Timing the Peak: Timley Action

Whilst away this week in the island of Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, it really hit upon me that principles are universal; if you see something with an eternal principle in play, you will be able to see it anywhere you go, in anything you see. Many people today are all about making an impact, making ones presence known, etc. However, it is often the case that people who have such mentality, with very little substance underneath, will quickly fade. Their legacies will not really touch people, they may have a great temporary effect on people, and cause somewhat of a craze, but if we analyse the factors are play here, around acting at the right time, we will see that our i) ability to act and ii) the need for action are two different factors that need to be continually monitored and aligned with more and more consciousness.

The Phi Phi Waves

The beaches of Koh Phi Phi, which includes many of those used in shooting the film The Beach, are very serene, and those areas that are secluded, like corridors almost, have very calm waves. One morning, however, after a electric storm with thunder and lightning, the waves were a lot stronger. After looking at the way the waves wash up the shells, and stones on the sand, it was interesting to see how far each of the waves come. I then began to try to predict which waves would come furthest into the shore. It was very interesting; those waves which seemed to have most power, go up very high, and with a lot of force from afar, would very often simply blend into the rest of the water before coming anywhere near the shore. Whereas often, the waves that would go furthest, would peak just about 10 meters before the shore, and then go a further distance. Immediately the parallel could be drawn. There are those people who are all about making their presence known to everyone, particularly the seniors, and who actually have much less to show for when it comes to the delivery of results. Whereas, often the quieter individuals, are doing what they need to in the background, speaking to the right people, at the right times, for the right things, and not necessarily expecting an immediate return or increase in profile, who rise to a more lasting prominence; they peak at the right time. It is absolutely not that we need to be very calculated, or have some ulterior motive to talk to senior people, but actually the opposite; to be gracious, and to value their time. Cultures across the world and across people are different, and to really apply this principle intelligently, sensitivity to this is critical. I once asked a monk what it means to use ones intelligence. He replied, it means to be sensitive. So this is also applicable in this context; we must learn to not be the noisy vessel, and use our intelligence to interact with people in a very noble, and yet focused way.

Conditioning the Shins

I was speaking with a member of my Muay Thai Centre who was training for quite a big fight in Bangkok. He said that he was working on conditioning his shins; or making them more resilient to high impact contact. When I asked more about the timing around such conditioning, he said it really was an art, and the timing and nature of such conditioning was critical to its success. He said if you begin conditioning too early then it will be too much to sustain, and if of course you start too late, it may not be enough to handle or make the impact needed. It was all a question of timing and extent. Similar to the waves, if the energy is invested early, it will fizzle. There was a clear parallel between all these lessons. In the corporate world we need to be very conscious that it is more often than not, a marathon not a sprint, and therefore we should really try to use our intelligence to map out and chart the two things i) our ability to act, and ii) the need to act. These two are often different, but often times, because of whatever reason, if we are able to act, we act. This is acting on impulse, and we often then peak early. If we however try to align our actions with the need to act, this will be far more effective, and allow a lot more preservation for the marathon that lies ahead.

Discipline: Too Hard, or too Soft?

How we react as leaders and managers, to the behaviour of those who work for us in the corporate world has a large parallel with how discipline is enforced in a country. The balance between being too strict, and being too light is very important in ensuring a healthy productivity and attainment of results, and morale. There are some enlightening conclusions coming from looking at human behaviour, historical trends, and what ancient wisdom has to offer in this field. When these things are all consciously meditated on, deeply internalized, and lived, they will give rise to conscious action towards others, which will in tern give rise to more effective management of the people who work for you as a leader.

One Extreme: Zero-tolerance

In the early formation of the Mongolian Empire, there were three tribes who joined forces. They were only in the hundreds by number, however within a very short period, conquered thousands. There was a trio of warlords from each of these three tribes who formed a close group who collectively made decisions regarding the next place they would attack, how they would govern, set rules, award punishment etc. They set a number of clear rules i.e. how the rank and file operate and whose orders must be followed. This system clearly worked and there wasn’t an issue with it, until something unexpected was encountered. At this time, a decision needed to be taken on how to manage that kind of newly encountered behaviour. The tribes had conquered a new territory, and in their barbaric celebrations, one of the warriors raped a woman of the conquered party. This news came out to the masses, and there were mixed opinions amongst the public. Some said anything should go as they were conquered, however others morally disagreed and thought a punishment should be meted out. This matter was then escalated to the trio of warlords, and they too had a mixed opinion. They debated. One said that if they set a hard punishment, they would need to be fair and identify such cases very diligently, which would create a burden and reduce their power. Another said that it should be punished to some extent in some appropriate manner. However, the strongest of the trio took the final decision in his own hands, and beheaded the person in front of all of the public. That was to be the rule; zero tolerance, and it sent a very robust message to all those who may have considered such an act. In corporate organisations we also see that making an example out of an incident does sometimes act as a strong factor to dissuade people from misbehaving. In countries like Dubai and Singapore, the crime rates are extremely low, and the punishments for crime are very severe. This is clearly one extreme, of setting a very high standard, and enforcing it rigidly as possible.

The Other Extreme: Over-tolerance

In Britain, the riots of 2012 some argue could have been contained better if powerful measures were enforced early. Britain was said by some to have been overly-tolerant of bad behaviour. A country which previously ruled most of the World, which has some of the most economic and political power at the world level, was bought to a state of nation-wide trauma, by a few groups of youths with a some home-made weapons; quite simply unacceptable. Some argue that making an example out of the first few cases would have been enough of a deterrent for some of the latter cases that ensued. The decision of making clear the consequences of bad behaviour was not taken, and as a result global reputational damage, what to speak of innocent people suffering, was what came to pass. The crime rate in the 1970’s through to the 1990’s in New York City was amongst the highest in inner cities in the world. Mayor Gulianni stepped in and enfored a zero tolerance policy in New York, which resulted in New York becoming a safer place by ten times, compared to the past. The book Freakonimics later argued that the reduction of crime was actually attributed to a reduction in the number of single parent families in New York; which has always had a very strong correlation with rates of crime independent of which country in the world, and especially in the US. So, was it Gulianni’s zero tolerance policy, or the reduction in single parents? Or both? If we look at the crime rates in some of the African countries, they are far higher than in the Western countries, however their police forces are given complete sanction to shoot on site, and in that sense, can be regarded more similar to the US police albeit with different types of internal governance, which may have a role to play also. The Mexican police force make heavy use of weapons and shoot on site, and yet the homicide rate in Mexico is continually extremely high. So it isn’t necessary that simply by imposing a severe punishment, discipline and good behaviour will be automatically attained. It depends on many factors. What is the nature of people being governed? What is the nature of the people who are governing? These are some of the considerations. In the corporate context, simply by setting hard deadlines, and imposing strict sanctions on under-performance, will not necessarily incentivize all people to really be creative and create value. It is more complex than that, and there is something missing from all the above systems.

