“I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (legendary American Basketball player) The countless books and gurus on leadership spur us on, “dare to dream big”, “discover the leader within you”, “you are born to be a leader”… Is leadership simply about dreaming big or is there more to it …Read the Rest
Welcome to "Radhanath Swami | Leadership and Spirituality".Though an American by birth, Radhanath Swami is today one of India’s most renowned spiritual leaders. Radhanath swami travels the world teaching devotional wisdom, spearheads some of India’s most acclaimed social action programs, and develops sustainable spiritual communities.When it comes to ‘Leadership’, Radhanath Swami’s views could unsettle you with paradoxes. Since the blogs here are based on his teachings, we advocate to you an open-minded approach. And such an approach, we promise, shall help you see all puzzles fall into a striking pattern—heralding a new vision of leadership.
Press the ‘pause’ button
“There is more to life than increasing its speed”- Mohandas Gandhi As the machine of our body and mind produces ‘results’, meets ‘deadlines’ , completes ‘reports’, and achieves ‘targets’, we need to ‘pause’ and ‘oil’ our machines. Steven Covey calls this as the P/PC -Production/Production capability- balance. As our accomplishments double, we need to see the capacity of our machines …Read the Rest
Never say ‘No’
“We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead.” –William Arthur Ward People generally hover on two extremes; they either say ‘yes’ to one and all and get frustrated in the process or …Read the Rest
From flattery to appreciation
“Flattery is the beginning of abuse” – a Japanese proverb. After a class I gave recently to our two thousand plus congregation, I was eager to know if the talk was good. A friend walked up to me and showered praise, “that was a brilliant talk. You are great”. Although I felt thrilled, over the last few months I had …Read the Rest
Living beyond feelings
“One must marry one’s feelings to one’s beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one’s life” – Napoleon Hill (1883-1970), American self help author A spiritual leader does have ordinary human feelings and mood swings. But what makes him special is his life isn’t governed simply by how he feels; he …Read the Rest
Communication skills- From interpersonal to intrapersonal
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln It’s amazing how personality development and communication workshops attract many participants but seminars on character development and improving communication with our deep inner selves has few takers. The world is smitten by the popularity bug; we want …Read the Rest
Personalized Leadership
The word Krishna means all attractive; in other words Krishna attracts all. When He used to do the Raas Leela all the gopis used to think Krishna is dancing with me and He loves me the most. Krishna is personal with His devotees. A leader needs to be personal with his followers. I remember some months back, I was checking into Taj, …Read the Rest
Sleep baby sleep
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” (Benjamin Franklin) What is the common factor amongst Apple CEO Tim Cook, Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior, Starbucks president Michelle Gass, Founding Father of the United States Benjamin Franklin? Apart from being successful, they all attribute the most crucial factor for their success to their waking up …Read the Rest
Increasingly we see top leaders, CEO's falling from fame
due to some or the other transgressions they make. During the recent recession it was noted that as the US
government was bailing out banks and insurance companies, top CEO's of those very companies made millions in
insider tradings.