5 Leadership Lessons from Saand Ki Aankh

I was playing scrabble with my wife. Surprisingly I won for the first time. My wife congratulated me and offered to watch a movie with me to celebrate the occasion.

I said “Saand ki Aankh”. My wife told me to watch my tongue. I explained it to her that I am not using a bad word. It is title of a new movie, which means “Bulls eye”. The movie is about two grandmothers, who developed interest in the game of shooting at the age of 65 and won accolades for themselves. I wanted to watch this movie because I wanted to write about it since I watched the trailer.

Movie is a great depiction of two grandmothers standing up to shape up future of their daughters against all odds in a conservative setup. The movie is a worth watch from various perspectives. However I loved one character, which stood out from Leadership perspective. This was the character of Maharani of Jaipur.

Here are the few leadership lessons I picked from her.

1. Let go Ego

Maharani of Jaipur was competing with everyone in shooting competitions. While coming to such competitions she knew that she can lose a game to others. Her ego did not come in her way to do what she loved the most.

After reaching a position of reputation, fear of failure holds people back to participate. It is a great leadership quality to keep the status and ego aside and focus on what you love to do.

2. Sports Spirit

Maharani of Jaipur lost multiple competitions to the two grandmothers. Still she invited both of them to her palace for party. Not only that, she recognized both the grandmothers as chief guests of the party.

Sports spirit is a leadership quality, where you acknowledge the people, who are doing well for the cause you care about.

3. Know How to Delight

Maharani of Jaipur met both the grandmothers at Chandigarh for the first time. That time grandmothers were fascinated with the goggles, Maharani was wearing. When Maharani called them to her palace, she gifted goggles to both the grandmothers. Both the grandmothers were delighted.

Know How to Delight is a wonderful Leadership quality which enhances engagement multi-fold. This comes with observation.

4. Stand for people

After dinner at the palace of Maharani, finger bowls came. Since it was first time for grandmothers, both of them drank from the finger bowls. People started laughing. Maharani picked up the finger bowl and drank from it. Everyone followed suit.

It is easy to laugh at people. It is difficult to stand for them. This leadership quality of standing for people and their respect brings immense respect for leaders themselves.

5. Invest to inspire

The doctor who trained grandmothers was another character showing the similar leadership qualities. His shooting range was burnt by family members of grandmothers. Maharani invested in rebuilding the shooting range so that more girls get inspired and participate in the game of shooting. The shooting range was not in her name. The name of the shooting range was “Saand Ki Aankh”.

Invest to inspire is a leadership quality that promotes the cause you care about and touches the lives of people. Leadership is not about making oneself bigger, it is to make the cause bigger. That is how you bring the best out of the people.

Summary

I realized that I too have Maharani at home – My wife. She is a university topper in English Literature. Still she let go her ego and played scrabble with me. Even when she lost, she showed sports spirit and offered to celebrate. She knows how to delight that is why, she offered to watch a movie because I love watching movies. She keeps correcting my pronunciation but if I make a mistake in public, she stands for me. She has invested in me and that has inspired lot of other people to improve their language skills.

That is how you bring the best out of people.

This is the Author's personal point of view and is not influenced by any person or organization. This is based on what is shown in the movie. Image credit to Team #SaandKiAankh. #HR #Leadership