VOLUME XII – CHAPTER 12
Can the Head Enter the Heaven
(Article published in “SANGAM”—KVs House Magazine)
You will be educate what any one you inspire others to do
There is a story relating to Pitt the Younger, a former distinguished Prime Minister of England.
It says that when Pitt entered the gates of Heaven, he was stopped by St. Peter and was asked what brought him there. In reply Pitt pointed out how he had not taken bribes, had no vices, etc. St. Peter interrupted him rather gruffly:
“We aren’t a bit interested in what you did not do. Tell us WHAT DID YOU DO?”
The Head’s effectiveness, in short, is to be defined in terms of output rather than input–by what he achieves rather than by his efforts and activities. This article is an attempt to set out certain parameters which govern our work and worth as Principals.
To those who have just assumed the headship of a school recently. I would like to say that the assumption of your first command is the greatest step you have taken. It carries with it not only the responsibility of the Nation’s vessel, but the power to mould or man the characters of a large body of men. It carries with it an historic tradition of dignity and privilege and, in return, it makes demands on your skill and stamina, which have never been asked before and which brook no failure.
Firstly, let us realise that once appointed in command, no matter what rank we hold, Principal, Vice-Principal or P.G.T. Incharge, we are the Captain, which means that we are the Ship–that when a Volley ball net is left behind the playfield, it is our net left by our O.O.D; that when a confidential paper is mislaid by our Head Clerk, it is still our document, that when a staff is seen wearing a shabby dress, that staff is reflecting a lack of pride in our Ship.
Secondly, we require an increased consciousness of our personal example. Our personality is mirrored in our Ship. Every word which we say on the ‘bridge’ is noted by the Ship’s company. A display of unwarranted temper, an unjust or overhasty reprimand, an uncloaked show of anxiety–all these incidents will be reflected by our staff just as the planets reflect the light of the Sun. Similarly, a disregard of danger on the ‘bridge’ carriers courage to every corner of the Ship.
Thirdly, even as a Captain’s outlook must embrace the flotilla or unit as well as his own particular ship, our range of concern should extend beyond our school and encompass all the other schools in the region also. Our loyalty to our Ship should work in unison with our flotilla loyalty and never in antipathy. By all means we should have the smartest Ship in the unit, but let us do so by fair means and when it comes to benefits bestowed, let us see that they are bestowed on all in the unit and not only on our own Ship.
Not so long ago the Captains referred to their Ship’s company as “My People”. Whether we use that expression or not is immaterial; it is the feeling behind it that matters.
Having shown that a change to a broader outlook is necessary on assuming command, it is worthwhile mentioning the pitfalls into which we are likely to be trapped.
The first temptation on comes with the “take over” itself. There is the inclination to be entirely over-whelmed by the secretarial side of our duties to the detirment of the fighting and the personnel side viz. Academic progress and staff development. In the hectic first weeks let us not remain shut in our cabins surrounded by order books, codes, manuals and regulations.
Another temptation concerning correspondence must be dealt with by equal self-firmness. There is an early tendency to burst into official letter press at the slightest provocation. It is due to an early excess of self-assertiveness, but it can be very aggravating to our unit and senior officers. If, therefore, we have any inspiration for the better conduct of the school or the increased efficiency of our unit, it is worthwhile finding out verbally from the staff whether the idea is acceptable or merely a discarded ‘animal’ before we shoot out a letter.
Another pitfall of our early days in command is to live in the past, i.e. think of our previous position and not in the present. Maybe it enhances our confidence, but will destroy the confidence of our staff.
The final and most important temptation which confronts every Commanding Officer is the same as that which has brought so many dictators to the ground. “Power corrupts” is a dictum which does not only apply to politics. Bernard Shaw had enlarged on this by stating that “Power corrupts the weak and dements the strong.” As a Commanding Officer we are subject to the same temptations as all autocrats with certain misconceived notions that none in the Ship can check our excesses or point out our eccentricities or that none can question our more downright assertions or that all should endure our temper. All this has the effect of accentuating our weaknesses, unless we watch ourselves most carefully. Only some candid and regular introspection will keep us in command of ourselves. And what is worse, nobody is going to tell us about these. In all officers, above all in Commanding Officers, the words Officer and Gentleman should be entirely synonymous.
We will be judged as a Captain not on what we do ourselves, but on what we inspire others to do. Our ultimate aim should not be indispensability, but the very opposite–to know our staff will automatically reflect our will without any verbal direction from us.
