Guru Shishya Parampara

The Education System in our country was based on Guru-Shishya Parampara (tradition). Each individual who was educated in this tradition was able to think for himself/herself. However, The British did not want this system to continue. They only wanted followers who blindly obeyed their diktat. They needed manpower in administration. So they disbanded this system. The present education system is based on recommendations of Lord Macaulay who felt it necessary to tame the citizens into becoming unthinking followers. This system continues till today.

 

The biggest problem of our current education system is that even though students have great imagination, extensive knowledge, they have difficulty to express themselves. They lack courage and confidence. In complete contrast, the Guru Shishya Parampara creates a bond between the teacher and the disciple which transcends the traditional teacher student relationship. The Guru acts as a mentor ensuring that each of his Shishya feels free to ask any questions which he considers duty bound to explain.

 

As a mentor, the Guru considers it his duty to ensure that the future of Shishya is well protected. The Guru ensures that Shishyas develop the capacity to think for themselves. Further, they inculcate the necessary skills to deal with each other and conduct themselves elegantly among people.

 

Great knowledge of our scriptures can be disseminated properly by bringing back the system even though in a new modern avtar.

 

The biggest challenge for the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is to give proper orientation to the teachers. Besides, the number of students in a class should be between 10 to 15 but never more than 20.

 

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Elevator Pitch

What is Elevator Pitch? Why it is called an Elevator Pitch? We know that we use Elevator for a very short time. In this short time if we can express a product or service, its need and create a desire to know more in the mind of the listener we have been able to create a good elevator pitch. Today it has assumed a great importance. Many a time people do not have time to go through long presentations. They just want to understand what the sales person is talking about briefly. Then they decide whether to go ahead with the proposal or not.

 

Time has become a scares commodity. It has to be used judiciously. It must create benefits that we are looking for. We must come up with the way of explaining the idea that will grab the attention of someone who had many other things in mind. This is where the Elevator Pitch comes in. The primary goal while creating and delivering Elevator Pitch is to get a potential investor, partner, or a customer to desire more knowledge about he said. Further the listener must be able to assimilate the idea the objective of the Elevator Pitch is that is such a statement which can trigger the listeners to involve more people. Because the idea is interesting and the listener has thoroughly understood it gives a listener a power to express to others.

The Elevator Pitch can be conscious one sentence summery. It can also a one paragraph summery or even a tagline. The important thing is that it must impress in a compelling manner. It further means that the person who delivers the Elevator Pitch must memorize it. More than that he should be able to express it with excellent modulation. The efficacy of the speaker is critical while delivering the Elevator Pitch. So, rehearse presenting Elevator Pitch again and again and again.

 

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Spin Selling Strategy

Shakespeare said that the world is a stage and we are all actors. It is true and will remain true. But today one can also say that the world is a market place and we are all salesman. We all try to sell something or the other. Sometimes it is a product, sometimes it is an idea and at another time it could be influencing people. But the element of selling is always there. Keeping this in view and realizing the importance of sales I am repeating the words of Mr. Neil Rackam -the creator of the Spin Selling Strategy.

What is Spin Selling Model?

Asking Questions that are important to the customer is what makes the SPIN model so powerful. Its questioning sequence taps directly into the psychology of the buying process. SPIN questions provide a road map for the seller, guiding the call through the steps of need development until Explicit Needs have been reached. And the more Explicit Needs you can you can obtain from buyers, the more likely the call is to succeed.

 

Here is an overview of the SPIN model. Successful sales people use the following sequence:

1. Initially, they ask Situation Questions to establish background facts. But they don’t ask too many, because Situational Questions can bore or irritate the buyer.

2. Next, they quickly move to Problem Questions to explore problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions. By asking Problem Questions, they uncover the customer’s implied needs.

3. In smaller sales it could be appropriate to offer solutions at this point, but in successful larger sales the seller holds back and asks Implication Questions to make the Implied Needs larger and more urgent.

4. Then, once the buyer agrees that the problem is serious enough to justify action, successful sales people ask Need-payoff Questions to encourage the buyer to focus on solutions and to describe the benefits that the solution would bring.

On the whole, Need-payoff Questions are important because they focus attention on solutions, not problems. And they make customers tell you the benefits. Need-payoff questions are particularly powerful selling tools in the larger sale because they also increase the acceptability of your solution. Equally important, success in large sales depends upon internal selling by customers on your behalf, and Need-Payoff Questions are one of the best ways to rehearse the customer presenting your solutions convincingly to others.

