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Tiny Bosses, Big Lessons

Ann Venkataraman
Great New Reads
Published in
4 min readFeb 8, 2025

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I have always known that leadership is about showing up consistently, whether or not anyone is watching. But it was not until recently—watching my preschool daughter “read” a book to her younger baby brother—that I experienced an unexpected, powerful reminder of how leadership emerges in the simplest daily moments.

A Tiny Storyteller in Action

Picture this: my preschooler perched on the sofa, flipping through a brightly colored picture book, her little brother snuggled close by her side.

She can not actually read yet, but she is retelling the story from memory—gleefully pointing to the pictures, adding dramatic flair, and taking on all the voices she has heard me use during our nightly book reading and story time sessions. My son, captivated, hangs on her every word as though it is straight from the pages.

At first glance, it is another simple but adorable sibling moment. But if we look closer, there is a poignant lesson in leadership hiding in the sound of her enthusiastic “reading.”

My daughter is modeling the effort and care I put into my own storytelling—something I have done repeatedly, in the quiet, unobserved corners of our daily routine. Now she is…

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Great New Reads
Great New Reads

Published in Great New Reads

Career Advice for New Grads and Young Professionals. Articles to help you get promoted, accelerate your career and double your income!

Ann Venkataraman
Ann Venkataraman

Written by Ann Venkataraman

Global tech leader & Mom. Follow me to receive insightful posts on how to 3X your income using career acceleration techniques.