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India is celebrating… long weekends! Twice in this month! Long week-end, and a looooong post ☺ August 15th to 18th – Independence Day to Janmashtami (Sri Krishna’s birthday). Gods are smiling on us again. Yet another long weekend, though not ‘as long’. Aug 29th to 31st. Stating the obvious, most of these public holidays are ‘holy-days’, being related to festivals. I rate even Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanthi as holy-days. For our freedom fighters were not looking at liberation from the British alone, but also within. And Gandhiji was at the forefront with his emphasis on Truth & Righteousness. These holy-days give us an opportunity to look within, connect with our Higher Consciousness (Hi C) – we may call the HiC through various names – God, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, Ganesha, Sai, Durga, Master, Guru, et al. Master says, ‘ The easiest means to achieve love for God is to worship God as having a form ’. He also quickly reminds, Worship of God is of three important types: Satvic, Rajasic and Tamasic . Loosely translated, Divine, Humane and Devil level. I was surprised to see classification of worship as S/R/T, I must confess! I thought worship was always naturally at Satvic. But not so ☺ • Level 3/Devil/Tamasic Level: In the Tamasic form of worship, the individual prays to God but continues violence, anger and pomp, causing pain. Any worship that is done for the sake of name, fame, with pomp and ego is called the Tamasic worship. • Level 2/Human/Rajasic Level: Rajasic worship is done for the sake for fulfilling selfish interests and to attain great heights in one’s life. Devotion with the feeling that one alone should be safe, happy and should be blessed involves utter selfishness. Such a devotee does not even aspire or think about the well being of the family or the society. • Level 1/Divine/Godly/Satvic Level: A Satvic devotee performs all daily tasks to please God, with total surrender and offers all tasks performed during the day as loving service to God. I am not considering animals/birds or Nature here. I find them closer to Level-1! So, every time I do an act of worship or Sadhana, I have a choice to opt for the level – 1, or 2 or 3. If it is ritualistic, a level we often get used to, it is not at level-1. I am also aware, as human being, I am blessed with the discrimination to make the right choice. A post on worship is incomplete without the quote, ‘Work is Worship. Duty is God’. One of my favorite and a constant reminder to aim for excellence (level-1) in any work I do. When I able to tune in to that awareness, innovation, quality, customer enchantment are integral, continuous. For my goal is not level-2, which is very good. For example, I am currently reaching out to friends to inform them (promote) my upcoming training program. I am sending personalized messages, with minor modification to a template. But when I tune-in, I am able to keep fine-tuning and do the repetitive, boring activity with awareness… almost meditative! This is applicable to everyone, irrespective of the nature of wok, is it not? Whether we are a corporate executive, entrepreneur, self-employed, retired, student, homemaker or a worker. – A worker/manager/entrepreneur has a choice to make it to the best possible level (six sigma quality), innovative, to ensure customer (external & internal) enchantment. – A student has a choice to do his duty – to study, play, et al at level-1. Lot easier, I guess? – A retired senior-citizen has (less years and) more time to contemplate on HiC. So perhaps easier to tune-into level-1 always, to stay at that level of consciousness. But this also comes from practice and how we managed our childhood and youth, or the earlier three Purusharthas! – A homemaker can convert her/his cooking to cleaning to Satvic worship.  Of course, level-1 naturally takes care of sustainability, CSR and environment, is it not? For, Nature is manifestation of Divine. So, every act we do, we have a choice – to make it worship, at level 1/2/3! When we are more often at Satvic level, #Abundance is a natural outcome. So, even abundance is a choice we make… What are your thoughts? How are you spending your holy-days? At what level you do your ‘work’ – Tamasic, Rajasic or Satvic?

I have observed (even before reading this article) how the entrepreneur is able to deliver customer service, compared to an organization-man! Whether it is property-search to banking to investments to videography, across the board, the SEP (self-employed professional) or an entrepreneur is far more customer-oriented, efficient, less bureaucratic and definitely empathetic. Orgn-man perhaps suffers the maximum in comparison, on the last element, #empathy.  An organization is an  entity , such as an  institution  or an  association , that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment. The word is derived from the Greek word  organon , itself derived from the better-known word  ergon  which means “organ“. (Wiki) In this article, the author almost writes the obituary of an organization-man! Is it the classic collective irresponsibility or degradation of basic values (esp., when we ‘organize ourselves), not sure?No wonder, ‘we like start-ups, disrupters and rebels. Creativity is honored more than the administrative execution. ‘  Can we afford to embrace this trend? We desperately need the good, old Orgn-man. Else, as David Brooks rightly points out, ‘When the boring tasks of governance are not performed, infrastructures don’t get built. Then, when epidemics strike, people die.’ The choice is ours! Of course, once we understand/accept the problem/opportunity, we can think of multiple solutions, which are readily available to us… We need entrepreneurs/SEP, surely. We need orgn-man too! The choice is ours! Of course, once we understand/accept the problem/opportunity, we can think of multiple solutions, which are readily available to us… One of them, encourage orgn-man to be #intrapreneur.  Must read for all of us, who are/were/will be part of an organization.

Back from a very refreshing trip to Dubai. Was a delegate at #ICFME2014, Dubai. Met up with my mentor-coach, Janet Harvey. Got to re-connect with Coach-Guru, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. Caught up with many old friends, made a few new friends. The trip was totally hassle-free. Travel, stay, conference, et al. Feeling grateful! Walked around Jabel Ali resort, with peacocks! Went around the city, with friends’ Lexus, Audi, Volvo, etc. (love those machines, on Dubai roads!) More importantly, got some time to reflect! Janet asked the delegates at #icfme2014, how many of us were into anything that would help us develop #mindfulness. Pico Iyer: The art of stillness. ‘The place that travel writer Pico Iyer would most like to go? Nowhere. In a counterintuitive and lyrical meditation, Iyer takes a look at the incredible insight that comes with taking time for stillness.‘   It is about to shift from Human Doing to Human #Being!

Yesterday’s leadership skills will not work in today’s fast moving and evolving world. Only creative leaders who are visionary and empathetic will succeed. Here are five things you can do to succeed as a creative leader. Instead of commanding , coach your team and organization toward success. Don’t manage people: facilitate them. Often, the know-how, experience and solutions are there, help people to discover them Cultivate respect by giving it, instead of demanding it Know how to manage both success and failure, not just success (it is ok to be vulnerable) Be gracious. Be humble about your successes, and whenever possible give someone else the opportunity to shine.  (Courtesy ET 22 Aug 14) Managers – manage, delegate, command, instruct, mentor, consultancy…  Leaders – just Coach! Managing/parenting millennial – coaching is the only way! Pls don’t try old-fashioned techniques ! Most important… it is a beautiful experience, to coach!