The Missing Factor: Understanding

Discipline must be there; how it is attained is delicate, complex, and must be given attention. What is missing in all of the above systems and why have none of the rulers found a perfect balance? The great sage Bhishmadeva, concluded on this aspect of leadership very simple point, which if understood, and applied, can give a huge benefit to us. He said, “A leader must understand their subjects as a mother understands her child.” If we do not understand the people that work for us, what drives them, what motivates them, what can be used to discipline them, as individuals, then we will not be able to manage them; it is quite simple. However, modern management styles are fortunately moving towards this paradigm, with the emphasis on Emotional Quotient as opposed to purely Intelligence Quotient for example. Even then, this teaching of Bhishmadeva is extremely profound and takes the concept of management to the next level. There is surely work most of us need to do in this regard. Being sensitive of the environment we are in, if we begin to take the appropriate measures to apply this teaching, things will be very progressive, because we are all individuals, and it is refreshing to i) understand others, and ii) be understood. Bhishmadeva is coming from the perspective of a highly personalistic leadership style, which is closer to modern management than many of the styles we have seen in the decades that have gone by of command and control, and therefore we will certainly see great results if we try to apply this.

Value Maximised Interaction: Red pill or Blue pill?

Our lives are certainly busy, with many competing demands and different aspects of our livelihood that we have to ensure are being taken care of. Work life balance as many refer to it, is emphasised increasingly in the competitive environments we work in, and as this competition increases in the contracting financial markets we are seeing, this area is one that we should perhaps view from a few different perspectives as there are measures we can all take to ensure we have a better balance. If we address the right areas, with the right amount of attention, we will find the challenge of balance will significantly ease.

Art of 8 Limbs

Muay Thai is referred to as the “Art of 8 Limbs” as it uses the fists, elbows, knees, and feet to strike. The Thais created the art as Thailand was under heavy pressure from foreign armies, and needed a domestic method of defence as well as military forms. Using these 8 limbs were the most effective way according to the Thai’s of replacing the use of weapons. One piece of research concluded that the knee of a expert Muay Thai fighter has the same force as a 30 mph car hitting you. The elbows can move far quicker than the knees, and can strike the face, having the potential to cause great damage. Muay Thai has taken great influence from the Ramayana, and there are at least half a dozen advanced, and highly impactful moves named after Hanuman, the empowered monkey servant of Lord Rama. The moves are based on particular stories of Hanumanji and representations of the story. It’s hardly a surprise that Hanuman in many illustrations has a knee high up. Hanuman was extremely composed and mentally grounded. In Muay Thai, the training involves being extremely loose, preserving all one’s energies, and using them only at the critical points of contact. If in using the elbow for example, one uses all their “force” in the swing, the impact will be much reduced. The more exertion, the less effective. It would seem a contradiction. To exert surely means more impact. But here we’re saying the less exertion the more impact. The logic is very clear. If you imagine you have a finite amount of energy, and use it up in the swing, then you have less left for the impact, whereas if you minimise the energy loss in the swing, and concentrate it just on the point of contact, it will hit with more impact, and more likely with more precision as one can be agile as to where it lands when there is less exertion in the swing also. If one doesn’t know this, they will end up very tired, and ineffective. This is the condition of most people in the corporate world; they are fatigued, and actually ineffective; hence only a small number of people occupy leadership positions and most fail to enter that tier.

Focussing our Time & Energies

We must be able to evaluate our interactions. What does that mean? Evaluate contains the word value. What value are we getting from our interactions? In one day last week, I met the CEO of the bank, CFO, and CRO, and within a few hours left a positive impression on them through a few presentations and updates I’d prepared for. This was a high value interaction. On another day, I spent a very long day trying to make up for some miscommunications in delegation in the neighbouring regions due to cultural and language differences etc. The only outcome this achieved, was simply to not be told off for getting it very wrong! Whilst a critical outcome, it wasn’t as progressive as the first interaction. How “value yielding” are the interactions you are having? How much of your energy are your interactions consuming? These two simple questions will give you the answer to how successful you are and will be, and also how much of a work-life balance you have. Interactions are linked to people. Certain people will be like the swing, and certain people will be like the point of contact; if we use all our energy focussing on people who will not give value, and therefore have less energy left when it comes to the point of contact; this will lead to a gap between what you do achieve, and what you could have achieved. So choosing to focus our energy on sources that may drain us is akin to choosing the wrong pill. Of course, we should be respectful to all people and never forget that they are emotional beings as this in one sense is far more important than all our possible success, it is a core value which should not be compromised, but at a different level we should ensure we are gaining value from our interactions and being focussed in them, in the right way. If we simply do not evaluate where we’re spending our time, focussing our energies, there is little chance that we will be efficient with our time in working towards our end goals. However, if we get this right, we may be very surprised how quickly success comes.

Hearing: The Key to Improving

Improvement, and being happy with where we currently are, don’t go well together. An attitude of continually striving to maintain and increase our standard is what is needed to succeed. Improvement often comes as a result of an event, called feedback, which more often than not, will not be like music to our ears. How we evaluate, internalise, and act on feedback will, in part, determine whether we go on to succeed, or fail.

Slow!

