
Climbing Mountains: Rethinking Leadership for Changing World
climbing to the top—it is about helping others rise with you. In a changing world, leaders must manage energy, spark curiosity, and build cultures of authenticity.
Leadership in today’s workplace is no longer about designations or hierarchies. It is about vision, energy, and authenticity. More than ever before, organisations need leaders who can prepare people for change, align them around purpose, and help them thrive in uncertain times.Over the years, I have found that effective leadership rests on five principles: cultivating constructive discontent, managing energy rather than just time, changing culture through questions, treating positivity as a currency, and leading with authenticity. Together, these principles can transform not only organisations but also the people within them.
Constructive discontent
Leaders must celebrate achievements, but they must not stop there. Constructive discontent means being satisfied yet restless—always curious about how to do better. This mindset prevents organisations from stagnating and ensures a culture of continuous improvement. The best leaders treat deficiencies not as failures but as opportunities. They encourage teams to experiment, learn, and grow—knowing that what seems like a shortfall today could be the starting point of tomorrow’s breakthrough.
Energy, not just time
While time management has long been emphasised, the real resource of leadership is energy. Exhausted teams cannot deliver excellence, no matter how well their hours are scheduled. Leaders must therefore invest in energy—encouraging people to focus on work that excites them, protecting them from burnout, and helping them find purpose. When energy thrives, performance follows. A culture that prizes energy management over long hours creates resilience, creativity, and sustainable success.
Culture Begins with Questions
Great leaders do not impose change; they spark it. By asking the right questions, they invite teams to think, innovate, and collaborate. A thoughtful question can break silos, ignite curiosity, and transform passive employees into active contributors. Over time, a questioning culture shifts an organisation from compliance to learning. It builds adaptability and ensures that people are not just executing tasks but shaping the future.
Positivity as currency
Positivity is not soft—it is strategic. Organisations that capture and celebrate small wins build momentum for bigger ones. Leaders who encourage optimism and risk-taking without selfish motives create a bull market of opportunity. When positivity circulates freely, people feel safe to take risks, share ideas, and expand their horizons. This culture of optimism fuels innovation and strengthens trust.
Authenticity and vision
Authenticity is the foundation of trust. Leaders must show up as themselves—transparent, intuitive, and inclusive. When leaders are genuine, they create safe spaces for others to do the same. At the same time, authenticity must be paired with vision. A clear and compelling vision aligns energy and gives direction. Leadership is ultimately about balancing authenticity with alignment: being true to oneself while inspiring collective purpose.
The Mountain Metaphor
I often compare leadership to climbing mountains. The summit is not personal success—it is the collective elevation of a team or organisation. And once the summit is reached, the leader’s role is to look toward the next peak, preparing others for the climb ahead.rance that they are not alone in this journey.
Call to action
The world of work is changing fast. As leaders, the real question we must ask ourselves is this: Are we climbing alone, or are we helping others ascend with us? Leadership is not about how high we go—it is about how many people rise alongside us. The leaders who will succeed in the years ahead will not just manage tasks; they will cultivate energy, curiosity, and purpose. And in doing so, they will not just climb mountains—they will move them.
(The writer, India’s first female IPS officer, is former lieutenant governor of Puducherry)