Interdependence is a far more mature, more advanced concept. If I am physically interdependent, I am self-reliant and capable, but I also realize that you and I working together can accomplish far more than, even at my best, I could accomplish alone. Continue reading
Leadership
Meaning and Energy
In all types of organizations, too many filled with people exhausted, cynical, and burned-out, I have witnessed the incredible levels of energy and passion that can be evoked when leaders or colleagues take the time to recall people to the meaning of their work. It only takes a simple but powerful question: “What called you here? What were you dreaming you might accomplish when you first came to work here?” Continue reading
It’s harder to be kind than clever
Bezos’s grandparents taught him a lesson in compassion that he related decades later, in a 2010 commencement speech at Princeton. Every few years Pop and Mattie Gise hooked an Airstream trailer to their car and caravanned around the country with other Airstream owners, and they sometimes took Jeff with them. On one of these road trips, when Bezos was ten and passing time in the back seat of the car, he took some mortality statistics he had heard on an antismoking public service announcement and calculated that his grandmother’s smoking habit would take nine years off her life. Continue reading
When you are in the thick of things, you can get confused by small stuff……
Book Recommendation : Servant Leadership by Robert K Greenleaf
If you are looking for a leadership book with a different approach from the usual leadership book, and one that is intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking, then you should definitely read this book of collected talks, essays, and articles from Robert K. Greenleaf. Continue reading
Book Recommendation : Magic of Conflict by Thomas Crum
How to turn the crisis of conflict to an opportunity
“Connectedness is reality. Separation is an illusion. … True strength is flowing energy and a willingness to blend energies. Unlimited strength and power are available to the extent that we let go of tension, fear, and boundaries.”
Conflicts can be disastrous or miraculous says Thomas Crum in the Magic of Conflict, depending on how you react to them. If you feel threatened and try to defend yourself, you will lose even if you win. If you know you will lose, you probably will. If you hope to win and work hard at winning, you MAY just wear yourself out and fall into bitterness and decay. OR you MAY take a leap from the you OR me attitude to the you AND me attitude, says Crum. This is the magic of conflict. That we both care so much that we are willing to talk until we learn from each other. Understanding each other’s concerns, we can see other possibilities, win-win solutions. Through the alchemy of conflict, we can turn the base metal of discouragement and divisiveness into the gold of understanding a new paradigm.
Don’t become their Prisoner
The day that Mandela was released from prison on Robben Island, Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, was watching the news. He quickly called his wife and daughter and said, “You must see this, it is historic.” As Mandela stepped out, Clinton saw a flush of anger on his face as he looked at the people watching; then it disappeared. Later, when Clinton was president of the United States and Mandela was president of South Africa, the two leaders met, and Clinton relayed his observation during Mandela’s release from prison. Continue reading
When I participate in the fullness around me, I become a greater me…
“How often we forget that the very task we are doing may have more effect upon us than we have upon it. In our self-centeredness, we see ourselves acting upon our world and we lose the awareness that we are participating in a universe that is acting in partnership with us. What a burden we put on ourselves when we see ourselves as the only or the primary actor. Continue reading
Sharpen The Saw….
“This is the habit of self-renewal, which has four elements. Continue reading
ONE TUSK 