonymous social media post criticizing a strong leader, who is also the CM, that goes viral. How would a strong leader feel, react, act?

A leader has the choice to operate from IQ, EQ, or SQ.

When a crisis hits, the leader has to choose to react or respond from the confluence. #IQ2EQ2SQ

Leadership lesson from the move One!

Can a strong, powerful leader be empathetic?**

Some instances from the story that demonstrates the other side of a tough leader

• When the leader’s sister, the only blood relation shown in the movie, goes abroad, he is weighed down by the guilt of not giving her enough time.

When Sanal calls him, as the last resort, to seek help for a false case of theft on her sister by a BMW driving rich guy, the leader turns up at the police station! Would a busy CM come to a police station, for the sake of a common man? And what would he do if turns up at the Police station?

The poorest are at the receiving end of all that is bad!

• When his own college is celebrating a milestone, he accepts the invitation to be the guest. When he speaks of the dignity of labor, one student asks from behind if the leader can cut his hair. The way he handles the situation is to be seen.

He is the son of a poor barber, and proud of his roots.

On the way to the college, the CM gets stuck in traffic (🙈), a group of protesting politicians! He walks across the street, takes an auto to the college, where the students and staff were waiting for the chief guest. The conversation with the auto driver and CM’s assurance, ‘roads will be taken care,’ is a demonstration of the client-centricity of the leader. Not ego-based IQ.

• He turns up for the wedding of one of his security personnel’s family
• He stands for a big cause that is close to his heart. Every responsible citizen would love to have accountability for their political representatives, MLA, MP. One way to enforce this is the Right to Recall. The leader fights for it loses his chief ministership temporarily but comes back, more powerful.

He consistently keeps the common man at the center of all his work. Is that not truly client-centric?

• He is not shown as a typical filmi superstar — not a single fight scene, though Mammootty is also an action hero.

Only an empathetic leader is truly strong.**

A leader who is not empathetic is not a leader. If we consider LEADER as an acronym what would each letter mean to you?

• Love - unconditional spiritual love
• Empathy
• Action
• Discipline
• Execution
• Results

PS: I am not here to promote the movie or the mega-star. But to remind ourselves of the need for empathy. More so during these challenging times. All the problems we see around ourselves, covid related and otherwise, all boil down to leadership.

What would it take to shift all leadership to the confluence of #IQ2EQ2SQ ?

#leadership #coaching #emotionalintelligence #hr