NEW YEAR.

Coming year will be the most crucial for me. I somehow managed to secure admission in B-school this year. I could have done better but that's how you feel every time you look back. With great power, responsibility comes.I am wondering whether the converse is true. I hope it is.

Few days back I was having a conversation with a professor.( He is one of the most powerful man I have ever known. He has 10-11 degrees and one of them is I.A.S. I think that says it all ). He said a very wonderful thing to me. He said " Always remember , there are certain marks found on the body of a child, these marks stay with that child throughout his life and even after death.We call these marks 'Birth Marks'. Similarly there are certain events. They stay with a person thorough out his life and even after his death. " I felt privileged to get such a wonderful insight towards life from such a respectable person and at the same time felt sad when I realized that, I don't have ( at least at this stage in my life ) intellectual , emotional and spiritual depth, to fully understand the meaning behind those words. Nevertheless I am lucky to have received those words.

I understand that few of these 'events' will 'happen' to me this new year. I hope with great responsibility, power comes.

REFUSE THAT AUTHORITY.

Day1:

Sir1: Leaders are born and not made.

I: Yes sir, I completely agree.

Day2:

Sir2: Leaders are made and not born.

I: No sir, I don’t agree.

Sir2: Why do you say so??

I: Sir If leaders are made and not born, Why the world is facing severe leadership crisis today?

Sir2: Because it’s not easy to become a leader. It take hard work, patience, etc to become one. It is very easy to know what it takes to be a leader but very difficult to become one.

I: So can we say that the world will not face any similar leadership crisis in future, as there are so many management institutes and leadership courses are coming up these days?

Sir2: No you can’t make a generalized statement like that.

I:K. Sir I saw a video of Steve Jobs few days back. This video was of year 2000 that’s 10 years back, in which he explains how the world will change in coming years, how technology will emerge and how power will shift from desktop to mobile devices etc. towards the end of that video Mr.Jobs explains where will Apple place itself in the changed world. That’s what I call Vision. Can you say that, similar vision can be developed in management course or a leadership program like this?

Sir2: To a certain extent. But all I see is you have a very fixed mindset. You are not listening to me.You only want to hear what you believe is right.

I: Sir you havn’t answered my question.

Sir2: See I told you , you have a very fixed mindset. You are not……….

I: Thank you for your time sir.

Day3:

I: This is the kind of conflict.

Sir3: This is not the way you talk to an authority. If you ask questions to a person on the stage in this manner he will have bad impression about you. You should be slapped. I would never recruit a guy like you. You are not…………..

Conclusion :

Speak your mind and they’ll bash you, but it doesn’t matter. If authority can’t answer your questions, refuse that authority. If authority feels like slapping you for putting forward your point, refuse that authority. Speak your mind and they’ll bash you, but it doesn’t matter, and it never will.