Another important thing to remember is that consideration must become a habit and a way of living. Men who live together in the close company of a small Ship need some corporate source of inspiration, a directive symbol to look to. The art of command is, therefore, to be the complete master, and yet the complete friend of every man on board, the temporal lord and yet the spiritual brother of every staff; to be detached and yet not dissociated. The basis of this art is to know our staff and be known by our staff.
The staff will know us indirectly in the way we hand the Ship and exert our influence to bring the Ship to a high standard; but it is during our Ship’s company talks—our staff meetings—that each and every staff member will come to know us best. In our talks let us always speak of ‘we’ rather than ‘you’. That is the best way to get rid of the ‘us-forward-them-aft’ complex.
I think I could not conclude this better than by quoting an extract from a letter written by Paul Jones to the Naval Committee of Congress in 1775, on which every Commanding Officer could well base his conduct:
“Coming now to view the officer aboard the ship and in relation to those under his command, he should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his intention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward be only one word of approved. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though at the same time he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well-meaning short-coming from heedless or stupid blunder. As he should be universal and impartial in his rewards and approval of merits, so should he be judicial and unbending in his punishment or reproof of misconduct. He should be a prophet, priest and king to his staff; a squire, parson and magistrate, all in one.”
With this background of talent and training, skill and sagacity, culture and compassion, it is no wonder that all of us can pilot our Ships safely to the shores of Heaven.
VOLUME XII – CHAPTER 13
Hidden Talents
Help the bud to blossom
While working with the villagers as Deputy Director the author had a great learning experience. A plant with pink flower, absolutely without smell, was found only in cemeteries and burning ghats. It was forbidden in residential areas. Some years later he found this plant grown in several acres of land and learnt that it had become a cash crop. This was packed and sent to Germany for preparing a medicine for cancer.
He learnt that every one, everything may have some secret potential given by God but lying dominant just waiting or a spark to ignite to bring it into the open and blossom sending its fragrance all over.
During his service the author was always on the lookout for such diamonds among the staff at various levels.
At KV HVF Avadi he discovered a Milton of Kamban on Sri. S.R. Sankaran, TGT Social studies and Souter.
We are happy and proud to reproduce 3 of his beautiful poems.
மும்மலத்தை நீறாக்கி முத்திதனை நாடாமல்
ஐம்புலனும் சென்ற வழி ஆழ்நரகில் வீழ்ந்திடலேன்?
ஆகுலமும் நீங்கியும் ஆனந்தம் எய்திடவே
கோகுலனின் தாளினைப் போற்று.
போற்றத் தகும் பரமன் பொற்பதத்தை நாடிநிதம்
ஏற்றம் மிகு வாழ்வை எய்திடுவீர் – தோற்காத
கொண்டல் என்நின்றுக் கோடா தளிக்கின்ற
கண்ணன் திருவடியே காப்பு.
காப்பாம் பதகமலத் தேனின் சிறப்பதனை
யாப்பால் இயம்பிடுதல் கூடுமோன் காப்பாம்
மயங்கியோர் மாந்த மயர்வறுநற் றேன்சேர்
வியத்தகு பொற்கமலத் தாள்
தாள் நின்ற கன்றதனை ஆமறந்து பால்சொரிய
வாளெயிற்று வஞ்சியவள் வார்முலையும் விம்மிடவும்
பாகுதேன் கலந்தன்ன பண்ணமுதம் சேர்ந்திடுமே
கோகுலக் கண்ணன் குழல்
தாள் அணியும் அத்தருளத் தண்ணமுதம் பாகுடனே
தோள்தோய்ந்த தோகைவாய்த் தோன்றுதேன் கூட்டியே
ஆகுலந் தீக்குரல் லாரமுதம் சோர்ந்திடுமே
கோகுலக் கண்ணன் குழல்
குழலினிமை பாய்ச்சிடும் பத்திவெள்ளம் – சங்கம்
முழங்கிடும் நற்கரும் யோகத்தை – வாழ்வளிக்கும்
கோதகன்ற கீதத்தால் ஞானமும் நல்கிடும்
மாதவனின் செம்பவள வாய்.
வாயார பாடிடவே வாய்மணக்கும் , ஊனுருகும்
மாயாத பேறதுவுங்கைகூடும் – வாய்த்தநற்
சீர்மல்கும் ஆய்ப்பாடிச் செல்வச் சிறுவனாம்
கார்மேகக் கண்ணன் கதை
2 தன்னிகரிலாத் தேவே தண்டமிழ்க் குலத்தினோர்க்கே!