 

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Voice Culture & 2015

Voice culture is training to enhance the quality of your voice. It also develops the ability to speak each and every word clearly, in any language. Verbal communication has assumed greater importance in the last few years. The changing business and telecom environment has made it necessary that we speak more effectively. The efficacy of speech has assumed center stage. In the coming year 2015 it will become imperative that we all improve our verbal communication skills. That will only enable us to create an impact on the social media sites.

 

What is Voice Culture? How do we go about it?

Voice is produced by the breath that is released from the lungs. The breath strikes the vocal cord and sound is produced. The sound travels in the cavities in the mouth and cavities in the nose. Resonance is added and sound becomes rich. But it is only sound not the words. The words are created by the speech organs.

5 speech organs that are critical to the creation of words in any language are: jaw, tongue, teeth, lips and palate. Any person whose speech is not clear is not using one or more of the speech organs in a manner in which these should be used.

Let us consider example of a flute player (Indian tradition flute). Flute is just a hollow tube. There is one hole for the flute player to blow. Other holes are for manipulating the fingers for producing various notes. We find that with the simple equipment some expert flute players are able to mesmerize their audience with exquisite music.

As compared to the flute our speech box is a fabulous musical instrument. Just as the success of the music produced by the flute depends on the expertise with which the musician plays the flute, the speaker can hold his/her audience spell bound with effective speech. It is necessary that the speaker must play his/her musical instrument with an expertise.


Voice culture enables you to acquire the expertise of using your musical instrument (the voice box).

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Bhopal Gas Tragedy

It happened on 3^rd December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Ltd. pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. 30 years have passed; but the tragic remains of the disaster continue to create anguish among thousands of families. Even after 3 decades survivors suffer from various elements and deformities. 3500 lives were lost immediately. About 25000 families continue to suffer. The Bhopal Gas Peedit Sanghatan (Bhopal Gas Victims Organization) continues to fight an unending legal battle.

It is important to remember the day. It is important for such plants to take all the necessary measures that such a huge tragic disaster does not recur. Many such plants though originally built away from the populated places have now come within the thick of population. It is time that the authorities and such manufacturing units contemplate about shifting the locations.

 

 

 

 

 

 Let us all pray for the families.

Enemies of Happiness – Greed

Yet another enemy of happiness may have entered in the mind of some of us. This is greed. It keeps on growing unabated when not controlled. The end result invariably is a disaster. It can be greed for money, it can be greed for power or fame, respect, sex or even attention. Greed for food is also not uncommon. Greed has a tendency to grow faster when you achieve more. Unfortunately greedy people lose the perspective. If the human wanted more for happiness, it may be considered normal. But greed invariably makes you unhappy. In this case the desire is never controlled.

 

In fact one can be rich without being greedy. Making more money should not be the objective. Enjoying what you have and of course aspiring for more can be a legitimate goal of successful people in a competitive world. But greed does not allow you to enjoy what you have. It only reinforces your anguish on what you don’t have.

 

The great English Victorian explorer – Sir Richard Frances Britten once said: ‘conquer thyself till thou have has done this, thou art but a slave; for it is almost as well to be subjective to another’s appetite as to thine own. ‘

 

Shakespeare the great dramatist discussed these characteristics of human mind in great detail when he created the character of his play Macbeth by the same name. Hunger for more power keeps on increasing until Macbeth is pushed to the wall of disaster.

 

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Enemies of Happiness- Hesitation

The main cause of hesitation is uncertainty. Often we are not sure of the result of our decision or action. Fear of making a mistake is the root cause of hesitation. How can we overcome this fear of making a mistake?

 

Ask yourself “have I met anybody how does not make mistakes”. Is there any leader in the world ever who never made any mistakes? Everybody does. If that be so then why one should be afraid of making a mistake. It gives you enough reason not to hesitate. But, reason is not the only thing when we talk of hesitation and or fear of making a mistake. The associated problems like how others will feel or perceive about decision/action bothers our mind.

What happens if you don’t take a decision? What happens if you don’t take action where it is required? Consequences of inaction or indecision are far more severe than the fear of making a mistake.

 

The best thing is to think and act. When it something serious you can note down crystallize your thoughts and then act. But act you must. And that to must happen well in time. Delayed action often leads to further problems. Where ever you hesitate you must fix a time limit which could be from a few seconds or minutes or hours as the situation remains. Stick to the time limit. Don’t worry about the consequences of actions that you have taken after due consideration.

 

You must imbibe in yourself a desire for doing new things. Habit of doing new things also builds your self confidence. Self confidence in turn makes you a decisive person who does not hesitate. Hesitation is a serious development need which you must address.

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