The Question That Shaped My Purpose & Leadership

A Childhood That Was Close to Real Life

My childhood exposed me to communities and people whose realities were very different from my own.

My father worked closely with the Federal movement and communities in rural areas. We lived around places where forests, villages, workers and everyday struggles were part of normal life.

I was young. I did not understand the larger social or economic picture. But I was often around people who were trying to create opportunities for others.

In 2002, I was asked to connect with local youngsters and encourage them to attend an event focused on employment, business and self-employment opportunities.

At that age, my thinking was simple. If an opportunity could help someone, why wouldn't they come?

I was about to learn why that assumption was wrong.

The Question I Never Forgot

While giving invitations to people, an elderly woman stopped me. She was part of a community where daily wages were essential for survival.

She asked me a simple question in Marathi:

“Should I send both of them, or is it okay if I send only one?”

I didn't understand why she was asking.

I enthusiastically told her that both could come. Then she explained that her family survived on daily wages. If both people attended the programme, there might not be enough money left to eat that evening.

I was 12. But that day, something in the way I understood the world changed.

When Opportunity Is Not Equally Accessible

That experience taught me something that many leadership discussions overlook.

An opportunity can exist without being accessible.

A programme can be valuable without being practical for everyone. A solution can be well-designed and still fail to consider the reality of the people it is intended to serve.

This is true far beyond social work. It applies to organizations, learning, transformation, technology and leadership.

Good intentions are not enough. We have to understand context.

The Man Who Became a Compass

Another major influence in this journey was V. Vishwanathan Sir. For me, he was more than a mentor. He became a moral compass.

I watched him dedicate his time and resources toward helping artisans, unorganized-sector workers, rural communities and people who often had very little visibility or influence.

His contribution was not built around recognition. It was built around service.

That is a different definition of leadership.

What People Don't See About Service

Over the years, I met many people whose lives taught me something.

• A worker who could not afford to lose a day's income.
• A young person who could study only on limited days because the rest of the week was spent working.
• A parent who continued supporting another person's learning despite their own difficulties.
• People who quietly sacrificed their own comfort to help others.

These experiences changed my understanding of impact.

Social work is often described as noble. But behind meaningful service there can also be sacrifice, uncertainty, loneliness and difficult choices.

Purpose is not always comfortable. Sometimes purpose asks us to give something up.

The Leadership Lesson

There is an important lesson here for anyone who leads people.

Leadership is not only about deciding what should happen. It is about understanding what a decision means to the people affected by it.

A leader may see: “We are creating an opportunity.”

Someone else may experience: “Can I afford to take this opportunity?”

Those are two completely different perspectives. The distance between them is where empathy becomes important.

From Empathy to Action

Empathy by itself is not leadership. Leadership begins when empathy changes what we do.

It may mean changing a programme. It may mean redesigning a process. It may mean making learning more accessible. It may mean listening before implementing.

Or it may simply mean recognizing that people do not all begin from the same place.

The question we should therefore ask is not only:

“What are we delivering?”

But also:
“What does this mean for the person receiving it?”

Purpose Is Often Discovered, Not Designed

People often talk about finding their purpose. But purpose does not always arrive as a carefully designed career statement.

Sometimes it emerges from experience.

A person you meet. A problem you cannot ignore. A moment that stays with you. A question that continues to echo years later.

For me, that question came from a 12-year-old boy's inability to understand why everyone could not simply attend an opportunity.

The Connection to Learning

This is particularly relevant to learning and capability development.

We often measure learning through:

• Courses completed
• Certifications earned
• Hours spent learning
• Assessments passed
• Skills acquired

But meaningful learning should eventually answer another question:

What changed because the person learned?

Did their confidence improve? Did their judgement improve? Did they make better decisions? Did they create better outcomes? Did they help someone else?

Learning becomes powerful when it moves beyond knowledge and becomes capability.

And capability becomes meaningful when it creates value for people and organizations.

Leadership Is Not Always Loud

The most influential leaders are not necessarily the most visible.

Some lead through titles. Others lead through example. Some lead from a boardroom. Others lead by simply refusing to walk away from a problem.

Some leaders are remembered for what they achieved. Others are remembered for the lives they changed.

That distinction matters.

The Question Still Lives With Me

Years have passed since that moment. But I still remember the woman's voice. I still remember the question. And I still think about the choice she had to make.

It reminds me that behind every programme, project, organization or transformation are human beings living with different realities.

The tools may change. The industries may change. The technology may change.

But the human question remains:

A Different Definition of Success

Perhaps success should not be measured only by how much we achieve for ourselves.

Perhaps it should also be measured by how much possibility we create for others.

You do not need enormous wealth to create impact. You do not need authority to help someone. You do not need a famous title to lead.

Sometimes you simply need to notice. Listen. Understand. And refuse to turn away.

The Question We Should All Ask

Perhaps every leader should occasionally stop and ask:

• Who benefits from what I am doing?
• Who might be excluded by the way I am doing it?
• What reality am I not seeing?
• What responsibility comes with the opportunity I have?
• If I were standing on the other side of my decision, would I experience it the same way?

These questions do not provide easy answers. But they can create better leaders.