I wrote this piece on the birthday of the “Father of Nation” in India early this year. I want to take some of his quotes and share a thought about life and work.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”.

We know what Gandhi might have meant it in his spiritual self, but it is so relevant in our professional self. If we can’t overcome our differences with others and start working together , we don’ improve and learn. I am guilty of not doing it. I will change. Because we are much stronger together.

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

Change is difficult, change management is about being empathetic. Empathy is not just towards who report to you but also people who you report to and those above you in the organizational hierarchy. We all resist change without knowing we are resisting because resistance can only be recognized when we are able to step out of who we are and what we do.

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world”.

We think we can make a difference by loud noise but what really leaves a lasting impact is a voice that remains inside other people we talk to. It is so tough and we never know when we have done it. It can only be a way of life and never a planned agenda.

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will”.

I am not strong, there are so many things I am weak at. I remember talking to my dad about strength and he said “tell me those things that I need the strength beyond what I need. I know that strength training and core strength is important. But what matters is how wholly strong we are. Mentally and physically to navigate not just what is outside us, but what is inside us. The inner strength…

“My life is my message”.

We can get trained to do it the right way, but unless we do it and struggle and understand what is going wrong, we will never learn. Every training program in a company should be followed by real action to put it to practice and it should not be easy. Training is not a paid day off with good food. Learning is effort and effort even tend to be painful and is bundled with a strong purpose.

“The future depends on what we do in the present”.

When you do SAFe PI-planning most people do not think how important preparation is. Anything that goes wrong and could have been avoided is a result of lack of preparation. At least that has been the experience I had.

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the Freedom to make mistakes”

Mistakes can be costly but any experiment that does not stand on the graves of the attempts we did freely, it can be more costly. I think we give people so much less leverage to be wrong. I make it a point that when I talk to people who I start coaching first, I tell them “It is ok to make a mistake, we can be wrong, we are not perfect… and we can change and improve and get better”

Getting better and improving is just a way of being human as well.