Taming inner demons
It is festival time in India. At this time of the year, Navrathri is the festival of nine nights celebrating the victory of the Goddess against a formidable demon. The celebration is resplendent with narratives, mythology, symbols, and rituals to gain the grace of the goddess. What fascinates me is the nine avatars that the goddess takes to tame the powerful demons. Avatars are intentional identities and forms taken to accomplish something significant. It is a reminder for me that we are capable of taking our avatars to tame our inner demons which lead to our internal victory.
“Thou art Kali… sword in hand, thou slayest the Asura. Goddess, do thou slay with thy pitiless cry the enemies who dwell within us, may none remain alive there, not one. May we become pure and spotless, this is our prayer” – Sri Aurobindo
Nurturing ecosystem
Watching birds in their natural setting has made me appreciate the richness and complexity of the avian world. What stood out for me is how an ecosystem gets created or destroyed just because a few species of birds started moving in or out. I related it to how the arrival and departure of certain types of people especially at the leadership level can impact the organization’s ecosystem. Culture is shaped by the people who are part of it and how they choose to play their roles. Just like certain ecosystems attract certain types of birds, certain organizational cultures attract certain types of people. Preserving an organization’s culture requires nurturing the right kind of people, and their ways of working.
“Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything for better or worse.” – Simon Sinek
Observing the obvious
I came across the story of how Dr. Myron Falchuk treated his patient Anne Dodge who suffered for a decade with food incompatibility. She was wrongly diagnosed with Anorexia and every doctor whom she consulted over the decade had looked at her with this frame. Dr. Falchuck did not see her through this frame. He used his intellect, intuition, attention to detail, active listening, and psychological insight to identify the root cause and help Anne Dodge regain her health. He kept his ears, eyes, mind, and heart open to what his patient shared. Even in coaching, a coach has to look beyond the labels and frames to bring out the real self of a coachee and help them grow.
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle