As a self-proclaimed introvert, I spend a lot of time in my own head. And when I say a lot, I mean enough time to probably qualify for permanent residency there. I imagine conversations that may never happen. I replay my responses. I sometimes react emotionally to those imaginary conversations… and then suddenly remember, “Wait, this entire drama is happening inside my head.” So yes, let’s just say my headspace is my comfort zone.
Because of this, I often find myself building dilemmas ; layered, tangled, puzzle like dilemmas that feel like someone took a bunch of thoughts, tied them into knots and quietly walked away.
And then, sometimes, a conversation comes along and starts untangling those knots. One by one.
Recently, one such dilemma was around the connection between content, talking about content, and understanding how that content becomes relatable.
In my head, I started seeing this as three levels of how we map content and communicate what we know.
The clarity came during one of my conversations with someone I deeply look up to. I never quite knew what to call these once-in-a-few-months conversations with her. They were not exactly mentoring sessions. Not exactly catch-ups. So she named it.
We now call it “Our Sanity Corner” and I absolutely love that. Sometimes, that is exactly what a good conversation does. It gives your thoughts a chair, a cup of tea, and asks them to behave.
Level 1: “I just need to do my job.”
The novice version of me used to believe that the connection between work and recognition was very simple:Do your job well. The right people will notice.
That was it. No storytelling. No visibility. No explanation. Just good work, quietly done.
There is something sincere and beautiful about that belief. But over time, I realized it was also a little incomplete. Because the world is full of people doing good work. Quiet excellence is wonderful, but sometimes it is also… very quiet.
Level 2: “I did the job, and now I can talk about it.”
As I saw more of the world and its many perspectives, I realized that it was not enough to just do the job. I also needed to talk about what I had done.
What did I do?
How did I do it?
Why did it matter?
So I started building the story.
But if I am honest, at this stage, the story was still more like a summary. A neat little compressed version of events. Mostly because fewer words to me meant less effort to elaborate. And there was still that tiny inner voice saying: “I did the work. I explained the work. If you still don’t understand it, that sounds like your problem.”
Level 3: “It is not just about my story. It is about the listener.”
Then, as I listened more, observed more, and experienced more, I began to understand something deeper. Storytelling is not just about doing the job.
It is not even just about articulating what you have done from your own headspace.
Real storytelling is about understanding the person listening to you.
Their context.
Their capacity.
Their priorities.
Their ability to connect the dots from where they are standing.
It is about shaping the story in a way that helps them not just hear you but truly understand you. That, I realized, is the real skill. Not just communication or articulation but connection
And then came the leadership connection
I have always felt there is a difference between people who manage people because their role demands it, and people who are genuinely passionate about people with or without a formal “people manager” title.
But I could never fully explain that difference in words.
During our Sanity Corner conversation, this naturally connected back to leadership. Not the shiny corporate version of leadership with big titles . But the human version of leadership ; the kind where someone truly leads with people.
And then she gave me the clearest image. She described Level 3 as someone standing at the top of a mountain.
From there, they can see the road ahead. Not just the straight stretch, but the curves, the turns, the bumps, the difficult patches, and the miles still to go.
But the person standing down the hill may only see the road immediately in front of them. Maybe one curve. Maybe two, if they are lucky.
A leader who is truly passionate about people does not stand on top of the mountain and shout, “Good luck, everyone! Lots of curves ahead!”
They observe the road carefully. They understand what is coming. Then they come down to the team and break the journey into steps.
One step at a time.
One turn at a time.
One manageable stretch at a time.
And while the team keeps moving forward, that leader quietly works in the background to smoothen the turns ahead. They remove a few bumps. They make a few sharp corners easier. They absorb some of the complexity before it reaches the team.
By the time the team gets there, they may not even realize how difficult that part of the road could have been. They simply keep moving.
And the leader? The leader smiles quietly with a little contentment, and probably a few drops of sweat that no one else noticed.
Content, knowledge, wisdom and people
That mountain image stayed with me.
Content is what is in front of you.
Knowledge is understanding what it means.
Wisdom is knowing how to translate it for others.
Leadership is using that wisdom to help people move forward without making them carry the full weight of every complexity you can see.
To me, that is what sets apart people who are truly passionate about people.
They don’t just pass information around like office stationery. They translate it, simplify it, humanize it and quietly make the road easier for others.
Sometimes the team may never know how many bumps were smoothened before they got there. They simply keep moving, while the leader smiles in the background slightly tired, quietly proud, and possibly in need of coffee.
Finding more people like that
I feel grateful to have met a few who truly belong to this “Passionate about People” category.
People who do not just manage work, but care about the humans doing the work.
People who understand that communication is not about sounding impressive. It is about helping others understand, relate, and move forward.
People who can stand on the mountain, see the road ahead, and still choose to walk beside the team.
Our Sanity Corner conversation reminded me that I want to keep finding such people. And more importantly, I want to keep learning how to be like them.
Passionate about people.
Clear in thought.
Kind in translation.
And always willing to smooth the road ahead even if it means sweating a little quietly in the background.
Anecdotes of the ordinary 
Leave a comment