🍀A MUST HAVE ‘CLEMENTINE MIRROR’ FOR A BETTER LEADERSHIP- Issue 168

Hi, I am JOE and I write on "Mindful Productivity & Cerebral Happiness". My endeavour is to share life lessons, some thoughts, quotes & links to articles/podcasts/books, I discover during the week.

Hey Friends, due to some technical glitches this week newsletter got delayed. However, if you have missed the earlier EDITION of newsletters 🗞️📰📮 on 🍀'THROTTLE THERAPY' to handle STRESS & ANXIETIES - Issue162, you can read it here. And, if you have not subscribed to your weekly dose of ‘ Mindful Productivity & Cerebral Happiness’ and want to become a patron of this newsletter then you can do it right here before you dive into this week’s ‘SUNDAY REATZO’. You can support my work and get a ‘Productivity Planner’ worth $25 ( ₹2,000 ) absolutely free.

Dear friends, internet is flooded with the word ‘Leader’ & ‘Leadership’, however a very limited import of its true meaning is applied in the real life. Also, it is possible that all of us define ‘leadership frame work’ differently for us in our respective domain. But there are certain essential which must be included irrespective of the framework you choose or decide to lead an institution / organisation.

Just imagine a character in a drama. By his/her body language, we know this character. By his overindulgence in himself , we can tell how he is perceiving himself.

It's like the pot calling the kettle black.

Sometimes a well recognised arrogant person may refer to the another as arrogant with a gestures of pretended humility.

There is no denial that talented people do rise to the top owing to their performance, professional & acquired skills, better understanding of human relationships and few turn them into a charismatic traits. But once they reach their pinnacle, they have a tendency to forget an important lesson - ‘it’s far more tougher to stay up there than it was to get there”.

While trapped in the deadlines & headiness of office, every leader is prone to the dangers of hubris, ego and loss of human empathy.

There are several tell-tale signals which indicate the loss of connection with people who have helped the leader to rise in the first place. These could be deciphered from these dialogues/ mannerisms;-

1. I know what’s right or wrong and do not school me anymore.

2. People, who have a rasping desire to be the centre of attraction at any cost.

3. People, who express their willingness to engage with the ‘non-questioning’ audiences rather than to engage with internal prickly questioners.

4. People, who keep an element of distrust and practice uncertainty in everything that surrounds them. For Example - Sharing nothing with anyone around is one of the most practices trick.

5. Those who are busy building an air of personal bravado and drama in every action by penalising others.

6. Last but not the least, such people invariably like to be surrounded by the obvious sycophants and pretenders who classify themselves their admirer.

Now the most obvious question is - What is the remedy ?⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

I would say - one must have his/her own ‘Clementine mirror’ in some or other form ( it can be a friend, siblings, colleagues, spouse or any other relationship you deem appropriate).

This phrase came into existence a long time back but was seldom paid enough attention. Just to put the dialogue in perspective -

Clementine Churchill was the key driving force behind her husband, Winston Churchill and was a devoted supporter of him but she did not hesitate to convey her honest opinion to Mr Winston Churchill, whenever and wherever she found that his overpowering nature causing a dent in certain area of his work including friends & family ties.

This approach acted as a great rebalancing mechanism for Winston Churchill to win more heart and did solidified his social & professional connect, wherever they mattered the most. He listened to her objective and honest criticism conveyed in a most lovingly and and lucidly resulted into making him one of the iconic figure in the history.

Similar example can also be found in the ‘Ramayana’, where Mandodari ( 3ed wife of Ravana) acted on a similar principle and spoke her mind with absolute clarity not to pursue the path which Ravana was adamantly pursuing to have a complete control on Sita. Apparently, he didn't listen to his ‘ Mandodari Mirror' and got destroyed in the process and got permanently inked in the history for not so good reasons.

Let's turn the lens you - ⁉️

• Look around and see do you have your ‘Clementine Mirror’ in place??.

• And, if you are in a leadership role, it is all the more important to have one.

Take good care & enjoy reading this week's dose of ‘Mindful Productivity & Cerebral Happiness’.

Joe

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