Author Sreedhar Bevara: A leader’s job is to get the less capable to roar!

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Many live a tale that has a coming-of-age narrative. But Dubai-based Indian author and corporate leader, Sreedhar Bevara’s story is more like rewinding Slumdog Millionaire(2008). And the lessons that accompany the story of his life, can sure inspire many!

Born in Andhra Pradesh’s Vantharam village, Bevara recalls growing up in a family that “struggled to meet ends” to the extent of having “days when (they) had to simply wait in anticipation, someone will call (them) today for lunch or dinner”, or “someone will offer a ride to avoid walking miles”. Rising from that time of acute financial constraint, he now lives in the present where he has recently come up with his second leadership book, The Roaring Lambs, which is a fable about finding the leader in oneself.

Coming from a humble background is not just a “make or break” test of character, for Bevara, but paints an opportunity for one to script an extraordinary tale of resilience. “Poverty can play hard by destroying lives, separating families and ruining people in the most unceremonious and unpredictable manner. It can have a piercing impact on the thought process of the victims, can cut deep into their ideological frame and even raise doubt on the functioning of the society,” says Bevara, who started his career as a waiter and street vendor and gradually rose the ladder to make it to a corporate board. He opines, “Below the poverty line is an uphill task with daily battles to be fought only to sustain the day. There’s no bigger learning than from failures and hardships. Real situations of life can teach greater lessons and that was my fortune, having gone through much in my early life.”

And IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, and member of the Goa State Innovation Council Advising, Bevara adds, “Street vending, working in a chicken shop, or even joining as a waiter for a salary of $10 a month — everything that happened was to survive the ordeal of the day, which went on for a good number of years before making it to college again — inexpressibly huge thanks to my teacher, guru, mentor and my father-figure Murali (BMR) my older brother, who helped me find the leader within, to pursue a life in a greater sense of purpose to lead. (He’s) the epitome of brotherhood, and remains my driving force, despite us having lost him to a valiant battle against cancer in 2017.”

Can a lamb learn to roar? This book attempts to explain how.
Can a lamb learn to roar? This book attempts to explain how.

After his debut book, Moment of Signal, the idea of his second work of writing was sparked by his younger brother, Giri, who is also a storyteller. “More than a decade ago, we were discussing a few storylines for movies,” he recounts, adding, “A few years later, I came across a quote by Alexander the Great: I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep, I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. The central message was that a leader’s ultimate job is to get the less capable to roar and excel in their respective lives. Being a diehard fan of The Jungle Book and The Lion King, I started weaving my next story around it.”

Teaching some essential hacks on how to survive in times of peril and finding some commonality between the laws that govern the real and real-life jungles, his new book aims to show a mirror to the leader inside the reader, but not in the usual self-help way. He explains: “In a jungle, the survival of the fittest is the ultimate truth! The weaker animal gets eaten in what is considered a natural food chain. But, some have been tampering with the organic arrangement for selfish gains and resorting to mass murder. What happens when a good leader chooses to stand up to injustice and decides to help the weak to stand up to it? Weakening the weaker section will weaken the entire society. A leader’s only job is to enable the lesser fight for the society’s overall existence in harmony.”

This book also questions if a bunch of fearful lambs can learn to roar. And in retrospect of his life, the answer that the author finds for himself is that “The lion may be a born champion, but if it doesn’t respect the law of the jungle, like everyone else, it will also flounder. The lamb may be a meek animal, but even the meek can roar in defence, and as loud as the strongest when push comes to shove. In the jungle or the corporate world or anywhere where life is competitive and where life thrives to progress, it automatically roars. It’s not about making loud threatening noise, war cry, warning or winning. Roaring is to simply survive, and in this highly competitive world, roaring needs to be the fundamental quality of a survival especially! Roaring means fully knowing well about the situation one is in and applying the best approach to sustain,” he sums up.

Author tweets @siddhijainn

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