“Some leaders are born women.” (Geraldine Ferraro)
Women and leadership were considered a misfit until some time ago but times are changing. There are and have been so many influential women leaders, and they have proved that they are a perfect fit for leadership. Even after so many years, women face gender stereotypes all around the world. Women like Mother Teresa, Priyanka Chopra, Lilly Singh have transcended all the limiting beliefs and have navigated amazingly through the gender bias labyrinth. For this exercise, i was supposed to interview a women leader or answer the questions myself. I’m not a conventional leader yet but i do lead a very small group. Sadly, i could not get hold of any leader in a week’s time so i’ll be answering the questions myself according to my experience. Like Robin Sharma says, ” Lead without a title”. You do not have to be The President to lead; you can lead wherever you are as to lead is to serve.
I’m a 23 years old dentist from India. I moved to Canada almost two months ago, and I started a group for mental health awareness about seven months ago especially among kids because that is the age where it starts. Most of the mental health disorders are young rooted and are a result of something traumatic that happened during early childhood. Why I started this group? I was myself a patient with anxiety in my teens as i was bullied in school but I was never diagnosed or treated because mental health disorders are the biggest stigma in India. With time I was diagnosed, and my mother has been my best support and counselor ever since. Those tough years are in the past, and they shaped me a lot. Then one day I found my 14 years old cousin sister going through something similar and that was it, I knew somebody has to talk about it and help these kids. I knew it would not be easy as this topic makes everyone uncomfortable, including a lot of my family and friends and this is at times considered disgraceful as well. My motivating factor was greater than my fears, and I started a community on social medial platform kids use the most, Instagram and called it Letters to my 12-year-old self. I was aware that it is hard to ask for help mostly because of fear of being judged and not being understood so I posted a series of posts to share my own story and this way everyone struggling knew they could talk to me. This was also my attempt to break the stigma and sharing my story was so scary because it is a sensitive and personal part of my life and putting it out there was tough, but I’m glad I did it. It was indeed one of the most liberating things ever. I’m attaching the link to the post here, https://www.instagram.com/p/BaGErQCFo-M/?taken-by=letterstomy12yearoldself , https://www.instagram.com/p/BaGQHvRlyxR/?taken-by=letterstomy12yearoldself , https://www.instagram.com/p/BaGd-O5lhmh/?taken-by=letterstomy12yearoldself .
The community grew fast, it has been almost seven months since I started it and it has about 172 people attached to it. The biggest challenge I faced was that some were calling me an attention seeker and others were saying that people are joining me because I’m a girl and somehow that is working in my favor. I’m glad that I did not stop. I kept telling myself that I’m doing this for my kid cousin and other people who are struggling. I knew precisely how lost one could feel in times like these and how it is so out of your control. Another struggle was to make everyone understand the problem here. Usually, mental health illness is considered as something you can distract yourself from, but it is not how it works. Your mind is working against you, and it is hard to control that. With time I started reading and learning more about it, and the statistics blew my mind. So many young kids in India ended their lives every day due to depression and anxiety and it broke my heart that something so curable is doing this. All this made my mission more meaningful, and I was determined to do my part to help. It did work, so many people connected with me shared their story, and they even started talking about it and speaking awareness and reaching out to others. It became like a positive web where everyone is helping each other. My mother has continuously told me that she is proud of me for this venture, and so is my cousin and other family and friends. A lot of my cousin’s friends are in constant contact with me, and nothing makes me happier than helping all these kids and making them realize how important mental health and being kind is. To be honest, all the criticism faded away in the heartwarming results.
If I had to give an advice to women leaders is to believe in yourself. Criticism is inevitable, but you need to listen to your inner voice. You will be called too manly for being strong and naive for being lenient. Being yourself and being true to your vision is the best way to get through gender bias. Not giving up is another important thing, keep going because sooner or later you will get there. And lastly, don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself. Be reasonably fearless and just know that your mission is greater than you and God is by your side helping you at every step.
I’m attaching the link to my community page here- https://www.instagram.com/letterstomy12yearoldself/
The link to my personal Instagram account- https://www.instagram.com/sehajpreetk/
What a powerful story of transformational servant leadership! You have created an authentic and safe places for young people as they grow and face challenges — and I imagine your participants are deeply grateful for your continued persistence with this work, despite the challenge you have faced.
Your story reminds me of this quote by theologian Frederick Beuchner:
“The place God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meets.”
Because of your personal experience, you are uniquely positioned to meet this need in the world. Too often, as leaders (and particularly as women leaders), we do not “lean in,” as Sheryl Sandberg urges us to in her book by the same title. Instead, in the name of humility or a sense of security (or in response to those who call us too naive or assertive or any number of critiques), we lean out. In such cases, we often neglect to consider the good we could do, if we only accepted the challenge of leadership.
The world needs leaders exactly like you — those who see a need and use their own experience, expertise, and compassion, to meet that need.
Thanks for sharing your story here!
Thank you so much for your kind words. It means so much to me and indeed women often lean out but we need to remind them that there is nothing wrong with leaning in or being criticised. It is all a part of the process and to not give in to gender bias. As I have mentioned in my post several times, women have immense strength in themselves, it is about time they recognize and use it. Thank you for your appreciation, again.