The poorest leaders are those who think they are the best leaders, when they are the exact opposite. They will always think they don’t need any training to better themselves, while always thinking their staff need more training to pull up the socks. The ironical truth might be that the staff’s socks might already be pretty high up, but they are not recognised by their leaders because their own socks are so low that they cannot see how high others’ socks are – they simply cannot relate.
These leaders should lead by example instead, to train themselves, even as they urge their staff to be trained. If not, the weakest link in the organisation would be the leaders – crazy as it might sound. This is not too far-fetched a scenario – just think corrupted countries where the leaders think they are doing a good job, while the indignant citizens cannot speak up loud enough to be heard or understood – without being punished. To summarise, the only moment you should stop bettering yourself is when you are already the best; fully enlightened, as a Buddha. Before that, our socks are simply not high enough!
Related Article:
A Buddhist Perspective of Leadership & Management
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thedailyenlightenment-realisation/message/243
We could try reduce bearing grudges against “poor” leaders with following thoughts:
They are in current position because of past merits,
They are also sentient beings who deserve our compassion,
By not showing disrespect, one avoids creating unnecessary bad karma,
We should thank them for chance to practise tolerance & other paramitas….
One suffers from poor leaders because of one’s karma too. But the best way is to help transform the leaders, to wake them up, instead of responding in a resigned manner. If they are not helped, their merits will soon be depleted. The real disrespect would be to not do anything while complaining about them
Karma doesn’t shape one’s character or attitude; it only shapes its circumstances. For example, karma does not render one arrogant or lazy; it’s a personal choice in the moment when one chooses to think one is better off than others, that one needs no upgrading.
Compassion doesn’t mean we should stay mum and let things be. Compassion is about showing the concerned how s/he can be better. In the process, both parties benefit. The helper trains in compassion and the helped increases in wisdom. ^_^