Top of Mind

The Libran prayer: “Lord, help me to be more decisive… but on the other hand, what do You think?”

“Finally it is Faith that cures.”- Mother

‘In a contrary balance to earth’s truth of things The gross weighs less, the subtle counts for more; On inner values hangs the outer plan.’ —Sri Aurobindo, Savitri

“Good people in a bad system typically go bad. Bad people in a good system become good. That sounds simplistic, but it’s true. For the majority of us, the system becomes your dharma.” – Dr.V

“Soul, stillness, and surrender—these are difficult words to fit into organisational strategy…” Dr.V

“When you begin doing the work you are meant to do, unexpected resources will find you…” – Dr.V

“Make of me what you want” – Dr.V

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A Dream

There should be somewhere upon earth a place that no nation could claim as its sole property, a place where all human beings of goodwill, sincere in their aspiration, could live freely as citizens of the world, obeying one single authority, that of the supreme Truth; a place of peace, concord, harmony, where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his suffering and misery, to surmount his weakness and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the care for progress would get precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the seeking for pleasures and material enjoyments. Continue reading

Come From Your Heart

“We told people that it’s got to come from your heart, not your head, to be effective,” Kelleher says, “that it’s a feeling of empathy towards your people and of acting out of their best interests. Continue reading

Do the right thing

One thing Hassan did to turn Schering around was to move the sales force’s compensation system from 60/40 salary-versus-commission split to an 80/20 split. Continue reading

Love to Learn

Confucius’s answer to the chaos of his era was the “Way” of the just and harmonious society, which, he taught, had once been realized before—in a distant Chinese golden age. Mankind’s central spiritual task was to re-create this proper order already on the verge of being lost. Spiritual fulfillment was a task not so much of revelation or liberation but patient recovery of forgotten principles of self-restraint. Continue reading

are you going to just talk—or are you going to fish?

“…..and it all reminded me of the story about the fisherman and the game warden. The game warden accepts an invitation to go fishing with a stranger who rows him out to the middle of the lake. As the game warden begins to fiddle with his fishing rod, he watches in horror as the stranger pulls out a stick of dynamite from his tackle box, lights it, and throws it into the lake. Continue reading

Only the leader can make execution happen

An organization can execute only if the leader’s heart and soul are immersed in the company. Leading is more than thinking big, or schmoozing with investors and lawmakers, although those are part of the job. Continue reading

Deal with a problem which arises; face it courageously

FROM A CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD STENGEL Yes, the boarding master is the man who is in charge of the students in a college, yes. Now this was a remarkable man . . . He once gave a sermon [about] a man whose house was haunted by evil spirits. Continue reading