How servant leaders get stuff done.. in the real world

Servant leaders in the real world. How do you get stuff done?

Here’s what I’ve learnt from seeing some operate, seeing some not, reading the Bible and well, from AA.

- Agree with every view, then do what you believe is best
- Don’t talk much, at all
- When you talk, make sure it is one-on-one, especially to people you disagree with
- Give credit all the time to someone else, especially when you deserve the credit
- Always be early – for everything
- Have a vision – then be willing to trash it at any time
- Pray

The Lomu effect, on India

Cable TV hit India in the 1990s and I devoured sports like a hungry lion.

My loyalties were soon to be decided on the back of 24/7 ‘live’ coverage of global sports.

A colleague, half Welsh, aligned me with Manchester United.

A basketball mate suggested not to look beyond the Lakers.

And then, there was Jonah Lomu.

Rugby is to Indians what kabaddi is to the Kiwis; until the 1995 World Cup happened.

I watched Jonah Lomu.

He converted a small-town boy in India into a rugby fan, but much more, into a Lomu fan.

Forever.

Adios, Jonah Lomu.

Why cliches matter

Clichés matter.

They exist in the humdrum of verbose human communication for that precise moment to stab your soul.

Then, the cliché is part of your being and you wear it, every day, like underwear.

My dad died a year ago and with each passing day I have missed him more.

Time has, in the year gone by, acted only like a butler - drawing out vintages from the memory larder – succulent hors d'oeuvres of delightful joy; then pain-full courses of opportunities missed.

Cliché? You will only realise what someone is worth once they are gone.

Miss you dad.

Would you shoot me? No, says my Muslim friend... That's good enough for me

Some of my closest friends are Muslim.
We sit across the table and can feel the strain of the Paris attacks on our conversation.
The Muslim goes out of his/her way to condemn the attack.
The non-Muslim, myself, avoids the topic entirely – shuffling past the question: Do you support Daesh?
It must be asked, surely.
Sitting far away from the insanity of what happened in Paris I can feel the sands shifting.
Would you shoot me if we were on two opposite sides of a religious war? No, says my Muslim friend.
That then is enough for me today.