Excerpts from MSS Daya Singh Khalsa's
Khalsa Council Chairman's Address
Excerpts from MSS Daya Singh Khalsa’s
Khalsa Council Chairman’s Address
Espanola, New Mexico, USA
In the fourth and final meeting on the Leadership agenda we are reminded of numerous quotes. Senge, the author of the highly insightful book on organizational structures, The Fifth Discipline, emphasizes: "Teamwork is how people in organizations have always gotten work done, teams are part of the informal system, not the formal system. They are webs of interdependency that are so extensive we almost don’t see them."
Let us make it our goal to strengthen our Khalsa connection, to take our web and spin it into a deeper informal network. In order for the web, that interdependent network to be spun, it is necessary for us to stay actively involved and participating.
We are seeing major movements in this country and the world that are encouraging volunteerism and participation as a remedy to the break down of traditional institutions. It is vital that we understand these efforts and therefore magnify our effectiveness in engaging ourselves, our families, our local communities in seva.
The President’s summit which took place on April 28 was a call to action, a call to commitment for people to "pledge" to serve; for each of us to put our individual gifts to work for the common good; for us to renew the sense of civic responsibility that has served us well throughout our history as a Nation and as a Dharma.
At the heart of this initiative is the idea that we need not to be separated by our differences. By bringing people together through service we can build strong connections with one another and alleviate alienation and social problems within our communities.
It is also necessary that we engage ourselves, and therefore, our sangats in building trust, deeply listening, and creating synergy towards involvement.
Stephen Covey author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People advice at an International Leadership Conference televised to over 200,000 individuals via satellite was that:
"Building Leadership and being effective starts with relationships. Relationships are what are really important in achieving anything and participating. And what prevents relationships from being successful are an absence of trust and poor communication. When levels of trust are high, communication is effortless; but when trust is low, communication is costly - and nothing you do to try to communicate works.
Trust is the condition that enables synergy to take place. Synergy happens when something new is being created in relationships among individuals. Out of synergy comes effective action and achievement.
Certain habits are themselves synergistic. Always seek first to understand the other before trying to be understood. This involves practicing 'emphatic listening.' The more you understand the other person’s frame of reference, the more creative you become and the more synergy you create, therefore the more you achieve. Get people genuinely involved and participating by creating an atmosphere of trust and open communication. In such an atmosphere, people will help you change the systems that prevent synergy. It all comes back to how important the relationships are."
We undertook the leadership agenda first as an individual, deeply transformational process. It meant looking within in addition to looking outside. It has been an opportunity to look carefully at our fundamental intentions and to begin to measure our behaviors and activities and their impact against those intentions - and then do something about them. We have been building communities for 27 years. We must continue to "Unleash that Power of Leadership" within our own experience, therefore, into our communities, our Khalsa Nation, and into the future.
Unleash the Power of Leadership Strengthen the informal network Pledge to serve and participate Create environments for listening and open communication From Prosperity Paths Issue:May,1997 History - Donation - Privacy - Help - Registration - Home - Search