Several people who see themselves as ‘leaders’ are unwilling to accept that they may not have the solutions to all the problems that they come across. For them, people in leadership positions must provide answers to every question that is raised and generally feel vulnerable and insecure when it is otherwise. Real leadership is having the courage to accept failure, to accept that you do not know, and to come to terms with one’s relative lack of knowledge. It is only when we are humble and seek out knowledge can we expand our abilities, build partnerships and work with others in solving problems. The journey of leadership is one of staying humble all the time and of continually expanding our expertise. It is about seeing the strength in being vulnerable.
Dr Balu
A development activist, public policy advocate, social innovator and leadership trainer
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My life with indigenous communities – some memories relived
I have spent the best part of my adult life (of nearly 26 years) with indigenous tribal communities. These are easily the best years of my life. The experiences that I have had, the lessons learnt, the wonderful men and women that I have met and known, the knowledge that I have gained – all this are something that i cherish. Much of this has found a place in my books & articles, both in Kannada and English and recently I was interviewed for the All India Radio, Mysuru. Listen to the recordings here:
Lessons from India’s past
The domain of education is abuzz with words like ’21st Century Skills’ and one can end up feeling that there is something magical that our children need to learn in order to survive in today’s complex world. While it is true that one needs a wide variety of skills to negotiate the world of today, one cannot but look to India’s glorious past and explore if there is something that one can learn from that. This article of mine in Outlook magazine tries to capture the lessons that ancient Bharat’s Gurukula system has for modern education. This is specially significant
Podcasts and interviews
Some time ago, Nitesh Batra the founder of the Mindful Initiative reached out to me through a common friend asking if he could interview me for a podcast that he runs. Having been interviewed several times in the past for newspapers and television, I was expecting this also to be similar to the ones that I had participated in. A friend who is a well known communication expert had once told me that the quality of the interview is the end product of the chemistry that emerges in that moment of time between the interviewer and the interviewee. It includes