A couple of months ago, in my first Muay Thai class, one of the instructors was putting my hand wrap on for me. He saw the rakhi, a string, on my right hand. English not being their first language, rather Thai, he gestured and asked what it was. I said it was for protection from my sister. I saw he had a white thread on his hand also. I asked him what it was. He folded his palms and said, “Buddha” and “Temple”. I said thank you after he put the wraps on and continued with the session. He was very warm and a gentleman. Being the first session, another trainer told me I was kicking wrong. He gestured, don’t whip, push, put your hip and back into it. Time and time again, he would repeat the same instructions, and I’d continue to struggle for at least 45 minutes. Toward the end it got marginally better, but then the session ended. In the next session, it was as difficult, he told me I was kicking wrong. I found this experience extremely frustrating. I had previously done karate; and my kicks were the most powerful part of my technique, by far. I didn’t need any special mentoring in kicking during karate, it was just natural, and here I was for at least a couple of sessions, making very little progress in this very area. For some reason, I didn’t like hearing him saying the kicks were wrong. In the next session, the instructor said, “Slow!!!” to try to get me to use less power and focus on technique. My muscles eventually began to become reconditioned to the new technique, which had more push, more of a lean back, more force, and less snap, less whip – which was the karate way that I’d become conditioned to from before. I removed power almost totally, and focussed on technique. The power could always be re-introduced once the technique was right. One day I came in a little early just to watch the other group training. I studied their technique more. After a few sessions, I was with the same instructor, and he was much happier. After training with a number of instructors, and getting various bits of feedback, which were all so useful, I felt better rounded. In a consequent session, whilst one trainer was on the pads, the trainer who tied my wraps in my first lesson was just watching, attentively. After a few minutes, the two trainers spoke to each other for a while, demonstrating techniques and focussing on specifics. They then told me to change a few things. I trusted them completely by now, and listened very carefully. I could also see how doing what they said to do would lead to improvement even before I did it. It was excellent – the more I listened, internalised, and applied, the more effective I was, and visibly so. We started doing some more spontaneous moves a few moments later whilst maintaining the technique, and they signalled very loudly “Good!” The agility in the legs, waist, and back was a lot better in a couple of weeks, and I began to put in 80% of power to good effect. Upper body and legs began to synchronise well, and I expressed my thanks to the instructors. I later came to know that the instructor who tied the wraps for me in my first session, was formerly a champion in his weight in Korea, and had fought in more than 260 fights, almost all of them being victories.

Listening and adapting

There were two instances of feedback in the above example; the first being in the first few weeks regarding how the kicks were wrong, and the latter being after some sessions from the two trainers. The attitude during the first was one of cloudedness and previous baggage, which creates layers between what is coming in, and you, who should be listening and applying. These layers are the talk of the mind, and can be severely detrimental in us picking up these gems of feedback and really improving. The layers are usually down to a sense of ego saying, I am right in what am doing, don’t try to tell me what to do, or how to do it. In the second instance of feedback however, there was acceptance of the trainers, trust in the trainers, a real desire to improve, and ultimately an openness to change the way I was doing things recognising that it was not right. The mind was clear, and there was very little between the words coming out of their mouth, and me incorporating these. The mind is the medium which can either position us to improve, or to continue and be ignorant to good advice. In the Bhagawad Gita, the ancient Indian scripture recited by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, essentially to prepare him for war, Lord Krishna says that the mind can be one’s worst enemy, or best of friends. How clear it is that this was the case for the Muay Thai technique, and it doesn’t take much to translate this example into the corporate context, or indeed the personal life context either. We need to be open to feedback about us, to accept that we may need to change. However, we must be careful what feedback we take on. The source of feedback must be authoritative, or well positioned at a minimum. It is ever so important to be able to trust the source of feedback, especially in an environment where others may be rewarded at your expense. So we must be bold, open to change, and yet careful when trying to learn how we can improve in our paths to success.

Action & Destiny

The question is often asked whether we determine our fate, or whether pre-determined by destiny. The word 'crises' is often used when factors beyond our control come into play, and factors accelerate beyond expectation or control. On the contrary, we do seem to have an ability to maneuver, to act, to decide etc, which does influence and shape our future. There is often times a tug of war in ones mind over what is within ones hands, and what is beyond our control. How a leader views this dynamic will determine how responsible the leader is, and how well a leader learns.

Quicker through the Traffic

I was recently walking through Hung Hom station, which connects mainland China with Hong Kong. Next to Hung Hom station is the Hong Kong Coliseum, which is often the venue of many concerts and public exhibitions. Being the busiest land connection between China and Hong Kong, there is almost always a lot of traffic and large movement of crowds walking through this station and its nearby vicinity. Cutting through these crowds very regularly, it is interesting observing the dynamics. Sometimes there is a situation where there is a small gap to go through, of approximately an equal distance between you and an 'on-coming party.' You have one of a few options; Option 1 – you can courteously slow down, and wait for the person to go through first. Option 2- you can continue at your own pace, and arrive at a decision point where both parties have to decide who will go first, or Option 3- you can speed up and make it through the gap before them and avoid waiting for the other party and also having a decision point. When I first saw the sea of people at Hung Hom station, I thought, it will take me far longer than it does when it is empty; that is a certainty. However, by the time I got by to the other side, I had reached there quicker than when the path was all clear. How was this? At each instance when there was this situation of a narrowing of a gap, and there were many such instances, I took Option 2, of moving through the gap quicker than the oncoming party. Of course, if you keep doing that, and going faster than you otherwise would if it were empty, you will cut down the headline time. It is clear, when we are in situations that demand a response, which stretch us, and we have to choose; Do we slow down? Do we fail to react? Or do we speed up and live up to what the circumstance require of us? Swift progress, and personal growth lie in choosing the last of these options. We often do not have control of our circumstances, but we certainly have a choice over how we react to them. The extent to which we are conscious, will determine the extent to which we can make a beneficial choice.

Half Empty v Half Full?

There are two extremes; on the one hand, a very audacious person, perhaps overly self-confident would argue that there is no such thing as destiny; you are free to act as you want, achieve what you want, at your own will. On the other hand, there is the person with no motivation to act, a sense of lethargy, unwillingness to take responsibility, who would argue that ‘everything is out of your hands,’ we cannot control the outcome of our action; as it is pre-destined, and what will be, will be. The pragmatic person understands that there is clearly a balance between action and reaction; they have some ability to plan, to do the best they can, and the outcome is then something that is then, out of our control. Bhishmadeva, the great sage, said that “A leader is a man of action.” This leaves very little ambiguity on what is to be done by a leader. What does it mean to act as a leader. There are various types of action needed at different times. If we are really grounded, thinking at a higher level, being connected to the higher energies, and through these higher energies, to all those around us and everything around us, we will know what action is appropriate as a leader. Such ascertaining of what is right in terms of how to act, should also always be done through consultation and confirmation with the right people where appropriate. The Vedic teachings are extremely dynamic in many senses; and whilst there may be much guidance in terms of morals and principles, often they do not dictate the precise specifics of a situation; rather they understand that those are determined according to time, place and circumstance. They have even gone so far as to state that when a leader is so absorbed in acting under the higher energies, that whatever that leader does, that defines dharma - one interpretation of dharma, is appropriate or fitting behaviour.  For example, Hanumanji, the great servant of Lord Rama, his mentality and his actions, due to his consciousness, in his particular context 'defined' dharma.

