Strategies

During the time when China was made up of many independent war lords all fighting to be the one and only leader many wars and battles were fought.Each warlord would have his master strategist who though not a general would plan the war strategies for his master.Of course success or failure would then depend on the mind of the strategist.What strikes me is that these people who served under all kinds of masters were not afraid of contradicting the thoughts of the master and were never afraid of giving their opinions.Some of them lost their heads if they served under an unreasonable master .Nevertheless ,they spoke without fear or favour and believed it was their responsibility to do so even though it might have cost them their lives. Lesson learned: Never be afraid to speak your mind or voice your opinions.It is always the test of a person's mettle ,whether he is one who says what he thinks people want to hear or what he feels he should say. Of course there is a fine line between being blunt and straight forward .Things though they should be mentioned can be done in different ways .Look at the art of communication...there are many way s to go about saying something.Bluntness can hurt people's feelings but diplomacy would always lead to a win win situation.Management theories tell us that when you need to tell somebody off you have to but before he leaves you his self esteem must be restored. It is always good to be frank and say the right things.I would say something even though I know its going to hurt somebody's feelings rather than keep quiet about it and suffer myself.Of course it is important how you say something.Phrases like " should you not consider this ? Maybe you overlooked this ? I think you could have done this ?" are not derogatory but helps get across the message that you disagree and I think that's the way to manage a situation. Whilst its prudent to think of somebody's feelings we must also be fair to ourselves and think of our own feelings.We have our principles and if we do not live by them what are we then ?

A better person

Values have changed so much nowadays.Very often when you ask somebody what he wants out of life,the answer is often something materialistic, a bigger house , a better car, more money .You rarely hear a person say " I want to be a better person ".This is something which all people should consider .To be a better person ? How? To answer these questions we need to take a good look at ourselves and ask do we have what it takes to be a better person,I mean a better person from what we are now? Look at Character ...do we have it ? Are we caring, considerate,well mannered ,knowledgeable,open minded and socially adaptable ?.We need to look at ourselves from these perspectives to ascertain if we have Character and it is character which we find sometimes lacking today.We do come across people who are incapable of carrying out an intelligent conversation or share some interesting knowledge.I was happy the other day to meet up with one of my former students who is now a veterinary doctor in Canada and we had a good knowledge filled conversation and I happened to ask him " How is it that you know so much ? And what you are telling me is really outside your field ?" And his answer " Sir, remember you taught us 'The pen is mightier than the sword '?.Wow that was long time ago but he practised this and acquired the knowledge to make himself an interesting person. Do we think of bettering ourselves in this respect ? Its sad to see some people so lacking in social etiquette .They do not know simple table manners and gentlemen do not seem to know how to be chivalrous any more.We seldom see a guy holding a lady's hand when crossing a busy road or doing a simple thing like taking food for her>Too many people eat with their mouths full and talk too and too many people dont know simple table etiquette .Should we not try to improve on this ? A social conversation to a large extent will tell us what sort of a person you are.Do you contribute intelligently to a social conversation ? Do we know how to listen ? Another area for us to dwell on in order to be a better person. Dressing and personal grooming are things which will help make us better persons ."You are what you look like".Today its sad to see young people throwing dress code to the wind.Discerning people will look at you from top to bottom and form opinions about you from the way you dress and your personal grooming.Learn to better yourself in these respects . To be a better person is challenging and you can be a better person from so many different perspectives and in order to realise this we really need to take a step back and have a good look at ourselves because at the end of the day it is what sort of a person you are that really matters !