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Sharpen Your Saw
"The beginning of a habit is like
an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act, we strengthen the
strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us
irrevocably, thought and act." - Orison Swett Marden
Welcome to Success Tools for CEO Coaches: Be a Learner, Leader, and Ladder! There
is an overwhelming response to my previous published books, and it encouraged
me to author this book on learning and leadership. I have received a number of
mails from the visitors of my three blogs: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
(Where Knowledge is Wealth), http://professormsrao.blogspot.com
(Professor M.S.Rao Born for the Students) and http://professormsraoguru.blogspot.com
(Knowledge Grows When Shared) to author a book on learning, leadership and
coaching. In addition, my friends who are renowned international management
thinkers and gurus encouraged me to author a book of this genre. I thought over
it and felt the need for this kind of book. I am glad that the book is in your
hands now.
Sharpen
Your Saw
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree
and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” - Abraham Lincoln
Some people work very hard without any
end in mind. They spend their precious
time on the outcome rather than on the process. But hardly do they realize that
the work they do requires meticulous planning to achieve the desired outcomes.
Here goes the story of Mark and Marshall where one emphasized on the outcome
and another on the process.
Both Mark and Marshall were asked to
chop down the tree within a time-frame of one hour. Mark took the axe and started to hit hard at
the trunk of the tree as the time duration was only one hour. He kept hitting hard aggressively to chop down
the tree. In contrast, Marshall took the axe; planned well to chop the tree;
spent fifteen minutes to sharpen the axe; worked for thirty minutes; and
finally, felled the tree within a total duration of 45 minutes. Mark hit hard at the trunk of the tree, and
felled it after 60 minutes. From this story it is obvious that Mark did hard
work while Marshall did smart work. Mark
was efficient while Marshall was effective. Mark put quantitative efforts while
Marshall put qualitative efforts. Mark emphasized on outcome while Marshall focused
on process to achieve the outcome quickly. In our lives, we find many Marks but
only a few Marshalls. It is the people
like Marshall who succeed greatly.
In the current competitive world
everyone emphasizes on smart work rather than on hard work to achieve outcomes
quickly through tons of planning and preparation. But when we mention
sharpening the axe in this book we mean sharpening your mind through continuous
learning and constant feedback.
‘Sharpen the Saw’ is one of the habits
highlighted by Stephen R. Covey which is listed as Habit #7 in his
groundbreaking book, The 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People in 1989.
Stephen explains Habit #7 as follows: “Sharpening the saw is about
constantly renewing ourselves in the four basic areas of life: physical,
social/emotional, mental and spiritual.
It’s the habit that increases our capacity to live all other habits of
effectiveness.” Hence, when you sharpen
your saw you renew yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.
It gives a break to your mind to enable you to recharge and move forward
aggressively to ensure effective outcomes.
You can work smarter instead of harder, and you can deliver qualitative
goods instead of quantitative goods thus accomplishing your objectives
successfully and quickly. Both
continuous learning and constant feedback plays a crucial role in sharpening
your saw regularly.
Companies sharpen the saws of their
employees through training programs to ensure organizational effectiveness and
excellence. They conduct various learning and development programs regularly to
update and upgrade their skills, abilities and knowledge. The employees too appreciate working in
companies that care for their careers and groom them professionally. Here are some tips to follow to sharpen your
saw:
- Have passion for continuous
learning.
- Acquire a new skill and learn a
new language.
- Attend training programs and
workshops to know the latest developments in your area of interest. Read and listen to audio programs
regularly.
- Hit the gym regularly to keep
your body fit so that your mind will be active to absorb new things
quickly.
- Above all, set your goals and
work to accomplish them.
Mahatma
Gandhi – A Learner, Leader and Ladder
“Men make history and not the other
way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.
Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to
change things for the better.” - Harry S. Truman
There are a number of leaders who are
learners; there are some leaders who walked their talk and became true leaders;
and there are a few leaders who became ladders for others. However, there are the rarest breed of
leaders who are a blend of learning, leading and laying ladders for others. Mahatma Gandhi was the rarest leader who
learned continuously, led by example and served as a ladder for others
throughout his life. Hence, we will
profile this legend in the introductory chapter.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on
October 02, 1869 in Porbandar in the present Indian State of Gujarat. He is known as Mahatma Gandhi and Indians
call him ‘Father of the Nation’. He
played a crucial role in India’s freedom struggle through his principles of
truth and non-violence.
