Kite-Flier

The Amazing Kite-Flier

Every ‘Makar Shankranti’ festival the skies of Mumbai are dotted with kites of various shapes and colours. The sight of a kite flying far away never fails to bring a cheer to my heart.

Years ago as a child in Mumbai my passion and obsession was ‘Kite-Flying’, anytime of the year excepting the monsoons. To be a Kite flier one needs to have a good kite, twine, winding reel, eye-hand coordination and lots of patience. It’s a game of passion and energy. Any kite-flyer will know the importance of the above parameters for success.

Of course as a child this came spontaneously. I never realized then that the possession of these few things which were so natural and spontaneous, would be the musings for a few People Management concept.

Well so what has kite-flying really got to do with People Management concepts?

Patience…..Patience, is one of the most important elements in kite-flying. When you start at launching a new kite, it does not immediately soar in the sky. It depends on the Kite (Resource/Person), Wind (Org Culture/Environment/Opportunity) and eye-hand-kite-wind coordination to take it to a favorable wind (Performance) to help it soar to success.This requires patience and lots of it.

A Good Kite-flier knows to choose the Kite/Wind/Direction and combining that with his patience and persistence is able to get his kite to the appropriate level where the wind will take care and help it soar higher.

Is not the kite flier similar to a Good people manager? He needs to replicate similar skills and have a lot of patience to get a resource to fly the wind of success. He has to choose the Resource/Opportunity and help them to identify strengths, nurture them and help them to decide when they can soar higher and sail through turbulent winds.

The second important learning which we can get from kite-flying is to “Let Go”.

A good Kite-flier has mastered and implemented the art of giving enough twine for his kite to soar higher, in short to “Let Go”. When the kite is gliding and swaying and is enjoying the wind, it beckons the kite-flier to, let go the twine. Unless the kite-flier lets-go the twine the kite can’t soar any higher and will be stuck at a particular height.

The Kite-flier controls the kite with the twine and also has an emotional attachment to that control. Unless he is ready to let go, the kite can never soar higher. A good kite-flier who has the passion will let go his kite and make it glide with the Eagles … free to experience the dizzy heights. It is a conflict of emotional control vs the passion to allow another to go scaling new heights and exploring the winds of change and dangerous challenges of other kites……

A Leader is similar to a passionate kite-flier who is ready to let go many things to help his people soar high like the eagles in sky.
He is ready to let go the control so that they soar above like the eagles, which never hide from the storms, infact they fly above the storm by soaring higher….

He is ready to let go the emotional bondage so they can explore the winds of change and explore the different challenges, sometimes together, sometimes alone.

He is ready to let go his personal benchmark and is flexible to scale-up and scale-down to elevate his people till they want to be on their own to explore the un-known and challenge the un-conquered….

To “Not, Let Go” is optional and very often the preferred choice for those kite-fliers and leaders who wish to retain control , cling to existing egoistic benchmark and heights and who wish to be happy with the current and past achieved heights……

As I said Kite-flying is a game of passion and energy and hence “Let Go” so that your Kite (Resources/Goals/Aspirations) can soar higher, higher and higher……

So “Just Let Go” and soar like the Eagle in the sky……It is the only bird which enjoys flying and does not fly only to go from one destination to the other

So what are you waiting for take a kite, tie the twine find a open space, see the direction of wind, give it a twist and then “Just Let Go”………Enjoy….You will marvel at how Amazing a Kite-Flier you are.