 

Humility: an all-important value in action

Many contemporary leadership teaching will speak of the above principles of growth in adversity, however, not many will teach the value of humility through all of this. The Vedic teachings, along with many other ancient teachings, emphasise the absolute need for humility in achieving real success. In the epic Ramayana, Hanumanji had reached Sri Lanka in his quest to find Sita Devi, the consort of Lord Rama, who had been kidnapped to this City full of demons.  Hanumanji passed the house of Vibhishana, the younger brother of Ravana, the King who had kidnapped Sita Devi. Vibhishana was actually a very saintly person, a stark contrast to his brothers. Hanumanji, recognising this and wanting to speak with Vibhishana, concealed his original monkey form, and took the form of a saint. He began chanting the names of Lord Rama. Vibhishana asked this person, who are you? Are you a great demigod who has assumed the form of a saint? Are you my Lord, who has assumed this form? Please reveal to me who you are. Hanumanji replied, I am absolutely none of those things, I am simply a lowly person, born of a species, whose name if you mention, it is regarded as inauspicious. Hanumanji had genuine humility, he did not at all think about, let alone dwell on his achievements, qualifications, or anything else. Rather he very naturally thought of those things that would keep him very grounded.

Being ready, willing, and able to act is the duty of any leader. Whether things are down to own action vs destiny is irrelevant when executing in the mindset of a leader; the leader gives it their best effort and takes responsibility. Such an attitude should be balanced with continual checkpoints or reviews of the values we are cultivating, how much our leadership is a demonstration of integrity, how much it is encouraging others to live by values, and very importantly, how much it is helping our own internal state of balance in being humble, grounded, but powerful leaders.

Trust: The Foundation

Usually, these entries are written in Hong Kong, however, this particular peice was written in Vrindavana, India, a place of great historic and spiritual significance. Being there has helped to reflect more on the principles of purity of mind and heart. The purity of our mind and heart has a direct effect on how others feel when they interact with us. Given that much of our progress in the corporate world is dependent on the quality of our relationships, the topic of the purity of heart and mind is certainly worth reflection.

Real Sincerity is Unmotivated

In the workplace, we look for so many things in the people around us. From our seniors, we want to know they will be fair in our promotions and rewards, that they will give us work that enriches our personal portfolios, that they will treat us with respect and dignity, and help in our career development in the long term. In our peers, we would like them to share experiences and learnings with us, to be there for us when we need support, to help air a collective voice in sharing or escalating concerns to our seniors. From our juniors, we look for commitment, a good attitude, hard working ethic, and technical ability supplemented with a desire to learn. Let us take for granted that the people who enter the increasingly competitive corporate environment are competent; a high standard of educational requirements and high calibre background is a minimum. Moreover, as one progresses in this environment, if they do not have substance they will more often than not be shown up due to the reluctance of profit-making business to sustain such a liability. So aside of technical competence, all of the key attributes we look for in those around us, come down to one key question; how much can we trust the other person? Many in the corporate world are let down by trust issues. If we’re trustworthy, we will certainly stand out; it is a much sought after attribute. In order to be trustworthy, we must be sincere. Sincerity and trustworthiness are inseparable. A sincere person, however, is not sincere because it will differentiate them; this would be a contradiction; sincerity is unmotivated.

Loyalty to Values Strengthens Us

In Hong Kong, there are many billboards with advertisements of the jewelers Chow Tai Fook, with the slogan of “Sincerity and Eternity. A Partner in our business whose behaviour I view as quite exemplary, once said “Always do the right thing, even if others don’t behave that way; the value will show through in the long run.” If we are sincere, that value will last. Even though experiences where sincerity is not reciprocated with may cut us and chop us, and we may duly need to reduce our exposure to such a lack of reciprocation where possible, we should not give up these values; because it is the right thing to do and its effects are too important to give up. Eventually, the values will prevail, and they will be stronger than ever after each experience we go through. When we know we are doing the right thing, when we have consulted with those people with experience and wisdom, we should feel all the more confident in what we’re doing inspite of all the challenges.

Lord Shiva: Epitome of Sincerity

There is a plethora of lessons to be learned from the one story of Lord Shiva and his wife Sati Devi leaving her body in the presence of her Father. To recap, Sati Devi had attended a function at her Fathers residence inspite of him being enimical towards her husband. After she could not tolerate insult towards her beloved husband, she left her body. On hearing this news, Lord Shiva became furious, and created a demon, called Virabadra, who was the embodiment of the anger of the Supreme Lord. Virabadra went to the residence of Daksha, to the sacrificial arena, and beheaded him. He destroyed the entire sacrifice that was taking place. In fear, the demigods scattered, and requested the counsel of Lord Brahma, the personality governing the creation of the Universe. Lord Brahma, knew of the nature of Lord Shiva, and how he is a perfected being. So he suggested they approach Lord Shiva and beg his forgiveness for their partaking in the events that led to his dear wife leaving her body. So the demigods along with Lord Brahma journeyed to Kailash, the beautiful abode of Lord Shiva, seeing many beautiful lakes, trees, and wildlife on the way. They saw Lord Shiva sitting under a very tall tree in a peaceful meditational posture with his many associates, being free of all anger. He was forgiving and gracious. One of the names of Lord Shiva is Asutosha. Asu means "very soon," and tosa means "to become satisfied." The sincerity and purity of Lord Shiva is beyond compare, and such a reaction is only fitting. Anything he does is driven by his sincerity. His anger, which was driven by his love for his wife, and his refute of a punishable act combined, was not just some act of irrational madness in perusal of his own selfish purpose; it was also driven by his sincerity. As always, the magnitude and context is entirely different in the corporate setting, however, when sincerity and purity in purpose is there, our desire to correct the wrong situations, in the appropriate way, following the cultural and workplace etiquette, will be a natural symptom in our care for others.

In essence, trust between individuals is the underlying basis for any environment that is to operate with higher values. Trust and a benevolent attitude towards others are the opposites of exploitation. If as leaders we cultivate this atmosphere, we will be surprised how much more fulfilled people are around us from seniors through to juniors. Since sincerity is the driver for trust, the change begins with introspection of our own motivations. To be sincere can happen in a moment; we only have to do one thing; be conscious.

Leadership has Laws: Seeking the Essence

Ocean View Court

We had a meeting this weekend to discuss a project we’re working on with a number of other corporate organisations in Hong Kong. One team member was just a few minutes late, and in her usual polite way, she explained she had got the wrong address. It was just one number wrong in the address, and she had ended up about 25 minutes away. She explained how this mistake was quite easily made. She went on to conclude that, “It’s amazing how just one number can make so much difference.” After some reflection, I recalled the time I was once in New York, London and Tokyo within a week, working in a number of different buildings, with different dialing codes, and protocols for internal vs external numbers also. It was quite simple; if you missed a digit, you wouldn’t get through. Often times, we would be there for minutes trying to get the right numbers. One digit made all the difference. If you imagine for a second that you did not know your best friends mobile phone number, and you had to guess it, what are the chances of getting it right? It is practically impossible. The ‘syntax’ or format of a mobile phone number follows a certain order, and your guess must be in that order to stand a chance of being correct. One digit, makes all the difference. If we do not know the rules, the addresses, of the numbers, our chances of success fall, dramatically.