கண்ணியம் குறத்திக் காதற் கடிக்கணும் கேங்கி நிற்கும்பன்னிரு கண்ணா யானும் ஆடவே கண்கள் பற்றி
நின்னிரு தாளைப் பற்ற நீயெனைக் கடைக்கண் பாராய்!
குழவி தென்றர் கரத்தாலே குறுகி அணைத்தே தொட்டிடவும்
மழலை இன்பச் சொற்கேட்டே மதுவிஅன் மயக்கில் பட்டிடவும்
அழலின் வணத்தான் நடமெனவே அவள்தன் குழலி கடங்கண்டும்
அழகில் தோய்ந்த மகிழ்வாலே அன்னை கண்கள் பனித்திடுமே.
குற்றமில் கல்விதன்னைக் குறைவற பெற்ற மைந்தன்
குற்றமில் குணத்தினாலே குலத்தினை உயர்த்தும் போதும்
பெற்றநன் நாட்டைப் பேரிடர் களையும் போதும்
பெற்றகற்றாயின் ஆரவை பெருமிதம் பார்வையாமே!
கண்கள் பெற்றுக் கண்டிலனாம் கருத்தை அறியா அஞானி
கண்ணாற் கண்டால் ஒஅனாய்க் கருத்தா ராய்வான் விஞ்ஞானி
கண்ட கருத்துக் கபலாய்க் காணான் முழுமை மெய்ஞ்ஞானி
கண்ணில் ஒருமைப் பாட்டுடனே காண்பான் எல்லாம் சமஞானி
- பயனுறு வாழ்வு
Adopted from journal “ Noble Nature”
விரிந்து பரந்து விழுதுகொள் ஆலும்
சரிந்து உலர்ந்து சிதைந்திடும் மண்ணால்
பிரிந்து வளர்த்த [பருவுடல் தானும்
அழிந்து ஓமே! என்னே வாழ்விது!
காலை மலரும் கவினுறு கமலம்
மாலை மலரும் மணமிகு மல்லிகை
காலம் செல்லக் கனவென வாடினும்
மாலின் இணையடி மண்டி வாழ்தலால்
வியனுல கதனில் விரிமணம் பரப்பலால்
பயனுற வாழ்ந்து பயக்கும் இனம்
சிறுஒரு ளதனிலும் சீர்த்தி காண் நெஞ்சே !
குறுகிய வாழ்விலும் குறைதவிற்த் திடுவாய்!
Sri S.R. Sankaran. T.G.T. Social Studies & Scouter (L.T) 1979
எம் ஜென்ம பூமித்தாயே
எம் கர்ம பூமி நீயே !
எம் புண்ணிய பூமி தாயே
குல தெய்வம் என்றும் நீயே
வாழா மலர்களை உன் திருவடிகளில் படைத்தோம்
ஏழேழு பிறவிதோறும் உனையே வணங்கி வாழ்வோம்
உனதேவல் செய்துயர்வோம் (எம் ஜென்ம பூமி )
உணவாகி நீருமாகி
உடலத்துடன் கலந்தாய்
ஊனாகி உதிரமாகி
எம்மில் நிறைந்து நின்றாய்
உனக்காகவே எம் வாழ்வு
உனக்காக சாவும் ஏற்போம்
உனக்காகத் தொண்டு செய்தே
வளமோங்கும் நிலை சமைப்போம்
உனதேவல் செய்துயர்வோம் (எம் ஜென்ம பூமி )
ஒப்பற்ற இமயமுந்தன்
ஒளி வீதம் மகுடமாகும்
முப்புறமும் இமயமுந்தன்
ஓயாது மணிகள் தூவும்
இணையற்ற நாடெம் நாடு
என்றே முழக்கம் செய்வோம்
கண மேனும் உனை மறந்தே
உயிர் வாழ சகிய மாட்டோம்
உனதேவல் செய்துயர்வோம் (எம் ஜென்ம பூமி )
நீ காத்த நெறிமுறைகள்
காலத்தை வென்ற அமுதம்
நீ உறையும் ஆலயங்கள்
தர்மத்தின் மையமாகும்
பணின் பதாகை ஏந்தி
புவியெங்கும் விஜயம் செய்வோம்
பண்பாட்டின் தென்றலாகி
உள்ளங்கள் குளிர வைப்போம்
உனதேவல் செய்துயர்வோம் (எம் ஜென்ம பூமி )
தாய்பாச மோங்க வைப்போம்
தனயர்களிணைய வைப்போம்
தாய் நாடுயர்த்தும் உணர்வை
நெஞ்சங்கள் தோறும் வளர்ப்போம்
கைம்மாறு கருதிடாமல்
கடமைகளாற்ற வந்தோம்
கணமேனும் அஞ்சிடாமல்
பயணங்கள் தொடர்ந்து செய்வோம்
உனதேவல் செய்துயர்வோம்
எம் ஜென்ம பூமித்தாயே
எம் கர்ம பூமி தாயே
எம் புண்ணிய பூமி தாயே!
