Can leaders be nice?

After reading a couple of books and magazines on traits of leaders, I am left wondering... can leaders be nice? It is always mentioned that leaders take a had stance of "my way or the highway". They are driven by a dream and align people to what the dream is. They run an organization to make sure that it is ahead of its times, and functioning smoothly at all times. They pay attention to little things (aesthetics, appearance etc.) of their organization. They know when to say what.
This now points me to the question - can leaders be nice to the employees of an organization? Employees are almost always in the firing line. Being a hard-ass is almost an inherent capability of a leader. Does being a hard-ass necessarily mean that they cannot afford to let down their weapons?

Personally, I believe that leaders can be nice. They can treat employees with respect, they can mingle with them like they are peers - we have innumerable examples for this. But, there is a thing or two to note here. From a leaders perspective, she should know where to draw the lines. When the question of aligning to the objectives of the dream, or challenging core values arises, leaders are expected to take a hard stand. They must make sure that while it is very important to maintain good relationships with the team members, it is equally important that no compromises happen on the core values of the dream. They must know where they need to be soft, and where they need to be snotty.
From the employees perspective, it is equally important to draw the line too. They must know their limits, and they must realize that even though they are all working hard to achieve a common goal, there is always that "something extra" that their leader has. It's like a chef in a hotel, who finally adds in a magic touch to anything that she makes. There is always a secret sauce which the leader carries. Not that it is a "secret secret", but there is always some thing which the employees have not thought about, which the leader has. Not realizing this generally leads to a lot of issues. Right from assuming equality at all stages - responsibility and pay-wise, to assuming superiority over the leader. Note that good leaders always hire people better than them in a specific vertical - so it is natural for employees to feel superior than the leader - but it should be in their own vertical. The boss always has collective knowledge of a ton of things and that is why they are where they are.
I believe that the collective result of mutual respect and co-existence of employees and leaders makes the leader a nice person in general. It is not a single person's responsibility. Would like to know your insights too.

The good times are back!

I have again started to get in touch with my musical side. This time, not with drums, but with the guitar! Yeah - just like Slais (a.k.a known as Slash of GnR :)) For now, I only know how to play the C chord, and haven;t cut my fingers yet - so a complete novice.
The better part is that Aanasa, my daughter, is now learning to play the drums. And boy - has she picked up quickly. She knows to play the basic beats, and can now play Waka Waka of Shakira. Oh, and a lot of Nothing Else Matters of Metallica. Co-incidentally, that was the first rock song I heard, thanks to Mandar Amdekar, my guitar-wala cousin. And the next one was Cemetery Gates by Pantera. A little extreme you might say, but I was pretty cool back then. Coming back to Aanasa, I really hope that continues to play and prosper. She is great at creative elements, so percussion might be just the thing for her. Here's hoping to see her play DT one day!
Oh, by the way, Mayur Darda is teaching me to play the guitar, and Aneeket Kate is teaching Aanasa to play the drums. Aneeket has introduced Aanasa and me to the Cajon box, which sounds very cool and is excellent to learn basic beats. Actually, it sounds like the table top drum which I used to play in the engineering college canteen when singing songs with the gang. Only better. Thanks guys! Feels good to be around music and musicians again.

Woken up

Phew! It's been two and a half years since my last update. Many things have changed since then, personally and professionally.
On the personal front. I was once a naive geek, and have now changed to a more broad minded, multi-skilled and much more aware geek. Heck, you can't get the geek out of me! I've interacted with a whole bunch of different people, and have gained a bucketful of knowledge of human behaviour and emotions. On the way, I've made some really good friends, who have seen me through thick and thin and have stayed on as my friends. Kudos to you folks for bearing with me! I've seen the ups and downs of what life can dish out at you, and have stuck on, thanks to tremendous support from Arpita. Together, we make a good team - she with brains, and me with beauty. No seriously, she is the guiding light, and I am the person who gets things done where the light beam is pointed to. Our children have grown up, and for the past year, due to a variety of professional bindings, I could hardly spend time with them. I missed seeing my daughter turn into a big girl, from a little girl. I missed seeing my son grow from a toddler to a little boy. Maybe I can make it up to them now...
Professionally, I have grown leaps and bounds on my view of the education industry - have interacted with the government, with parents, with children, with other educationists, and technology specialists. Putting down my experiences in words is going to be impossible, but I now have a 360 degree view of K-12 education - what it takes to start / re-start and run a school - finances, infrastructure, technology, administration, catering, transport, liasoning and HR. What is missing? Academics! Now what sense does that make? Shouldn't I know most about academics since I am "involved" in K-12 education? Heck, no! I beg to differ. And the people who know me from childhood would be thankful for that.  Academics is best left to Arpita. There is no one who can challenge her on that. She can kick some serious a** in education. She can win arguments about education hands down. For the past many years that she has been involved with education in Millennium National School, she has created waves in education. K-12 academics and organization = Arpita. Simple. Back to me.
Along the way, I have realized that people management is the most crucial of all the roles that anyone ever plays in any industry. Other qualities that are required in the education space are self-realization, emotional intelligence, stick-to-it-ivity and patience. All the things that I have learnt in the past two years, I will put up in separate posts.
Anyway, to sum up, I am now going to be actively posting stuff here. Not that I have any followers, but it would be good to get frank feedback on what I write.