Leadership Without Title – Story of Babu

You might have heard lot of leadership theories/style, starting from Lewin’s Leadership style to path goal theory to servant leadership …number of leaders matching number of theories or the mix of it. Each one of the theory or style is good in its own right and people have been quite successful in applying these.

 

Well, I am going to narrate about true personality who is not holding a senior position in the office but in my opinion is a leader without title.

 

 

Babu has been working in one of the corporate offices, as office boy, since last two decades, based on this, people generally guess that he may be in the age group of 40-45 and otherwise seeing his energy level and positivity, he can be missed for being in 20’s as well. He is 12th pass, no convent education and no English proficiency. His communication skills are superb, keeping in view his educational background. He has successfully worked with expats (each one of them has become his fan by the time one left India), he could pick up their requirement just by body language or lip movements or tone. He is master in this.

 

He knows everybody in the office by name including his family details, his political affiliations and working limitations but ensures he don’t touch any wrong spot. However, he gives his own suggestions on issues which he understands and all the solutions are practical. He cannot carry out the business analysis or review but certainly can tell you who all are not happy now a days along with the suggested solutions. He can tell you the office pressure and temperature in one glance, so he is thermometer and barometer, all in one. He is cricket master, a fan of Sachin Tendulkar, each century by Sachin invited sweet distribution by him, generally from his own pocket. Any adverse comment against Sachin Tendulkar is the only NO GO AREA for him.

 

He has not adopted any cricketer after Sachin’s retirement.

 

By any chance, if you are under official pressure and it is so easy for him to guess, Babu will take care of you like anything. There is no time limit for him; it can go beyond office hours if you require him.

 

His one-line satires can make the entire environment lively, without offending anybody but can lead to tremendous release of dopamine and endorphins.

 

You cannot find fault with his honesty and integrity; he is immaculate in these. It proves that you are not required to be rich to be honest.

 

You tell him five jobs without the prioritization, he will decide the priority and rest assured it will match yours. It looks like he has gone through the workshop on “Action priority matrix”. By any chance, if he goes on leave, his absence will be felt from top to bottom, people wait for him to come back.

 

When the CEO is on leave, entire office is happy but when Babu goes on leave, every body in the office is depressed.

 

Do you think, leadership requires any title?

 

Not at all!