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Making Successful Transitions
| Capacities
for Transformation in the 21st Century | Capacities for Transformation in the 21st Century I believe we have to focus on building capacity and competence more than skills and knowledge in executives as we move towards the 21st century. While I addressed six competencies in the other talk, here are six capacities that I believe are critical for an executive to be successful in these turbulent times. 1. Capacity to relate -- We are social beings and we discover who we are in relationships. Relationships give us the foundation for conditioning, cultural exposure, the ability to go beyond our strengths and synergize with each other. This is also the foundation for awareness because only through mediation that others provide we look at the world differently. Obviously this capacity is closely connected with listening and empathy. 2. Capacity to communicate -- It allows us to share, learn and express oneself. It builds on the capacity to relate and the competence of listening and empathy. Listening grants speaking. Communication capacity gets built based on not only awareness but also attention and focus. More we pay attention and more we focus, more we improve the expression of our ideas and gain clarity in our communication. 3. Capacity to learn -- Learning is a matter of awareness and distinctions. When we pay attention to what is taking place in our relationships and communication, we begin to learn unconsciously. This takes place first through letting go of old mindsets or unlearning. Then when we begin to express our learnings through communication, we get grounded in our own knowledge and experience. Learning and unlearning are the foundation for growth and development. 4. Capacity to think -- Thinking comes as a result of awareness, attention and detached engagement. In RgVeda, there is a statement that goes like this: "Let good thoughts come from all directions" indicating that we pick our thoughts more than coming up with original thoughts. If we were to consider thinking to be equivalent to having an original thought, one can say that we have a lot of thoughts but we rarely think! David Bohm introduced the concepts of feeling and felts in contrast to thinking and thoughts. He felt that thoughts and felts both come from the same space: memory. To feel something freshly and to think something newly, we have to be receptive, sensitive, aware and let go of expectations and past judgments. I believe that thinking takes place in the context of clear and open heart because when feelings and emotions cloud our intellect, it is difficult to have original thoughs. 5. Capacity to act -- Activities are many but meaningful actions are only a few. When we distinguish actions from activities just like we distinguished thinking from having thoughts, capacity to act comes from a place of detached engagement, and discernment of a clear mind. Courage does not come about when the fear is absent but when one is prepared to act in the face of fear. Meaningful actions are generative in nature and capacity to act naturally leads creativity and to new knowledge creation. 6. Capacity to 'be well' -- What does it take for us to take care of ourselves in a way that we are physically, mentally and spiritually well? How do we pay attention to the messages from our body reacting to stresses and strains of our daily life and high pressure work? What would it take for us become aware of our own needs for approval? How do we catch ourselves when we feel worthless or low self-esteem? When do we begin to pay attention to spiritual wellness instead of long periods ego worship followed by even longer periods of deep depression? Unless we are open to adopting disciplined approaches like regular fitness programs, yoga, tennis, walking, running or other ways of keeping our body fit, we cannot stay physically well as we age. Similarly, what activities can we take up to be mentally well? And spiritually well? Am I open to a bit of self control, contentment, self-discipline? This capacity is the foundation for all the other capacities. Without developing our capacity to be well, all other capacities do not take root in our being. I believe that when we combine
the six capacities with six competencies, we have the recipe for
meaningful accomplishment that builds on high integrity and personal
power. You can read the other article 'The art of Accomplishment' on www.mithya.com for more details. If you have comments and questions, do please contact me at pkaipa@selfcorp.com |
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