Leadership has Laws

If one decides to drive around any developed City without knowing or paying heed to the road laws and protocols, they are very likely to find themselves with at best a lot of post in a few weeks, or at worst to cause some very serious to others and themselves. Now, there is a chance that a person can stumble into following rules and understanding them by following what others are doing, but it is a low likelihood they will pick up straight away. This is why education is important. This is why they have driving tests both theoretical and practical in place to train one to deal with the roads. Systematic understanding that promotes a very conscious understanding of how things work and what is to be done in certain situations is a common way of preparing one to be successful. Whilst there is much education for many topics, where does one learn the universal rules of leadership? In the contemporary world, it is often only through experience and stumbling across them. This is exactly why you see countless books on leadership by great leaders; which often contains what they stumbled across in their paths to success. This is no doubt valuable, however there are universal laws of leadership, which have been passed down and tried and tested across many generations; and have passed the test of time. They specify what is needed for success, and also on the contrary, what kinds of attitude and actions attract failure. Whilst we won’t be covering them here, the first stage is to acknowledge that there are universal rules of successful leadership; it is just like finding a building, or dialing the right number; we will have far greater chance of success if we try to understand these rules from the great, and apply them to our situations.

Essence vs Detail

There are usually two types of person; one who is more focused on the detail, and one who is more concerned with the essence. A person of essence has the end in mind, whereas as person of detail has the means in mind. Keeping the end in mind makes one almost agnostic to how one gets there, whereas keeping the detail at the forefront can sometimes make one careless to the end goal; to the extent one who is interested in detail may even sacrifice the end goal for upholding the detail. David Beckham used to practice free kicks relentlessly in his youth. He explained how he would be practicing the same kick for hours on end every day. How much patience, perseverance and determination this would have taken. Ultimately, he became one of the best free-kick takers in the game. David Beckham also happened to develop a very robust physique. In order to be a 1^st class footballer, he had to stick to a strict diet, train in many ways, and regulate his lifestyle so that he could be the 1^st class footballer he wanted to be. The details of diet, training, lifestyle, supported the essence of being a 1^st class footballer. He certainly didn’t play football so that he would be able to eat less sweet foods, practice taking free-kicks for hours etc. The detail supported the essence, and this is what built excellence. We should be very conscious what is at the essence of what we’re trying to do how the detail is a means to it. This will give us great encouragement even in the face of difficulty. We must learn to separate the two when necessary; and to connect the two when necessary. For example, when experiencing difficult in the detail, we can use the end goal to place the detail into context and therefore not be overwhelmed and discouraged by details. On the contrary, we must remind ourselves that the detail is only a means to the end.

Agile Leadership: Dropping the Baggage

Seeing Things for What They Are

There was very heavy rain as I waited in the apartment minibus in central Hong Kong. The summer season in Hong Kong has matured and nearing an end, and so such tropical downpours are quite regular. Each time the minibus windscreen wipers would move, they would throw off so much water. People were waiting in the doors of the shops for the rain to stop. There was a boy, perhaps 10 years old or so standing in a t-shirt looking at the raindrops, which were quite big. With his eyes, he was trying to follow one raindrop at a time clearly being captivated by the size of the drops. Then he decided he would use his hand to hit the raindrop back up; almost imagining the raindrop to be a ball, which you could hit, and it would bounce in the opposite direction. He kept on trying this over and over for some minutes, getting increasingly frustrated each time. Eventually he sat down. In the workplace, we sometimes want things to be like a tennis ball, which we can hit and it will bounce away; but often times, things come in a different form to which we expect. Changes in our environment need to be understood with an independent and objective mindset, with a fresh and unbiased outlook in order to act to achieve a most beneficial outcome. We need to have a flexible mindset to see things as they are; not as we think they should be; nor what they have been before; but as they are. Once we understand things as they are, we can then act appropriately. If we have a lot on our minds, we may not even pause to make such analysis; reacting rashly. There is a rule here; every moment spent thinking about, and preparing for what will ensue will save many times more the equivalent time in the future.  

There Will be Critics

Usain Bolt at the beginning of the London Olympics did not get off to the kind of starts in training and the heats that were expected of him by many. Irrespective of expectations and commentary, the world record books now note him as the first athlete to win consecutive gold in 100m and 200m sprints in history. Ahead of the 100m race, Maurice Greene, former Olympic champion, said he did not expect Bolt to retain the 100m gold medal, and favoured Bolts Jamaican companion Yohan Blake to be the victor. Greene said, “Usain has trouble in close races. If you think about the close races he's had, he's lost." After the race, Bolt was asked what he thought of Greenes’ comments ahead of the race. Bolt replied, “It is a habit of people to doubt great men.” According to the Vedic scriptures, when Lord Krishna descended, there was a demon called Kamsa. Lord Krishna was prophesised to kill Kamsa by many great authorities, and Kamsa knew this well. Irrespective, he played down Lord Krishna’s ability. He played down all of His strengths, ignored them, trivialised them. And he played up what he mistook as Lord Krishna's weaknesses, and played up his own trackrecord. Although of a completely different magnitude and context to the Bolt scenario, a similar tendency; that to criticise. Critisicm is a simple and cheap way for someone who cannot be as successful, to respond to someone who is; and it may come in the many forms cited above and more. In the corporate world, how we handle success, and how we handle criticism are areas we should give conscious thought to.

Making Dynamism Easier

The corporate world is more globally connected now than ever, and we need to be agile and dynamic in order to succeed. Being agile and dynamic is a mindset; it is not linked to geography in the first instance. It begins with a mindset that is broad and flexible. If our minds are flexible and open to things, we can move faster. To move faster, we need to be light; and to be light, we need to drop our baggage. Thunder comes after lightning. Lightening is focussed, it hits specifically one place, and gets there quicker. Sound takes time as it is more dispersed, broader. If our goal is clearly engrained in our minds, and is focussed, we will find it easier to handle things and move like lightening even in an environment where the dynamics are rapidly changing and things are thrown at us from various places both expected and unexpected.

