DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE
On being asked about the popular perception of personality, Dr Debashis Chatterjee says: ''Personality has become a contest of packaging. At the Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where I taught leadership, I learnt that the presidency in the USA is more often than not won by the best performance on television! This leaves young minds with a great sense of image consciousness.He adds: ''I see the Self as the central organizing principle of personality. By 'Self' I mean the flow of intelligence that shapes our identity from moment to moment. The Self is the experiencer behind all our experiences. What I am experiencing today, as 'I' or 'me' is not the end of the story about my personality. My personality is what I am + what I would be if I continue to be what I am + what I should be. So there is hope if we pay simple attention to what I am when I am jealous and then what I am when I am generous. Before we attempt to win friends and influence people let us influence ourselves bit by bit. How do I do this? By being attentive to my thoughts, movements and behavior from time to time. Just to have a date with oneself everyday is the most enchanting way to develop personality that I know of.
''Appearances may be deceptive but they are powerful. The 'cowboy model' of the personality with all its polish and mannerism holds sway among younger generations, even if temporarily. Yet, the world searches for something deeper. I have reasons to believe that the world will eventually look to India for a comprehensive and fulfilling adventure of the human experience characterized by truth (sat), consciousness (chit) and bliss (ananda).
In response to a question regarding great people as role models, Chatterjee says: ''Great people live their lives inside-out. Those we admire as leaders have merely expressed what was unique to them. When we read about them or see their personalities on television we tend to grow outside-in. Sometimes we imitate those we greatly admire. But we must read or imitate with awareness. Then we grow in awareness about ourselves. We must let the right outer influences trigger our inner talents. Then only can we be spontaneous. We can all be leaders if only we choose not to be confined by our dogmas or precepts and decide to experience life anew, in our unique ways. This is the entire secret of my leadership teaching.''
According to Chatterjee: ''We may take failure as fate or a feedback. The blow of a hammer may break a glass but will forge iron. We have to develop both the resilience of a rock and the fluidity of water if we want to develop.''
Chatterjee teaches at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, and serves as the Chairman, Placement. He also heads their Global Leadership Center. He was a Fullbright scholar at the Sloan School of Management, MIT (USA), and taught MBA programs at the University of St Thomas, Minnesota and the Harvard Graduate School of Business. His publications include two books: Leading Consciously (Butterworth-Heinemann) and Managing Transitions (Wiley Eastern). He has taught leadership courses throughout the world. His students have included hassled managers and heads of states, Fortune 100 corporations and also small business owners in dusty Indian towns. Harvard Business School recently chose him as one of the 15 'thought leaders' of the world. He is a member of the Government of India Experts Committee on Human Values Education.
http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/work/success/success-catalysts.asp
Comments