The Dark Shadow Shrine

embrace the darkness; that you may see the light nestled within it......

Thursday, September 01, 2016

The art of gracious leadership

Click HERE

Note how famous names like Lincoln, Gandhi are thrown up with no need for introduction, but obscure ones like Juan Gabriel Vasquez (Colombian writer) and Dorothy Day (US social activist) are mentioned with their brief designation in brackets so that we know roughly who they are....For those who love using examples from their home country that may not be very famous elsewhere, do remember to do likewise. Better still, avoid such examples altogether and go for internationally famous ones that everyone knows -- no introduction or designation needed then....


Another thing that caught my eye is this:
 "People who are gracious also understand the accuracy of John Keats' observation that "Nothing ever becomes real 'til it is experienced". You can learn some truth out of a book or from the mouth of a friend, but somehow wisdom is not lodged inside until its truth has been engraved by some moment of humiliation, delight, disappointment, joy or some other first-hand emotion."

This brings to mind what I mentioned in class before about how education should not be confined to the classroom or textbook knowledge. You can't really proclaim to have known something until you have truly experienced it or seen the real thing with your own eyes. Can you say u know how to swim just by reading a swimming guide? Likewise, you can't say u know poverty until u have experienced it and visited a slump. Real knowledge comes with experience and the ensuing empathy....Which is why school excursions, learning journey, travelling, tourism are important on our oath of education.....Think Confucius: Reading tens of thousands of books cannot be compared to travelling tens of thousands of miles.....