“I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do, or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again.”
—William Penn
I am passionate about shaping students and enjoy spending time with them to understand their challenges to provide them with solutions. As my vision is to build 1 million students as global leaders, I consider spending my time with them an investment. And it is a great opportunity for me to understand their psychology; perceptions; expectations; and aspirations on career, success, entrepreneurship, leadership, and life.
Vision to Build 1 Million Global Leaders
I share my lifetime goal with students and participants regularly during my teaching and training programs. I also share it in my articles, blogs, books, and social media. I am passionate about this nonprofit project.
I conduct classes, seminars, workshops, and leadership training programs for students and employees, and already have trained 20,000 students so far. Whenever an educational institution asks me to provide training programs, I visit to share my passion, vision, and knowledge. Apart from my active involvement in grooming 1 million students directly, I currently am using a five-bucket approach to build a core team of 50 who will assist me to accomplish my goal.
Execution
If you want to change the society, you need citizens who are highly committed and dedicated. Thus, I am looking for students with a positive, right, and strong attitude to carry forward my passion and vision to build a better society to achieve the ultimate objective of global peace and prosperity.
Presently, I have built a team of a few students and corporate executives who share my passion and vision with others. They connected with me through teaching and training programs. I send them e-mails and connect with them through social media. Sometimes they phone me. I have been building this team for the last seven years, and I am still doing it by interviewing prospective candidates.
5 Levels of Leadership
During my teaching and training programs, I have encountered students and participants who follow my ideals and ideas and seek my career guidance and counseling. I tentatively created a blueprint consisting of “5 Levels of Leadership” to build global leaders as follows:
- In the first level, I invite students who are interested in my passion and vision for discussion and counsel them. During the discussion, I look at various aspects, including attitude, academic excellence, an attitude of gratitude, persistence, team spirit, leadership abilities, continuous learning, and, above all, the heart to make a difference to the society. I share with them my passion and vision to build 1 million students as global leaders. If I find that they are seriously interested in sharing and spreading my passion and vision with others on nonprofit basis, I include their names in the dedication list of my upcoming leadership books. This dedication helps them as a reference during their employment interview apart from remaining as a lifetime gift.
- I assess their contribution and commitment toward my cause apart from their performance. If I find that they contribute to society through Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and nonprofits, I will promote them to the second level. Periodically, I will have an interaction and discussion with them. If there is any need for my presence to inspire others who aspire to grow as global leaders, I will attend and address the conferences/workshops/seminars free of cost. Those who are found lacking in commitment and dedication toward this cause do not get entry into the second level.
- In the third level, I provide free leadership training programs. I monitor their performance. If these leaders maintain continuous enthusiasm to spread my vision and passion and share knowledge with others, I elevate them to the fourth level.
- In the fourth level, I review whether they are providing leadership training programs voluntarily on a nonprofit basis to others to groom them as global leaders. If I find them doing a great job, based on their commitment, contribution, and performance, I publish their interviews with photos in my authored book outlining their aspirations and expectations; principles and philosophies; and commitment and contribution to the society. In this way, they gradually are exposed globally.
- At the fifth level, I take the 50 best brains who contributed with a heart to serve the society and introduce them into my international connections to enable them to grow as global leaders. At this level, all the 50 core team members must take a pledge to build 50 more core team as global leaders during their lifetime on a nonprofit basis to bring a positive change to the society.
To accomplish my vision, I make use of social media, including my three blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. I post articles on career, leadership, motivation, success, and learning and development regularly on my LinkedIn and Facebook pages and share with students. I am happy to share with you that my teaching profession has become the launching pad to endeavor to accomplish my lifetime vision to build 1 million students as global leaders by 2030.
Transformation
Over a period of time, more leaders are created by me and my “Top 50 Hardcore Team.” We work as a team to make a difference to the world. When a stone is thrown into water, it takes time for the ripples to reach the shore. My initiative started to create ripple effects to make a positive change among some students. Once the ripples reach the shore, I hope for transformation of youth for global good. I would like to become a change agent to shepherd the youth to groom them as global leaders. During my teaching and training programs I find students with lots of energy and enthusiasm to lead our country, but they lack the right direction. They are looking for leaders who can show them the way.