Emotional Intelligence: All about the Person

I keep the person. I forget everything about football, and I keep the person. That’s what Jose Mourinho, arguably one of the most successful football coaches to have moved across clubs and sustained success said regarding his experience learning from Sir Bobby Robson, one of the legends in the world of football and football coaching. Both the impersonal and personal aspects of God are true, but I just love Him. This is what Bhishmadeva, the old and wise guardian of the Kuru dynasty replied to King Yuddhistira when asked which is true of the impersonal and personal aspects of God. This basic principle, is the very foundation of what has been hailed the 21^st century leadership quality; Emotional Intelligence (EI). Above and beyond everything else, we are people and will remain people. We will be shocked to see how important this factor is in our dealings and those around us. It is critical we understand this if our success is really to be pervasive and bring great people along the way.

What did you think of the game?

When I first started working, I was working on a project whose goal was to meet critical regulatory deadlines in the aftermath of the Enron crisis, the Programme Director was an exceptionally busy and in-demand individual; everyone wanted to get some of his time, and at any opportunity they would try their best to do it. His Secretary was therefore extremely selective over who gets into his diary, and had broken his time into 10 minute slots. I was very new and junior in the team, and was intrigued to see the dynamics and how they were at play. Being fresh out of University, I would follow the football very eagerly every weekend, and just wanted to find someone I could exchange thoughts on about it. I happened to find out the Programme Director was an extremely enthusiastic supporter of the same football team as me. When he found out I supported the team also, he came over to my desk. Those around me, who were far more senior than I was, were curious as to why the Programme Director was coming to my desk, when I had 5 people in my reporting line to him. He enthusiastically asked me if it was true that I support the particular football team. I said yes. He then started talking about the result on the weekend, the way the team played, the team selection, where he has a seat at the ground, what his outlook was on the season, transfer speculation, and many other related things. For about 30 minutes we spoke. His Secretary came over, and politely asked if she could interrupt us, and said he had a meeting now. He said, Tell them I will be 15 minutes late. We continued to speak. He then said, We’ll catch up tomorrow morning ok? The people around couldn’t believe it; some of them even came afterwards and asked me what we always talk about. They had very legitimate “formal” reasons to meet with him, and just needed five minutes to get a decision, or escalate something of importance, and they had meeting slots allocated far later in the week than my impromptu “30 minutes football slot” with him, and am sure what totaled to many hours in the weeks that ensued. The Programme Director, whilst able to deal with the formal side of the role very competently, gained a different kind of value from the personal interaction, which had the power o supersede the formal dealings.

Work hard, play harder

To work hard, and play hard is a phrase connected with the workplace. If people had a choice whether to work harder or play harder, which would they choose? A senior ranking officer in the business was discussing business relocation packages and in particular, locations. After exploring a number of options, it was clear that the country of choice was one which made for the nicest personal experience, not necessarily the most growth opportunity purely from an economic perspective. People, no matter how senior, want personal experiences. They of course are interested, and extremely competent in the formal aspects of the role, but often times, especially as one becomes more senior, it comes down to the quality of personal experiences. Recently, it was the appearance anniversary of Lord Krishna, known in the Vedic teachings as the Supreme Lord. The speaker in the Temple during the festivities was explaining that the Lord has two purposes in His descent. In the ‘formal’ context, the Lord cites two reasons for His descent to Earth; i) to protect the pious, and to ii) annihilate those who cause harm to the pious. Interestingly, the speaker went on say that these are just the formal reasons cited, but that actually, the Lord has personal reasons to descend also. The personal reasons are quite simple; to share enjoyable experiences with those who are dear to Him.

It is interesting how once a person becomes very senior in the corporate world, their accepting arduous or austere locations becomes much more rare, but they become more inclined to places where the quality of life, of personal experiences, be they with family or friends or both, are a much higher priority. We are people, who seek experiences, and will continue to be so. Being continually conscious of this, can lead to powerful interactions that leave impressions on peoples' minds, and these impressions are some of the most important keys to success in any field.

Back to the Future: Power of Empowerment

What kind of mark do we want to make in the leadership paths that we tread? How do we want to be remembered? How much do we care about the future verses the here and now? A lot of this can be acted on no matter how large or small our role is. This is because it is something that comes with practise and gets better the more we practise and the more we increase our consciousness of its importance. As we shall see, the effect our leadership largely comes down to successorship and our choices in who we empower and how we go about it.

Character & Competence

In Hong Kong, the high humidity levels commonly in the 80-90% band mean that a lot of maintenance is needed in the home just to keep things in basic order. I’ve heard many stories of people who go on vacation and return to find their ceilings and floors are covered with a green or black layer of mould, their clothes have holes in them from moulding, and there have been cases of contamination through leaving food outside. People therefore often ask others to check up and maintain the house whilst away. If you had valuables in the home, what would you consider when handing the keys to someone else for this task? They would need to be ‘trustworthy’ and dependable; and they would need to be ‘able’ to perform whatever maintenance is needed. There are many parallels to choosing worthy people to empower in the workplace as both i) character and ii) competence are important. One without the other will not be optimal and there is a greater ‘long-term risk’ in not making a good choice in regard to the persons character. The general trend will be that a person with character, but who is incompetent will not fare well in the short run as mistakes will not lead results and will be highlighted immediately. On the contrary, competence without good character may not be highlighted immediately as the results continue to flow, however such a person without good character will not attract others to make for a sustainable model, and therefore success will likely be short lived. The ideal combination therefore, is to empower those who are, or can be highly competent, and not only that, but have noble or virtuous character traits. There are a number of examples of such people choices in contemporary world, and ancient world, and we will study some of these to help us i) become better choices for our leaders, and ii) make better choices ourselves.

Back to the Future

One high-ranking executive of a Fortune 100 company, when briefing the new round of newly promoted leaders and owners said, “You should not think that you’ve made it and now you’re entering the elite circle of leaders. But you should think that you are borrowing time from the future leaders.” This statement, whilst short, has profound implications on the mentality leaders should have in nurturing others and not just being self-centered thinking about only the here and now, but how well things can continue once the next generation comes in. There are many speculations about how the great Roman Empire crumbled, but one of the reasons was that there were incredible leaders, who were bold, powerful, and even noble, but they lacked the ability to cultivate and over time hand over to a worthy successor. The Roman Empire had conquered most of the European world, and completely shaped the culture in many countries. The Romans were not easily displacable. It would take some imperfection in themselves as well as outside pressure to make a change. Within a few generations, the Empire was finished off as the external forces were strong, and demanded the best continued leadership from the Romans, which was fading. In a similar way, the corporate environment is sometimes ruthless and always changing, and places a demand on how well we manage succession and the empowerment of others. Research has found that the majority of leaders are not so conscious of succession; it is not in the top tier of priorities at least. Why is this so? It comes down to human nature, and if we are conscious of it, it can be managed in such a way that can increase the depth and breadth of our success.

