37 teachings of mahatma gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi
10Leadership
Lessons

Gandhi is generally considered one of the most influential world leaders. From humble beginnings
he gained world prominence, helped achieve independence for India and left a lasting legacy for
us all. Many of Gandhi’s core principles are remarkably relevant. This is especially true of Gandhi’s
thoughts and practices in the realm of leadership competencies and self-development:

Lesson # 1 : Continuous learning and improvement
Gandhi always told his followers that if two of his sentences contradict each other and if they thought
he was sane at that time (!), please ignore the first one and accept the second one. This reflects his
learning and growth mindset, as well as anticipation of his followers’ needs. As an added corollary,
rigid consistency was not one of his traits!

Live as if you were to die
tomorrow. Learn as if you
were to live forever.

Lesson # 2 : Looking at each person just as a human being
“Be quick, be brief, be gone!” Personal meetings with Gandhi were very short, generally lasting a
couple of minutes. However, in those minutes people felt that Gandhi made them feel as if they
were the only person in the world that Gandhi would have liked to talk at that time.

I look only to the good qualities of
men. Not being faultless myself,
I won't presume to probe into the
faults of others.

Lesson # 3 : Being an excellent listener
Gandhi was not a very skilled public speaker; generally he was believed to be quite average. On
the other hand, he was an exceptional listener of both the articulated and the unsaid. He seemed
to be practicing “seeing with your ears.”

It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be
reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

Lesson # 4 : Proactively identifying barriers to make change sustainable
In the 1920s an American journalist asked Gandhi what the biggest problem was that India faced at the
time. The journalist expected Gandhi to say that the problems were slavery and British rule or pervasive
poverty. But Gandhi said the biggest challenge facing the country was “callousness of intellectuals.” He
was not just thinking about getting independence but about building a sustainable society.

You must not lose faith in humanity.
Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops
of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does
not become dirty.

Lesson # 5 : Being the conscience keeper
Non-cooperation was one of the key political movements that Gandhi initiated and led. Gandhi aborted
the movement saying a key tenet of the movement, non-violence, was violated, and that in his opinion
“we are not ready for self-rule.” A related trait for Gandhi was his belief that the end did not justify the
means. He was insistent about purity of path in order to achieve desired goal.

Non-violence is the greatest force at the
disposal of mankind. It is mightier than
the mightiest weapon of destruction
devised by the ingenuity of man.

Lesson # 6 : Heavy emphasis on self-awareness and discipline
As you grow in self awareness, you will better understand why you feel what you feel and why you
behave as you behave. Self discipline is the training of your mind to control, perceived harmful, urges,
and to continue to control these urges until a satisfactory resolution has been sought. Self discipline is
a skill and once you get to grips with it, it can alter your life.

Always aim at complete harmony of
thought and word and deed. Always
aim at purifying your thoughts and
everything will be well.

Lesson # 7 : Balancing value-driven vision and execution efficiency
A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success
looks like and how to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and
act upon it. A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to
buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.

You must be the change you
wish to see in the world.

Lesson # 8 : Emphasis on path and result
Mahatma Gandhi was the great leader. He had chosen a path of non-voilence for himself and his
followers. All his life he fought against the imperial powers only with the weapon of non-voilence.
This gave us straight to fight without weapons. And due to this we are here and ready to face any
problem. It’s also necessary to be clear as to what are the outcomes of effective leadership.

A man is but the product of his thoughts
what he thinks, he becomes.

Lesson # 9 : Adopting holistic perspective in every endeavor
In his ideal society, there is no room for weapons other than nails of a woman. Security has nothing to do
with weapons of any sort in the Gandhian arrangement of things. Gandhi is in favor of a nonviolent and
more civilized life style. Gandhi's approach had always been holistic as human life is a synthetic whole,
which can not be divided into watertight compartments of social , religious, political life etc.

"The world will live in peace , only
when the individuals composing it
make up their minds to do so".

Lesson # 10 : Be open-minded
Always keep things in perspective. Do not dismiss others or anything – big or small – without
giving a try. We never know where the next ‘cool’ or useful idea may come from.

If patience is worth anything, it
must endure to the end of time.
And a living faith will last in the
midst of the blackest storm.

Want to succeed in something? – Then work hard for it. Want to get something done? -Just do it!
We complicate our lives for no reason. Keep it simple! - Plan, persevere and be persistent. This is
the basic mantra for any successful venture, or to achieve any significant goal in life. Have a
vision toward the goal, plan for it, and work hard to achieve it. Gandhi can be your best mentor!!!

“In a gentle way, you can
shake the world.”
Thank You Very Much

37 teachings of mahatma gandhi

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