A while back, I shared a story about how my sister and I, as teenagers living in a small slum in Mumbai, saved for weeks to buy a Pilot Pen. That pen taught us our first lessons of leadership in goal setting, perseverance, and shared purpose.
Today, I want to tell you what happened thirty years later.
By this time, life looked very different. I was living in the US, and my sister had built a good life for herself and her family. During one of my trips to India, while shopping for gifts, I came across a pack of Pilot Pens, ten of them, neatly arranged in a box.
It instantly brought back a flood of memories from those long nights at the factory, the excitement of saving every rupee to the day we finally held that shiny pen in our hands. It felt symbolic. So, I bought the pack, thinking it would be a meaningful gift for my nephew, something that would connect him to our story and maybe inspire him the way it once inspired us.
A few years later, I was visiting India again. While working on some paperwork at my sister’s house, I asked my nephew to bring me one of those pens. He looked at me for a second and said casually, “I lost them.”
All of them.
I won’t lie, I was angry. For me, those pens carried decades of meaning. They weren’t just pens. They represented struggle, resilience, and pride. Losing all of them felt careless, almost disrespectful.
Later that evening, I talked to my sister about it. She listened quietly and then asked a few questions that completely shifted my perspective.
She said, “Did you ever tell him why you bought those pens? Did you explain what they meant to you, or what they symbolized? Did you share the story behind them? Or did you just assume he would feel what you felt? And one more thing: did you buy those pens for him or for yourself?”
Those questions hit me hard.
The truth was, I hadn’t given him any context. To me, the Pilot Pen was a symbol of hard work and aspiration. To him, it was just… a pack of pens. Something he could easily replace.
That moment reminded me of an important leadership truth – meaning is not automatically transferred; it must be communicated.
Just like my nephew couldn’t appreciate the story behind those pens without context, people on our teams can’t fully connect to a goal or a vision unless we help them understand why it matters.
Here is what I took away from that experience:
- Context builds connection. If you want people to care, help them see the meaning behind the mission.
- Empathy matters. Not everyone’s journey is the same. What feels sacred to you might feel ordinary to someone else.
- Clarity beats assumption. Expectations left unspoken often lead to disappointment.
- Purpose should serve others, not just yourself. Leadership isn’t about reliving your story through others; it’s about helping them write their own.
That day, I learned that leadership doesn’t stop at setting goals or achieving success. It’s about storytelling, giving meaning, sharing purpose, and helping others understand the why behind the what.
And just like that, the same Pilot Pen that once taught me the power of ambition, taught me again – this time, the power of context.
Bhavin Gandhi's Blog 