Based on the following article, what are five lessons we can take away in good leadership?
SMALL CITY, BIG IMPACT 
A cheerleader for the transformative power of Diagnostics, Dr Aparna Jairam is engineering change where it is needed the most: Small towns and Tier 2/3 cities of India - through an exemplary ethic of quality, speed and service. 

MEET THE LEADER 
Aparna Jairam (Aparna Subhashchandra Mulye, MD Pathology) is the Founder and Director of Asavlee Labs - The first setup: A state of the art diagnostics hub which is also the first NABH certified pathology lab in the area of Virar in Palghar District featuring a comprehensive setup that includes microbiology, infertility and immunology.

Dr. Aparna Jairam is an NABL assessor and Hon. Secretary of CAHO Diagnostic Division, and APPI Managing Committee Member. She is an active participant in National, Regional and International conferences and CMEs. She has also hosted CAHO conference as Jt. Organizing secretary (April 2019, Mumbai) along with several national conferences in India through APPI. In the past, she has been a Consultant (Chief of Operations & Immunology) for a long and eventful stretch of 18 years at SRL Diagnostics and Dr. Avinash Phadke's Lab. 
Dr Jairam’s expertise straddles a diverse set of domains including Healthcare & Diagnostics (Operations, Purchases, Stocks), Quality system procedure for NABL/NABH, Human Resources-hiring and training, Start-up and green field projects, Data Analysis. She harbours a keen interest in sections like Immunology, Biochemistry, Clinical pathology, Infertility markers, Infectious Markers and Automation in Microbiology 

THE PERSONA BEHIND THE PERSONALITY 
We begin the session by requesting the idea-driven stalwart to capture her personal and professional identity in brief for our readers -the way she interprets and defines it. Dr Aparna Jairam obliges, saying… 

“Challenges are opportunities. The bigger the challenges, the bigger the opportunities. I am born to work with passion and love networking. I believe continuous learning and education is the only route to success - be it in medicine or marketing - and that’s what helps me stay focused on growth at both person and organizational level.” 

SUCCESS MANTRA 
We are curious. What is the big idea or philosophy that drives Dr Jairam? What, in short, is her mantra to success? She shares…

“Never say Die, I always believe that there is a big plan for my Asavlee labs journey, and go to the places where no one goes. I focus only on 3 things - Service, Turn around time and personalised quality.”

GENERATING INFLUENCE 
Her sincerity and dedicated approach to life and work has been delivering significant and sustained impact on the ground. We urge her to elaborate on the details…

“With more and more consolidation, people are busy focussing on rates and digital space, whereas the ideas on which we are focussing - such as Education, Service and TAT - are the only things which will give us organic growth and we have seen the same in the last 4 years, as we expanded from one centre to 21 currently”, says Dr.  Aparna Jairam.

TURNING POINT 
Every leader’s journey has its inflexion point, one that alters the course irreversibly and points to expedient future horizons. Was there any such occasion in her life? A person or life-altering experience that changed her ‘overarching direction’? As it turns out, there is. The idea leader reminisces…

“Yes, the credit goes to my Aai (mother). She was only 10th pass but she dreamt big. It was a life changing, 360 degree altering experience. Back then I was leading a corporate chain as COO and had earned a significant amount of goodwill, respect and money as well. Aai was very sick. Almost on her death bed, she told me prophetically that my real skill set is communication, knowledge and empowering people. I was in the wrong job. I should, instead, start an enterprise where I can touch and make a difference to the lives of people through correct diagnosis and on-time service. She even told me that the name of the enterprise must be ASAVLEE, which means KALPAVRUKSHA. Unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough to seen her vision come to life. I lost her in 2013. Subsequently, I left my high paying corporate job, gathered all my savings and began my entrepreneurial odyssey in the April of 2017 from Virar, a Tier II city. My labs today are called as Asavlee - Dr.Aparna’s Pathology Laboratories.

TOUCHING LIVES, TRANSFORMING FUTURES
The passion and drive of a truly committed leader always rubs off on team, partners and the  ecosystem. So how has Aparna’s mantra been influencing & impacting her professional life and work, and the lives and mindsets of her teams? Dr. Jairam elaborates…

“My philosophy to life and work has stood me in good stead right throughout my journey. It has taught me many things, such as…. 

- What we think as our achievement can actually turn out to be a failure, because people tend to respect the title and designation, not the person.

- I learnt that my truest friends are only my parents, my family and my friends. 

- One must listen to one’s gut - it never misguides.

- It is important to dream big.

- Things we must do everyday are: Getting up whenever you feel…  smiling a lot… going for walks… and never stop having faith.

- Yes, God has a plan and that’s why I am on this road.

- Self targets and constant improvisation is critical to success. 

- No idea is bad, try it if it is convincing.

- Turnarounds are good but not enough - it must be accompanied by recovery.

- Education is real power.

- Most importantly, I am proud of the fact that Asavlee labs supports the livelihoods of so many families of my extended staff. We would love to create many more such opportunities via social empowerment and community employment. We train the staff and make their job and performance ready.

FORWARD VISION 
So what’s next for Dr. Jairam? What are the big goals and challenges she wants to address, going forward? She confides candidly…

“Asavlee labs would like to reach in all the remote places with this idea and provide the quality reports and interpretation in the fastest time and help the community.”

ADVICE FOR THE NEXT GEN 
“The idea of continuing education along with quality is here to stay. Our next generation must focus on empowering themselves by upskilling and always ask the question to themselves: Is this going to help anyone? If the answer is YES, then go ahead.”

A WORD ABOUT VOH 
A brief but enlightening session is about to conclude. We prepare to sign off by requesting Dr. Aparna Jairam to share a word or two about VOH, and how tribute profiles such as Idea Leaders are important to add direction, inspiration and positive energy to the healthcare community. The intrepid, idea-lead champion of progress obliges generously…

“An organisation like VOH is a great platform, and is creating and recognising younger talents - not based on age but according to merit and potential. This will motivate leaders to startup something to employ more population and reach and transform new places. These recognitions will create a macroscopic vision and space, and nurture the energy of smaller entrepreneurs like me, who dare to jump into a sea of corporates - and create something niche and memorable with the right diagnosis and future-ready interpretation.”