குல தெய்வம் என்றும் நீயே !
ONE WHO KNOWS (VOLUME X – CHAPTER 12 & 13)
(DIMENSIONS OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF A PRINCIPAL)
1450) One who knows that knowledge about truth in social relationships is power.
1451) One who constantly ponders over 5 important points:-
a. Our ability to understand other people’s minds is prone to systemic mistakes
b. We assume people’s minds are simpler and less sophisticated than they actually are.
c. Over confidence in our ability to accurately read other people’s minds leads to inherent biases.
d. Humility is an essential requirement in overcoming biases.
1452) One who has learnt the following leadership lessons from marathon running
a. Choose to work with people who motivate him to keep going even when the going gets tough.
b. He can’t control what is happening around him, but he can determine how he will handle it.
c. He has limited resources – it is easy to become distracted. Leadership needs to hone out these distractions. It becomes just as important to what you say no as it does what you say yes to.
d. Leading an institution is a serious work and sometimes we get so caught up in it that we forget about simple things like having fun.
1453) One who knows that if the experience is not memorable, it is not a luxury hotel and so he should make the experiences of parents, students and staff in his school memorable.
1454) One who knows that by the time he hears the thunder, it may be too late to build the ark. And that if he manages his people well, then the members will take care of themselves and that his school must provide a memorable luxury hospitality.
1455) One who knows to treat everyone with respect and give them a chance, since after all everyone works towards the same goal and believer something exciting and unique to his customers.
1456) One who knows that when the “customers” leave the school, they will ask themselves:-
a. Will I remember this experience at all?
b. Will I remember it for the right reason?
1457) One who applies our epics to management and draws these lessons
a. Does the word “culture” evoke in me memories of the cultural programs done by my students
Was it just to entertain, as an ornament
b. Did they indicate “Sanskaar”
Upbringing key performance indicator of parenting and of family values
Saras – fluid
Sana – cyclical or closed loop
KA – questioning – of humanity as well as divinity
Sanskaar – how the human mind makes sense of this cyclical world value placed by the family on human existence
Every institution needs sanskaar to show to the world if it is connected the society at large and the environment as a whole.
1458) One who knows that “Bhaav” is important, that modern management ignores “Bhaav” – (Feeling) and that
Ritual with Bhaav is advised
Ritual without Bhaav is tolerated
Bhaav without Ritual is unperceivable
He knows that it focuses on rules (N ITI) plus (R ITI) Tradition and in this set up culture becomes not an expression but a rigid code of conduct.
He asks the staff to pot a question to themselves while planning programs for the annual day
Will this program entertain, enlighten, enrich, ennoble and elevate?
That is the litmus test!
1459) One who knows that
Shiva values emotions more than ritual
Dhaksha values rituals more than emotions
1460) One who asks her staff
a. Is culture a lever that enables success?
b. Does culture matter when the going is tough?
c. Will culture help tide over a crisis?
d. Will culture be the cause of crisis?
1461) One who gives the staff the following examples:-
a. Surpanaka’s sanskaar – goes after a married man
b. Sita’s Sanskaar – Risks personal security
c. Rama’s Sanskaar – Abandons his wife
d. Draupathi’s Sanskaar – becomes violent & blood thirsty
Recalls earlier sanskaar and forgives jayathrata
And so says culture should be recognised as sanskaar.
1462) One who knows that education management is a war of art and an art of war and that excellence (persuit of) and growth should not be at odds with one another.
1463) One who knows (as Roth says) that we all have a super athlete inside us and this the kind of inspiration that draws it out.
1464) One who always hopes that tomorrow will be better, and bears a hardship today.
