“Hatred doesn’t have any place in the world. Love is the only way to connect with the world. Love breaks all barriers including political, social, cultural, religious, racial, and national. We are all the branches of one tree. The root is one. The world is our root; branches are the nations; and leaves are the people. Let us appreciate the fact that we all have originated from one place and we all belong to one family. The whole world is one family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam).”
― Professor M.S.Rao, author of Soft Leadership: a New Direction to Leadership
Coronavirus has opened our eyes. Climate change has opened our eyes. We must become more cautious and responsible. We must learn how to lead our lives with purpose and meaning. We must grow as global citizens. When you look at leaders such as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela, they made an immense difference to the world.
The World is One Family
India emphasizes universal brotherhood and calls it Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. That means The World is One Family. In the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, India treats the entire world as one family. It doesn’t discriminate against others based on religion, region, nationality, ethnicity, language, and culture. That is the greatness of India!
We must ensure that the world is free from violence and conflicts. Remember that God is one. All religions emphasize humanity. We must unite as humanity. We must emphasize humanity, humility, and hope. We must appreciate similarities, not differences. We must respect diversity. Love your mother but don’t have another person’s mother. As your mother is precious to you, another person’s mother is equally precious to him/her. We must respect all communities, cultures, and people across the world irrespective of their nations, religions, beliefs, and faiths.
A Blueprint To Build A Creative And Compassionate Society
You must build a creative society step by step. You must create awareness through various platforms including social media. Craft a vision and execute it effectively. Work hard consistently to make a creative society a reality. Unite with others to build one global society that is creative and compassionate. A creative society leads to a better society and an ideal society. What goes around comes around.
Next to God is neighbor. Talk to your neighbors and take care of them. Care for your communities. Care for your local societies to build a global society that emphasizes ethics, etiquette, morality, spirituality, fraternity, and humanity.
As charity begins at home, taking care of the global societies starts from taking care of your local communities. Emphasize need, not greed. Avoid arguing with unworthy individuals who are part of the problem. It is pointless to argue with them. They might think that your actions are pointless and useless.
When you are clear about your vision and mission, you must pursue it relentlessly to bring the desired change in the world. Here are some tips to build a better world:
- Make others feel important.
- Identify one hidden quality in a person, elevate and inspire.
- Become a volunteer.
- Participate in non-profits actively.
- Participate in local communities.
- Add value to them.
- Make a difference in their lives.
- Donate to charity.
Bill Gates is actively involved in charity and is highlighting climate change. Warren Buffet is a great philanthropist. Invest your time, if you don’t have money.
What Kind Of World Do You Want To Live In?
I would like to live in a world that offers free elementary education for all. The education system must be creative, not cramming nor rote learning. It must be student-centric, not teacher-centric. It must inculcate a unique mindset, toolset, and skillset to groom students as global citizens. It must emphasize local education at the core level and global education at the surface level to enable citizens to think globally, act locally.
I would like to live in a world that respects democracy, appreciates diversity, and advocates gender equality. I would like to live in a world that emphasizes humility, humanity, and hope. I would like to live in a world that pioneers human rights and enables people to express their ideas and opinions freely with others. I would like to live in a world that is free from conflicts and wars where people live with amity and goodwill. Also, I would like to live in a world that respects fraternity, promotes universal brotherhood, and protects the environment.
Unite People Into One Platform Globally
When we think about service, we can unite globally. When we think about love we can unite globally. When we think about humanity we can unite globally.
Mother Teresa is known as the mother of compassion. She united the world with her compassion and service. She served the leper in India. Dalai Lama united the world with love and humanity. Mahatma Gandhi inspired the world with his leadership emphasizing truth and non-violence. Nelson Mandela inspired the world with his leadership emphasizing justice and fairness. Martin Luther King Jr inspired the world emphasizing equality and integrity.
We are looking forward to such inspiring leaders. In fact, such leaders are among us. We must identify and encourage them to build a better world.
Explore Soft Leadership To Build An Ideal World
Leadership comes with a lot of power. It starts with responsibility. Leaders must lead by example. They must take responsibility. They must think of the long-term, not the short-term. When leaders think short-term, they tend to look for survival and cut corners. So, leaders must think long-term to impact the world positively. They must explore soft leadership.
When you look at leaders like Booker T. Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, Dalai Lama, and Aung San Sui Kyi, there is a common thread connecting all of them―soft leadership. They are all soft leaders who silently performed and led the people to accomplish their dreams.
Defining Soft Leadership
Soft leadership is leading through soft skills and people skills. It blends soft skills, hard skills, and leadership. It emphasizes the significance of precious human resources. It helps in managing the emotions, egos, and feelings of the people successfully. It focuses on the personality, attitude, and behaviour of the people, and calls for making others feel more important.
Moreover, It is an integrative, participative, relationship, and behavioural leadership model adopting tools such as persuasion, negotiation, recognition, appreciation, motivation, and collaboration to accomplish the tasks effectively.
Soft leadership is not a submissive leadership or a lame-duck leadership but an assertive leadership where soft leaders adopt pleasing and polite communication to execute the tasks effectively.
It is a blend of courageous leadership, thought leadership, servant leadership, and inspirational leadership. Succinctly, soft leadership can be defined as the process of setting goals; influencing people through persuasion; building strong teams; negotiating them with a win-win attitude; respecting their failures; handholding them; motivating them constantly; aligning their energies and efforts; recognizing and appreciating their contribution in accomplishing organizational goals and objectives with an emphasis on soft skills. It is based on the right mindset, skillset, and toolset.
Leadership depends on three aspects:
- How you communicate with others
- How you make decisions and
- How you take action.
When you can execute these three activities effectively you become a successful leader. However, to evolve as a soft leader, you must communicate with an emphasis on soft skills; make decisions by blending your head, heart, and gut; and take action keeping the ground realities and goals in your view without compromising task-orientation.
There are 11 Cs that constitute soft leadership. They are character, charisma, conscience, conviction, courage, communication, compassion, commitment, consistency, consideration, and contribution.
It is highly challenging for people to cultivate these 11 characteristics. However, if people possess more than 6 traits they get into the fold of soft leadership. Here is the diagram (Figure 1) connecting 11 C’s that collectively constitute soft leadership.
Figure 1 The Eleven Cs of Soft Leadership
Soft leadership helps organizations to achieve productivity and performance. It ensures organizational excellence and effectiveness. It helps nations to achieve peace and prosperity.
Together We Can Change The World
Currently, we are emphasizing ‘profit over people.’ We must shift our mindset to ‘people over profit.’ We must become responsible for future generations. We must live for future generations. They will appreciate our vision and contribution. We must become the foundation for future generations.
Create a better world with your actions, not opinions. The world is made better by your actions, not by your opinions. So, take action now. Be proactive. Be part of the solution, not the problem. Don’t criticize. Don’t complain. Don’t condemn.
Instead, be an individual of action and determination. Come out of your comfort zone. Overcome the victim mindset. Shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Empathize with others. Be compassionate with others.
Remember that many little drops make a mighty ocean. When all people collaborate and contribute they can bring about global change.
Let us come together and work united to build a world as per our dreams where the future generations will be proud of us. Let us unite to build a creative society and a compassionate world. Let us become givers. Let us become responsible ancestors and hand over a better civilization to our next generations.
To conclude, act now. It is now or never. Be the change you wish to see in the world.
