One of the topics that has fascinated me is Leadership. With time, a lot of different dimensions and meanings of Leadership have unfolded.
It appears to me that Leadership means Making A Difference. A few days ago, I took an Indigo flight from
Just before taking the flight, I had another incident. I had taken one of the new Meru taxies to the airport, and realized after checking in that I had left my mobile in the taxi. I came out, and approached one of the Meru executives. He was immediately helpful and connected with the driver, who had already returned and was a few kilometres away on the highway. Until the driver returned, the Meru executive kept tracking him, and gave me company. The driver return the phone, and when I gave him some additional money, he refused it and only accepted it when I insisted that he had extra expense of fuel and time for my mistake! These two folks did make a difference. I would certainly use Meru every time I go to
My friend Ravi Kodukula (www.fursatfriday.com) and his wife have recently started a school, at their home. It runs for a couple of hours in the evenings, and they teach children who don’t get to go to a regular school. They even provide them with things that are needed to learn (e.g., books) as well as refreshments. They are doing this with their own resources and making a big difference.
Similarly, another friend Sadhna, her husband
Last week, CFO World organized a seminar called ‘Secrets of a Happy, Healthy and Meaningful Life’ in
So many people, moved by the havoc caused by the floods in
- Felt bad for the affected people
- Criticized the government for not planning better
- Wanted to contribute, but were not sure whether the money would reach the affected, hence have done nothing so far
- Collected some used clothes and material
- Donated some money
- Inspired at least one more person to contribute.
Which one of the above do you think made a difference?
Question 1: You must be having people around you who are making a difference? How are they doing this? It could be at work, home, school or college, neighbourhood or society.
Question 2: What difference have you made in the last 7 days?
Your thoughts, feelings, anecdotes and insights will help all of us. Would you not like to (be) MAD – Make A Difference by sharing these?
PS: By the way, if you not watched ‘A Wednesday’ yet, go for it this weekend. Don’t miss it for anything!
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13 comments:
Incredible. I want to be a part of this.
I have been thinking about this as well and will write a series of comments.
#1) Commitment to action is the core of leadership. It is easy to do things we are motivated to do. However, acting on important things which are not that interesting or are important to others takes real commitment. Sometimes following others diligently can actually be the right commitment. For example, my wife takes the leadership at being a great parent to our daughter and I tell myself that the best way to lead in some spheres is commitment to supporting good leaders (in this case, the more motivated and inspiring parent) in shared causes.
#2) Leadership is about learning. It is about continually growing, stretching our strengths and overcoming over weaknesses. The winners at the Special Olympics may not be the fastest compared to able-bodied athletes but they are leaders because they continue to push beyond their limitations.
#3) Effective leaders understand the importance of relationships and invest time and energy in building them
#4) Having a clear sense of personal mission is core to being motivated to lead. A leader has to be convinced that it is he or she who needs to act and rally others in order to achieve a vision or goal. The examples you give of the pilot and the taxi supervisor show a feeling of personal mission to meet the customer need.
#5) Creative Tension - the gnawing feeling that things can be better. Identifying the gap between current reality and what is possible and then closing the gap to re-define reality. Belief that things can be better and tenacity to overcome the tendency to live with "good enough"
Jgd!
Thanks for email alert about this fantastic blog, it is a mindful reading, yes my guru is my life, the inspiration, the guide and the one and only to LOVE!!
Aadesh - the examples of the Pilot and the Taximan are humbling... Hope we meet many more of them in our lives... and probably our Delhi Auto rickshaw drivers take a leaf out of these two lives...
Amit's (Goyal) example of his support to his wife is equally humbling... I can see myself in the mirror when he says this...
One of the Leadership Lessons that I learnt from my wife early on when we invited our kids into the family and over the time that my wife does 'parenting' more and better than I do is - 'Lead, Follow or Get out of the way'...
Now - we have more kids than we can manage...:)
Being sensitive to other kids - the extended family, is giving me enough insights to how to 'parent' my own kids... I am learning...
Thanks for the mention of the 'home school' in your blog...
Sorry, looks like the above comment got deleted by mistake. I tried but can't 'undo' it...don't even know who posted it!
Interesting examples of customer sensitivity... i'm glad Aadesh, you have started using this media to share your lessons n thoughts... keep it up... whenever you get a chance look at another blog:
monkjoel/blogspot.com
love
Anish
Aadesh, it is very inspiring to read your blog on 'MAD'. We all have to become MAD but before we see how can we make a difference I think the more pertinent question could be Why to make a difference, how does it help, should I live for myself or should I live for others… should I make myself happy or should I make others happy… I guess, these kind of questions might be bothering most of us….
If we see all around…it looks like we all are in some kind of race…a race to compete with each other…a race to get ahead of others ….. everyone seems to be busy in one or another thing…achieve some thing…acquire something….acquire more money…better status…trying to rise further up in career…get more recognition from others … we all are in some kind of race … a race with no finishing line. Actually there is no finishing line of this race, lot of us do not know where is this going to stop… though it seems, once we reach our next milestone we will be better off ….we will settle down...but once we reach there …that milestone loses its importance very soon, the next milestone becomes visible and before we can really enjoy our current achievement, the race starts again. So there is no finishing line. If look back, we have been running all those years to achieve something....we do not know if we have achieved what we wanted to achieve, we do not realize that we have acquired enough, we have plenty which many others do not have…more we acquire more goes up our desire and we get in that endless race all the time.
The only way we can come out of this race is by giving, by fulfilling the desires of others, by giving something…. anything. We do not realize how much we possess…. we can give blessings to others, we can give our attention, our affection, a helping hand, our support in terms of time, money, our moral support, there is plenty we have and the best part is by giving it we will not lose much, sometime nothing but whom we give it to, it might mean a world for that person.
By giving, we indirectly take others along with us…. then there will is no race…we become content….we really get a feeling of achievement…a true happiness…we can really make a difference not only in others life but in our own life as well.
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