Tale of the Coconut

Leadership is like a Coconut, hard on the outside, yet nurturing on the inside

First thing’s first, we were lucky that we bought a coconut for the challenge on getting a quote. Well, turned out it was much simpler than if it were to be, say, crackers, which we were tempted to buy just to fulfil this task. Thank heavens if not what kind of leadership quote are we going to get from crackers! (Okay, maybe we could go with a leader should not crack under pressure. Get it? Never mind.)

Jokes aside, the day started out being rather hectic as we had to meet a deadline of reporting at 7.50am for a Leadership event. Honestly, the general consensus was that the next 3 hours was going to be an epic waste of time (for which could be spent doing work). I was so wrong. The next three hours turned out to be the most memorable, fun-filled three hours spent in Chiang Mai.

The Amazing Race tested our team’s fortitude amidst circumstances that were less than desirable. We not only emerged unscathed, we thrived under the pressure! It was a dazzling display of leadership and camaraderie. The perfect synergy of our strengths left me awestruck. The positivity of Xinyu, the assurance of Yong Jia, the resourcefulness of Joyce, the cool-headedness of Phuong – I couldn’t have wished for a better team!

The race culminated into an exhausting mile dash to the finish line which proved to be the most challenging yet rewarding accomplishment of our team. Encouragements rang around. Motivational mantras filled the air.  We were all heavily invested in the victory of our team and no obstacle would stand in our way. We huffed and puffed (yes, very cliché, I know) to the finish line. And guess what. We emerged victorious!

As the event closed with a reflective session, it left me pondering about leadership. Classically and stereotypically, a leader is seen as a person giving instructions while the rest follows his lead. It focuses solely on a person’s vision for the team, and while the rest could provide suggestions to him, he guides and charges ahead. However, why not take the mantle off the individual and make everybody a leader. Looking back at the Amazing Race, I feel that the role of a leader can be a vacant spot, and each individual can fill the hollow with their own strengths. This way, leadership becomes shared, and everybody has a stake in its success. No one leads the team, the team leads the team.

As a reward to our hard morning, my team decided to head to the Huay Kaew waterfalls to unwind. Dipping our feet into the clear spring waters. It was a quiet respite from our busy schedule in Chiang Mai in the calming serenity of the luscious waterfalls. I could feel the stress of travel ebb away slowly. It was therapeutic to be able to truly reconnect with nature, far from the dizzying busyness of city life engulfs us back in Singapore. But of course, the swashbuckling tendencies of 20 year-olds soon got the better of us and thus the relaxing ‘spa’ session turned into the adventure of conquering the peak of the waterfall. We had a whale of our time (totally forgetting about the woes of doing research).

-Day 5