About 48 hours after departing Pittsburgh, I have finally arrived in Mussoorie to write this blog post. My journey started with a Pittsburgh-Newark connection; then, I spent five hours in the Newark Airport before a 15-hour flight to Delhi. Neither the layover nor the international flight were as grueling as I anticipated. I ended up meeting a woman on the Pittsburgh flight that was equally lost as I was trying to find my next gate, and we ultimately spent over two hours eating lunch and sharing about our lives. She is a Pittsburgh-based writer for a think tank, but she seeks to retire soon with her two pitbulls in Valencia, Spain. Hence, she was departing for Madrid that evening.
After my lunch with this woman, I united with Simon, Alex, and Anita and time passed rather quickly. The flight itself was also not terrible, as half of it was spent sleeping. I highly enjoyed watching Everything Everywhere All at Once and pondering its themes about carving meaning out of the vastness of the universe. Despite some alarming thunderstorm-induced turbulence toward the end of the flight, we landed quickly and safely in Delhi. Once everyone had claimed their bags and cleared customs, we boarded a bus in route to our hotel accommodations for a short night in Delhi.
The first thing I noticed upon leaving the airport was a palpable dampness. A thick smog covered the moon and illuminated the horizon on all sides. The next day, on our eight-hour bus ride to Mussoorie, I noticed more of this dampness, but it was also likely an effect of rainy weather. The rainy conditions added more complexity to the chaos of driving on Indian roads, especially crowded ones. Lane demarcations did not exist everywhere on our ride, but even when they were provided, they served as mere suggestions. Drivers would at times drift toward one lane but simply straddle the middle instead. Aside from watching individuals dart across the street at random times and motorcycles snaking through lines of cars, I spent the bus ride playing games with other students in my group.
The games continued in the bus until we reached Mussoorie, where steep switchbacks afforded stunning views of the Dehradun valley. We promptly received a tour of the Hanifl Centre, ate dinner a few hours later, and closed the day with a brisk hike. We are all extremely excited to explore the gorgeous mountain scenery in the days to come.
In the meantime, some reflection on leadership development is warranted. How have my experiences so far provided new insights about the origin and execution of leadership? My first set of insights concerns the interaction between leadership and the cultural context in which it occurs. Though I have only met and observed a few Indian guides in our program, I have already sensed that politeness and kindness constitute key cultural values. As a result, I wonder how readily my wilderness instructors will provide negative feedback outside of formal trainings. I also note that the wilderness instructors, restaurant workers, and bus drivers I have observed on this trip tend to apply a flexible, unperturbed approach to stressful tasks that may speak to a broader pattern in Indian society. Thus, the leadership I learn at Hanifl may contain a large emphasis on adaptability and comfort with discomfort. I am excited to internalize these values (and I would love to speak further with the bus driver about how he remained so calm in tight, confusing situations).
After learning about outdoor leadership over the semester and seeing leadership in action today during the bus rides, I am led to believe that leaders nurture their crafts over time, instead of inheriting some inborn talent. Certainly, qualities like intelligence and empathy can support effective leadership in general. However, to thrive in a high stakes, rapidly evolving environment like a highway with no lanes, leaders must have practiced their skills frequently. Every leadership scenario rewards a different set of characteristics, so leaders must be willing to adapt their styles and further specialize in diverse situations.
This process of adapting a leadership style is, to me, the hardest part about effective leadership. Somewhere in every personal leadership philosophy must exist phrasing that enables application across various scenarios. We begin to identify with a particular approach and style, but we must remember that leadership must be responsive, too. For example, I tend to adopt a organized, logical, and somewhat demanding style in leadership positions. However, I must also recognize the importance of championing empathy and relatability when I am leading New Member Education sessions for my fraternity. Every situation places unique constraints on leaders.