Mahatma Gandhi revealed that stories
of Shravana and king Harishchandra left an indelible impression on his mind.
During his childhood Gandhi identified himself with those characters and
evolved as an honest person. He was an average student academically. His
academic progress report reveals, "Good at English, fair in Arithmetic and
weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting."
Mahatma Gandhi studied law in
London. After returning to India he
tried to establish himself as a lawyer in Bombay but failed to establish.
Subsequently he went to South Africa in 1893 and lived there for two decades
where he forged the unity among Indians and fought against anti-Indian and
discriminatory practices. He
successfully tried his principles of truth and non-violence, and transformed
from an inexperienced barrister into an accomplished political leader in South
Africa. He returned to India in 1915,
joined the Indian National Congress and dedicated the rest of his life for
India’s freedom movement.
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a
Hindu fanatic on January 30 in 1948.
Commenting on his death, Jawaharlal Nehru
said, "Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and
there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how
to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation,
is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him
again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for
advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me,
but for millions and millions in this country.”
Mahatma Gandhi provided the ladder for
several leaders - Jawaharlal Nehru, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel, and Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan to name a few - to avoid the leadership vacuum. Most of the charismatic leaders make a major
mistake of tooting their own horns thus not grooming others as leaders. But
Mahatma Gandhi was the rarest charismatic leader who was a continuous learner,
leader and laid a ladder for several leaders to grow as leaders.
Mahatma
Gandhi – A Great Reader and Learner
“Leadership and learning are
indispensable to each other.” - John F. Kennedy
As great leaders are great learners
and readers, Mahatma Gandhi read a number of books and was influenced by books
such as Plato's Apology, William
Salter's Ethical Religion (1889);
Henry David Thoreau's On the Duty of
Civil Disobedience (1847); Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1893); and John Ruskin's Unto this Last (1862) to name a few.
Mahatma Gandhi learned many things from his mistakes which he called
experiments. He authored a book, The
Story of My Experiments with Truth which is an autobiography.
Mahatma
Gandhi’s Influence
“Strength does not come from physical
capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” -
Mahatma Gandhi
There are many leaders who were
influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, namely Martin Luther King Jr, Khan Adbul Ghaffar
Khan, James Lawson, Lech Wałęsa, Steve Biko, Benigno Aquino Jr, Nelson Mandela,
Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama, Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi. Martin Luther King Jr went to the extent of
saying, "Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics."
Time Magazine
named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung
San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as children
of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence.
Mahatma Gandhi did not receive the
Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five times. But his followers namely, Martin Luther King
Jr, Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Barack Obama received the
Nobel Peace Prize. It indicates his influence beyond borders and laying the
ladder for great leaders.
Commenting on Mahatma Gandhi Albert
Einstein
said, “Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history. He
has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an
oppressed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion. The
moral influence he had on the consciously thinking human being of the entire
civilized world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time
with its overestimation of brutal violent forces. Because lasting will only be
the work of such statesmen who wake up and strengthen the moral power of their
people through their example and educational works. We may all be happy and grateful that destiny
gifted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the
generations to come.”
Mahatma Gandhi was against the partition
of India. He always strove for maintaining unity among various religions. He is
revered for his practical approach. He
walked his talk throughout his life. He
is a transformational leader, soft leader, and above all, a servant leader. It
was the great poet, Rabindranath Tagore who accorded the title, ‘Mahatma’ to
him, which means ‘great soul’ in English.
However, Mahatma Gandhi never valued such titles as he considered
himself a servant for people.
It is a pride for Indians that Mahatma
Gandhi was born in India whose influence is beyond borders and generations.
References
Success Tools for CEO Coaches: Be a
Learner, Leader and Ladder
Life is great!
Professor M.S.Rao, India
Founder of MSR Leadership
Consultants India
Listed
in Marquis Who's Who in the World in 2013
Vision 2030 Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCO-gWmTRk
Twitter: @professormsrao
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