Choose Wisely

There are many controversial parts in the ancient story of the Ramayana; one of them being Lord Rama’s going to the house of a person in the common working community, and killing this person with an arrow. The reasoning behind this was that this person was extremely determined in performing various rituals etc to become highly empowered, and he did not have the personal good qualities such as benevolence towards others that would make for a responsible person in a position of power, so it was better for the people and society that he was stopped. Lord Rama, as a righteous King who cared for his people, therefore stopped the problem before it manifested. In a separate story, Vrkasura, a demon who was worshipping Lord Shiva, asked Lord Shiva for a boon, or a wish. He wished that if he touched anyone’s head that person would die. Lord Shiva being extremely pure and innocent, thinking that the demon may have a benevolent motive, and being pleased with the demons worship, granted him the boon. The demon then came to kill Lord Shiva himself. Radhanath Swami speaks about the story of Frankenstein with Boris Karloff, where there is a scientist who wanted to created life from a dead person. It was the goal of his career. He eventually bought a dead person back to life, and he realised he had created a monster; violent person, who then came to kill his creator. Therefore, if we are not careful, and are taken off our feet by the razzle and dazzle of immediate results, and do not pay heed to the importance of character, we will encourage and empower people that will not be good for the team, not be good for us, and not be good for the future. This is a lesson that has been learnt through harsh consequences by many.

In conclusion, there are very few people with the determination, track-record and competence, as well as an exceptional set of character qualities that make for an outstanding hire or person to empower; given the dynamics of the environments we are in, it is exceptionally rare. Therefore, we should firstly aspire to provide such a combination of qualities ourselves, because if we do, we will be very attractive and valuable to our leaders. Secondly we should aim to increase our sensitivity to these factors when empowering others, and managing the two factors of ‘competence’ and ‘character’ through the right kinds of mindsets, dialogues, and techniques. We should be seeking opportunities to empower others in the right way all the time, with a broad mind; this will certainly increase our likelihood of having a very powerful and inspiring impact as a leader, which will also lead to growth that is exponentially quicker than we can ever imagine doing on our own.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

The direction of our careers and our lives, are determined quite simply by an ongoing set of decisions. There are essentially two categories of decisions; i) What do we want?, and ii) How do we react to circumstance that we create or come upon us? These two things determine our experience and success in life. How can we make the right decisions? How can we be more sure about the decisions we make? How can we make quicker decisions? What follows is a set of experiences and recent history that aim to help us address these questions effectively.

The door handle

In the final semester, I had got the marks needed to complete my Management MSc with a Distinction and had a job offer lined up. I had an extra module I could choose and had had enough of the technical and financial modules, so decided to go with something more philosophical to help expand my thinking. In the first class of this philosophical module, we all rummaged through the doors in typical University fashion shuffling from one lecture to the next. Gradually the noise level dropped, and students became attentive. The Professor looked up, and asked, “Who in this room remembers the shape of the door handle for this room?” Everyone looked at each other in surprise. What was the relevance of this? He then asked, “Who here came through the door to get in this room, raise your hands.” Everybody raised their hands. “Who saw the door as they came through?” Everybody raised their hands. “Who would have therefore, somewhere in their field of vision, seen the door handle, if not have touched it?” Everybody put their hands up. He quickly repeated his initial question, “So who remembers the shape of the door handle?” Not a single hand stayed up. The professor fell silent for a few moments. “I want you to think for yourselves what this means, you’re all smart people” he said. It was very thought provoking indeed. It was clear that we don’t register all of the information coming into our field of vision. We have programmed ourselves, somehow, to ignore certain information as we don’t find it valuable. We then make decisions based on what we register alone. We may miss certain things, until someone like the Professor tells us. We expand our ability to make better decisions by consulting with others to get a clearer and bigger picture from others who are well positioned to. A very senior Partner in our firm was recently asked what the best piece of advice he was given was. He replied, “Taking advice from a diverse group of people that I trust, who can see things I can’t.”

Chop, Chop

It was a rainy day on Friday 12 September 2008, when Hank Paulson, US Treasury Secretary, the ex CEO of Goldman Sachs summoned Wall Streets CEO’s, referred to by some as the Masters of the Universe, to a crisis meeting at the Federal Reserve in Nassau Street, New York with an hours notice at 1800hrs just before the weekend. Lehman Brothers stock was loosing over $8 million a minute. They had right-downs of $2.5 billion of home loans for the second consecutive quarter.  Other Banks were not giving them credit. Should Hank Paulson fund Lehmans to keep life flowing, or allow the forces of the free market to swarm around and devour one of Wall Streets oldest Banks? One of the Executives at the table said, “No-one around that table did not understand the stakes they were talking about.” This was to be the last straw, and Hank Paulson decided to let Lehman Brothers fall. As other participants fell, there was a series of unparalled acquisitions in world banking history. The global economy continues to suffer, 4 years on, from Lehman Brothers, and the set of decisions made that evening, shaped events to follow. Other Banks and Financial Institutions that wrote off similar losses were later saved by the Governments all over the world, and the consistency of the decisions in Wall Street was questioned by many. Perhaps this situation does not illustrate the accuracy of decisions as it is hard to see what would have ensued if Paulson had chosen to save Lehmans, however, it does teach a lesson around volatility and how we are at times pressed to make a decision under pressure, with only a limited degree of foresight being possible. In such circumstance, it is critical that we keep a very clear and objective focus, that can quickly connect cause-effect relationships, learn from the past, and articulate this to others in a way they can quickly get involved. Paulson may have been right or wrong, but we must be on our toes, ready and able to make tough decisions, objectively and fairly.

Shall I, or shan’t I?

