Saturday, 22 September 2012

Danish Khan_BLP035_Self Leadership_September 2012


The beginning of another term at SOIL (time seems to have flied, memoirs of induction are still afresh in mind) couldn't have been any better.Our first class of 2nd semester, was Self Leadership by Anil Sir - a selfless leaders who has made  marked differences in lives of many students & industry stalwarts alike.

Although, the term-end brought along experiences too harsh to reckon, incidences too abrupt to reaffirm, this first class by Sir helped us in recovering from the shock of losing two of our class mates in road accident. The moods were soured and minds were soared before the class commenced after the morning circle. Students with sulking faces began occupying the seats of their once brightful classroom.
 
Sir, opened the class with an opening circle, where students circled together holding each other’s hands to let the positive energy flow among themselves. Students were encouraged by sir to speak up about their feelings about losing their loved ones and express their gratitude towards the almighty for all his blessings on us and our loved ones. We shared,how we feel grateful to be standing today with all the goodness in life and that we are privlidged to be hail & hearty.

A video shared by Sir's daughter was projected; it made us ponder over thoughts on "things to do before I die”. It was a great source of inspiration as it provided the insight to have aspiration and dream even while facing the ultimate truth of life which is “Death”. This video for me was a way to rejoice life and accept death.

Continuing the positivity with the power of healing, Ani Sir walked us through the session emphasizing upon emotional intelligence, why it is important in a leader, how one can inculcate the essence of emotional intelligence and enhances their emotional quotient. Lots of importance to listening was essayed and art of being a good listener was exemplified

Sir, showed us in his unique way demonstrated the difference between empathy & sympathy.

Emotional intelligence is important constituent of leadership, blended with the power of listening brings perfection.

Then we learned the nuances of appreciative inquiry and the qualities needed for it, one of which is deep listening as if one’s life depends on it and to paraphrase what s/he has said.

Deep listening only comes when the listener is fully present and is able to empathize i.e. put oneself in other’s perspective not position. Also the other qualities needed for undertaking AI is to develop trust which can only come into being when the EQ level of listener is high. Finally for an AI to be successful one should be respectful of other’s uniqueness and also aspect of genuineness and warmth should be reflected through words and body language. As a class we got to know each other much better in terms of his/her strengths and qualities which generally we ignore. This exercise created a sense of belonging among each and everyone developed collective aspiration to make the institute and our self better than before.

We watched the video of a monk who is termed the happiest person in the world in which he shared secret behind happy life. Then we individually introspected upon the causes of unhappiness in our life by concentration upon following aspects.

We will be creating a knowledge tree out of these appreciative qualities of each student and document them. The class formed circles to express what they felt after last week’s crisis (losing our class mates) and performed individual exercises on happiness – things that deprive us of happiness are following:

-Unstated emotional expectations of those I care

-Regrets about the past

-Guilt that I carry with me
 

In the end, we all appreciated Sir for conducting such an enriching session, which helped many to overcome tired/tiring instances of last week. The session opened avenues for
thoughts on enhancing one’s self understanding & self leadership.

 

 

 

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