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
Leadership
Wisdom of Crowds
In the popular imagination, groups tend to make people either dumb or crazy, or both. 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
Interdependence is a choice only independent people can make
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
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
ONE TUSK 