27th December, 2010
A few days back my wife Neera suggested that we subscribe only to one instead of the customary three newspapers that we have been reading for a long time.
Why was I not spending time on reading these sources of information about the world?
Is it because there was too much of bad news being splashed all over?
Was it because the common man did not trust their objectivity due to their “ownership”?
Perhaps the biggest reason in my case has been the excessive coverage on “scams and corruption” without a single “big fish” being accountable for the same.
Last week we read about a junior officer of Tamil Nadu being jailed for one year for accepting a bribe of Rs 50 twenty years back!
On the other hand, big names in politics, bureaucracy and business who are” known” to be corrupt never suffer.
Why has our character become so weak?
Why is there so much cynicism about those in public life?
The growth of the “Maoist” movement, terrorism and the resurgence of militant trade union movement is due to this sharp erosion in values. When we see people in power become “greedy” and “loot” the common man, they are provoked to take up “violent” means to espouse their own “causes”.
How can we reverse this trend?
The time has come for “good people” to form a strong network.
In every community, we need to organize ourselves. Let us form associates of residents in every neighborhood. Let us choose those who are honest and fair to become our representatives. Let us involve local educational institute and honest NGO’s to join hands. Let us share stories about how inspite of the rampant corruption, honest people still manage to win in the long run.
Let us together fight corruption by resolving not to succumb to short cuts ourselves. Let us include “Ethics” as a core subject in every school, college and Institute of higher education.
-Anil Sachdev, Founder, SOIL ..» Read More
17th December, 2010
Are our cricket administrators inspired leaders?
Yesterday, there were two cricket test matches which commenced in two parts of the world. Both the pitches are known to assist fast bowlers.
England reached Australia early played some local matches, were match fit and practiced hard. They were “turned on” to play the first big match at Brisbane. They are growing from strength to strength India was still playing one day games at home in New Zealand and several of other key players reached South Africa just a few days before the first test match.
Both England and India knew about these big tours well in advance and realize that as soon as they are back, they have to get ready for the World Cup.
Why do we in India crowd our schedules so much that we allow our chances to be compromised?
Is this “inspired leadership”? Are we “mindful” and “self aware” of the consequence of our action?
Do we give the time to our players to study the new conditions, the strengths and weaknesses of our opposition, the time to absorb the local culture & people and enjoy their game? Are we leveraging the power of “diversity” fully?
Is this focus on the “short term” at the cost of the “long term” not a dangerous threat to the practice of “sustainability”?
We in the School of Inspired Leadership have been inspired to create a School based on the five pillars of “Mindfulness”, “Ethics”, “Compassion”, “Diversity” and “Sustainability”.
Every day, we remind ourselves that we cannot build organizations of consequence without emphasizing the value of these powerful levers. Mahatma Gandhi lived these “pillars” everyday. He became the greatest leader of our times.
Is it too much to ask of ourselves to pay attention to these in the way we work, play cricket, govern our country or run our media?
-Anil Sachdev, Founder, SOIL ..» Read More
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