 In the episode from the ancient literature the Srimad Bhagawatam, the wife of Lord Shiva, called Sati is persistent that she would like to attend a function held at her Father, Prajapati Daksha’s palace. In normal circumstance, it would be expected for daughter Sati to attend, but at the previous function, her Father had insulted her husband Lord Shiva very seriously calling him many bad things, and that too, publically in an assembly of the demigods and sages. Lord Shiva was hurt by Daksha's words, but had calmly gone back to his quarters in this instance. Sati, seeing many demigods, and other heavenly residents dressed nicely, and in great excitement, in couples, going towards her Fathers palace, she too was eager to go. She brushed aside the previous bad experience in her and her husbands public encounter with her Father. Being so excited and very eager to go, she calmed herself and came before Lord Shiva and asked him if they could go also. She cited all of the great things associated with the function and how much she absoultely could not miss going to this with her husband. Lord Shiva on hearing this recalled his experience with Daksha and felt hurt. But he smiled as he loved his wife. He said however that he would not recommend going as they would be insulted once again by her Father for sure. Lord Shiva concluded that Sati may go if she wanted to, but her future would not be good if she did. Sati did not know what to do; here was one of the most trustworthy personalities in the Universe, and her husband giving her advice not to go, and on the other side were her intense desires to attend a buoyant occasion with her family. Sati was torn in two, confused, and became indecisive. She charted from one side of the room to the other in a state of almost helplessness. Delaying her thinking about the consequences, she left for the function. Once she entered, her Father, publically criticised her husband Lord Shiva, and this pierced Sati’s heart. She loved Lord Shiva, knowing he was the most respectable personality, and in her distraught state, she ended up leaving her body. What can we learn from this incident; many things. Make sure that substantial advice from great people, is not missed like the door handle. Emotion acts as a veil that covers us from seeing what is so clearly in front of us. We can also flip the example and derive a lesson; if we become so siloed in what we’re doing, with a kind of tunnel vision, and fail to understand the organisational priorities, strategies, people dynamics, our efforts will be in vain as the alignment won’t be there. Lord Shiva being a very elevated personality, could see the bigger picture, the people dynamics and his advice was completely considerate of this.

To summarise, we need to begin with understanding the importance of decisions in our lives and careers. We then need to appreciate that we will have varying degrees of pressure on us to make different decisions, and appropriately orient ourselves and consult appropriately given these constraints and knowledge of the stakes. Finally, we need to be very aware of the effect of these decisions, and being bold enough to accept the consequences of our decisions whether they are successful or not. When a strong leader is successful, they are quick not to hold the credit, but to pass it to the people around them who have served them, guided them, and helped them. When a strong leader is not successful, they do not blame those around them, but they accept responsibility, and work to learn and improve.

Handling Success

In reflection of the London Olympic games, the most successful for Great Britain in history, and that too on home turf, it is timely to look at different ways of handling success and the effect they have on the longevity of this success. The extent to how well success is received and built upon is largely determined by what our success is attributed to. The steps one takes after receiving success determine the sustainability of our success. If one attributes success to their own inherent greatness, the reaction may be one of arrogance and potentially slackening of practise, and therefore less longevity. If one attributes their success to hard work and the help of others, it will likely result in gratitude and persistent and concentrated effort. Successful people are looked up to by others, and the example they set in handling success is often followed by others. It is a responsibility for leaders to set an ethical and noble example in handling success as this will be embodied in future generations, and therefore has the ability to create not only success that lasts a lifetime, but a legacy spanning generations. We shall see through a number of examples that the successful handling of success comes down to clarity of thought, and staying firmly grounded.

People try to emulate success

How the British athletes performed is to be commended. How these young idols for many young people who were engaged in violent crimes during the UK riots, can have a large scale and long term effect on the country. Many of the athletes have been very gracious in their victories, dedicating wins to their teams, coaches, children, and families. Time will tell how they maintain such an attitude. The gym in the apartment I stay in doesn’t have a large dedicated area where one can practise martial arts type of training. In absence of this, I often go near the children’s area to do such a warming up. As I was practising some punches and kicks, I failed to notice a small boy and girl were copying me standing behind me. They had very serious and aggressive looks on their little faces with their brows raised as they tried to copy my expression also. Seeing them doing this, with their pink and blue shorts and toys near them I smiled. They became totally confused seeing my reaction; they must have been thinking that I was so serious, in such a fixed position, moving fast and hard, to suddenly being completely loose, relaxing and smiling. Within a moment, they loosed up also and we all began to laugh together. It is our nature to emulate certain things we find attractive. In the world today, people try to emulate those who are successful. However, peoples’ minds sometimes fail to distinguish between what are the real causes of success verses what are not. Negative characterstics, habits, mannerisms, ethos, beliefs, etc are not the causes of success, however are easily emulated by weaker people. Whereas the real causes of success, which are often a hard working ethic, and inclination to learn good techniques, and strategies from others, are not so easy to take on for people who have a weak nature that easily succumbs to a temptation to give up and not be sincere in purpose.

Why So Serious?

 After the premiere of most recent Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy, who played the villain ‘Bane’ was asked about his experience in working with Christian Bale, who starred as Bruce Wayne. Hardy commented that “We’re both very serious about what we do, but don’t take ourselves so seriously.” This was a very interesting attitude, and one that had interestingly been encouraged by spiritualist Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj also in his stating how remaining jovial at times helps in keeping grounded. Christian Bale was in a very strong position as he was in demand being requested by many in Hollywood to star in the next Batman. He commented in a gracious manner, that it had been a real honour for him to play the role. He could have adopted an attitude of arrogance if he wanted to, but chose to be gracious. This kind of attitude can help separate whatever may come from our efforts, from who we are in essence; it's eye-opening how easily sometimes the two are mixed; when people purchase very opulent things, become successful, they sometimes begin to think that they are those things, or are that success. But did they simply not exist before the success and things came along? We can take our work very seriously, but if we are detached at a deeper level, then we won’t be so affected either in success or failure. What a win-win situation that is; if we lose, we don’t mind and we take responsibility, and if we win, we just continue to work hard and attract more success.

Vishwamitra Muni goes back to the Mountains

In the days of Lord Rama, several millennia ago, on the extremely long awaited occasion of Lord Rama’s marriage, the great sage Vishwamitra Muni had been called to perform the ceremony as the priest. After a long celebration that lasted for weeks, Lord Rama’s Father, Dasarath, explained to Vishwamitra Muni that due to his holy presence, there was such positive energy and auspiciousness in the land of Ayodhya. The King politely requested that Vishwamitra Muni not leave, and extend his stay. Vishwamitra Muni however politely declined. He said that one must be vigilant, especially in success. In a humble manner, he cited a time where he had gathered great power through meditation, and had lost this all just in a few moments due to being distracted. The great sage replied that therefore, it is infact more important now than ever, in the midst of such success and opulence that he return to his simple Ashram in the mountains, and return to his meditational and devotional practices with great determination. He explained that actually these things are the foundations of any auspiciousness that may exist which King Dasarath spoke of. If we handle success with such a grounded, fixed, and determined manner, then surely we will create a mindset that is very favourable to endured success.