1465) One how advises his staff and students to be alive to the life, to the existence around them – to enjoy the rise and setting of the Sun and the Moon. To love to see a butterfly fluttering, to look at a lotus in full bloom, to see the birds fly in gay abandon. To see a cat sleeping in the bosom of a dog, to see an old lady laughing with wrinkles; to keep an account of their lives – if they have become more mature, wiser, more loving gained more true friends, to think about themselves in a quiet corner, to look at the watch ticking off one minute and thank god for keeping you on still, to complete some noble work he has intended to get done thru’ you!
1466) One who believes in being a playing captain and who knows that only when he focuses on the positives and deal with the negatives, that he can harness the real power of trends and technologies.
1467) One who tells his fresh staffers that even the great authors have struggled and sacrificed many days, weeks, months and years to get their first words right, because just 5 seconds are enough to make or break a reader’s mind – to read on or move on to the next best seller – to skip or not to skip is the question
And this applies to a fresher’s first class or first day. Even as the reader can take only a “snack able” content. The teacher has to take a small unit and explain it well in the first class.
If you don’t have your class mesmerised, enthralled in that first class, YOU HAVE LOST YOUR CAREER.
It is a life changing truth look at the AD of a vine length video of Chocolate Horlicks dissolving into a glass of milk.
Expend your creative energy on the twist around the end.
The end of your class must vet their appetite for the next class – suspense!
1468) One who knows that leaders today need the ability to capitalise on market disruptions (Changes) Quickly, to influence without authority, and to stay emotionally centred during difficult times and adjust to smart growth conditions.
1469) One who remembers that culture is set at the top and that he has to promote and preserve a culture of meritocracy. Devoid of any favouritism or nepotism and that he would lose his soul the day he loses his humility.
1470) One who knows that the first few years is a heady cocktail that makes one think that he knows all there is to know and that he has to learn more.
1471) One who knows that humility is his insurance and that once hubris sets in he will stop seeing and believing that his glasses become coloured and his ability to understand his “customers” problems gets impaired, that he can no longer advise dispassionately and will fall as an advisor.
1472) One who occasionally goes and stands in a corner of the Airport’s arrival area and watches the young and middle aged hurrying about wrapped in their self-importance and that it will help him keep his feet firmly on the ground.
1473) One who knows that there is a thin line between ambition and greed that he should never cross the line of confidence that once it is breached it will be very difficult to regain trust and that he should never want to add a zero or two to his income in a negative way.
1474) One who understands the two types of leadership
a. Those who start at the top Kennedy, Gandhi, Nehru
b. Those who start at the bottom Nelson Mandela, Nitish Kumar, Modi, Mayavati, Mamta Bannerjee the latter have greater possibility of long term survival, because they thrive on their own. They don’t need a prop for survival. They are not exceptional, gifted or unique but they share the same attributes of as the electorate they claim to be by of and for the people. They underscore the social and emotional components. This is what that Cher Clinton and Obama did so successfully – playing up their modest background to build an emotional connect with the Clientele he builds up his base like this.
1475) One who knows the ABCs of personal branding
a. Arriving at a personality attribute that is uniquely himself.
b. Build up a mission that centres on the unique attribute.
c. Crafting a messaging strategy that key segments can relate to.
1476) One who projects himself as
a. Someone with a humble background
b. Someone who has aspirations
1477) One who knows that tough it is fashionable to talk about the changing man, a communicator must also be concerned with the unchanging man.
1478) One who knows that if he doesn’t have power and can’t do anything that is forgivable. But not if he has the power, and still doesn’t do anything.
1479) One who knows that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language and so to make people ‘like’ him, he has to use their names as often as meaningfully as possible.
1480) One who knows that when a person heard the sound of his/her name, several regions in the left hemisphere of the brain should greater activation the brain lights up when he heads his own name hearing his name makes him feel important the exact manner in which his name is used may make him feel respected or loved or safe or young or even a mind celebrity.
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THAT which is born has also to die; coming implies going; that which has no birth has no death either. The Atma has no birth, no death, nor can you say it spreads or grows or weakens. It has no history, that is all that can be said about it. It is ever Intelligence, ever Bliss. There is the urge to desire a thing that is named Ichcha Sakthi – but it too is a derivative of the Atma Sakthi, the Divine that is your core. Realise it as such and do not demean it by desiring deleterious objects. Desire, so sublimated, is the basis of Love, “Prema”. It is the fruit of the tree of God-ward directed Ichcha Sakthi. – Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