My role is to ensure that the right people are in the right place at the right time to enable them to grab the global opportunities. When a drop of rain falls into an ocean, it is without any significance. However, when the same drop of rain falls into a shell, it becomes a pearl.
A Strong Leadership Pipeline
Building 1 million global leaders creates a strong leadership pipeline for the world as Baby Boomers continue to retire and there is an urgent need to develop leaders at all levels—especially the senior level. These global leaders can contribute aggressively to make a difference and create a better world.
11 Cs
Leadership depends on three aspects:
- How you communicate with others
- How you make decisions
- 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 people orientation.
There are 11 Cs that constitute soft leadership:
- Character
- Charisma
- Conscience
- Conviction
- Courage
- Communication
- Compassion
- Commitment
- Consistency
- Consideration
- Contribution
It is highly challenging for people to cultivate these 11 characteristics. However, if people possess more than six traits, they join the fold of soft leadership.
How to Excel as a Soft Leader?
When you want to excel as a soft leader, there must not be a “character gap,” “communication gap,” “commitment gap,” or “courage gap.” When you stick to these four sutras, you can excel as a soft leader. “Treat the people the way you want to be treated” is the old adage. But as a soft leader, you must treat all people with respect, especially the people who are lower to you in rank. Soft leaders possess humility and a servant attitude. In Jim Collins’ parlance, they are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They help their people grow beyond what people dream of growing. That is the hallmark of soft leadership.
Build Soft Leaders Globally to Build A Better World
Presently, people appreciate partnership rather than traditional command-and-control leadership. They believe in the concept of “give respect and take respect.” There is a drastic change in the mindset of people globally due to the rapid changes in technologies. It is essential to explore soft leadership rather the traditional leadership styles, which are outdated. Thus, the focus is on building soft leaders among global youth who can emphasize soft skills rather than hard skills; people orientation rather than task orientation; transformational leadership rather than transactional leadership; others-centered leadership rather than self-centered leadership; “what is that I can do for others?” rather than “what is in it for me?” to bring smiles and make a difference in the lives of others. Remember, the words of Winston Churchill: “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”
References
“Soft Leadership: Make Others Feel More Important” by M.S.Rao, Galgotia Publishers (2012)
“Soft Leadership: A New Direction to Leadership” by M.S. Rao, Industrial and Commercial Training (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCO-gWmTRk http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ltl.20019/abstract
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17083779
Professor M.S.Rao is an international leadership guru and leadership educator, executive coach, speaker, and consultant. He has 33 years of experience and is the author of 30 books including 21 Success Sutras for Leaders (http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Leaders-ebook/dp/B00AK98ELI) that was ranked as one of the Top 10 Leadership Books of the Year – 2013 by San Diego University. His vision is to build 1 million students as global leaders by 2030. He has been honored as an upcoming International Leadership Guru by Leadership Gurus International URL: http://www.leadershipgurus.net/upcoming.php and listed as one of the leading achievers around the world in Marquis Who’s Who in the World in 2013. He serves as an advisor and judge for several international organizations, including Global Leadership Awards, Malaysia. He received the International Coach of the Year 2013 Award from Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc. http://www.terrilevine.com/coachoftheyear/winners.html Professor Rao coined an innovative teaching tool called Meka’s Method; a leadership teaching tool, 11E Leadership Grid; and a new leadership tool called Soft Leadership Grid, based on his new leadership style, “Soft Leadership” copyrighted with Jossey Bass. He led a Webinar on Soft leadership organized by International Leadership Association (http://www.ila-net.org/Webinars/Archive/Rao082012.html). A No.1 ranked speaker in India, reviews can be found at: http://speakerpedia.com/speakers/professor-msrao. Books can be found at: www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A16SKI0396UBRP. Most of his work is available free of charge in his three blogs http://profmsr.blogspot.com http://professormsrao.blogspot.com and http://professormsraoguru.blogspot.com Contact him via e-mail at msrlctrg@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @professormsrao.
