Graduation Day Message - 11th Graduation Day of DMI College of Engineering - 2nd Apr 2016

Dear Friends,

Congratulations for successful completion of your graduation.

If you feel that learning is over at college, then you are in different world. Your actual learning start now only when you go for any profession. Learning is not one time event, it has to be continuous until life time. When we say learning, it is not only going to academics and getting certifications, there will be more experiential learning going forward. Keep ready with open mindset to learn in all ways. The moment learning means the following great quote comes to my mind.

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did”

- Sarah Caldwell -

Hope you all of you follow this, because in this 21st century millennial like you going to rule the world. You need to be relevant to what you are doing and what do you want to become. We live in a world that is changing and it is changing very quickly. People and goods move around the world with unprecedented ease. The rapid advance of technology consume more hours of your productive time. When you are developing knowledge, skills, and right mindsets simultaneously you learn more efficiently. You think critically and solve complex problems, communicate effectively, work collaboratively, learn how to learn, develop agile mindsets. These are deeper learning competencies.

Most of the organizations moving out from performance based appraisal system to Competency based appraisal system. Even all kind of businesses looking potential part from freshly graduated millennial. You need to utilize these opportunities which are available in front of you.  Apart from academic knowledge, many soft skills also required to shine in any career. Such soft skills can be learned and practiced if you focus on life success.

Those who cannot or will not stop to examine, study, and analyze the world around them seem to have little to no ability to apply any form of analysis upon themselves, thus cannot achieve a level of self-actualization.

Those without any motivation to learn seem to lead a semi-conscious existence. They appreciate things less, are more socially awkward, are less likely to pick up on details, and are more likely to be fearful or prejudicial against things they do not understand. As a result they are less emotionally fulfilled, but they cannot understand why. It is common to say that ignorance is bliss, but from what I have seen that is only an illusion, because those who are ignorant lack the self-reflection necessary to understand how un-blissful they truly are. The most important things in my life have been a result of endless and eager learning.

Learning is beneficial emotionally, financially, physically and socially. An educated public improves society as a whole. The greatest power of all lies inside the mind, and with everything that we learn we strengthen the mind, thus strengthening our personal power.

Along with learning if you listen carefully, whatever comes to you that will help you to learn certain things without you need to experience; when you listen you are actually learning from others experience. Today listening is becoming a very rare skill. Those who are doing, they are getting more benefited.

Those who listens their heart, they will understand their passion. As learning helps you to shine in your profession, listening helps you to discover your passion. Most of the people passion is not their actual profession, very few people got the opportunity to convert their passion as their profession. Because they were able to marry their learning and listening very perfectly.

“Listen to yourself that is more important. Your inner voice leads you to passionate life”

- GV -

Make choices that take your mind, body, and soul into consideration. You are the only person who knows what’s best for you. It’s impossible for anyone else to know. No matter how much you share with them, they are not connected to your deepest desires, intuition, hopes and dreams. Always, always listen to yourself and understand what you need first. Once that part is clear, by learning you can build your competencies and make your life very successful.

When you become successful, lead others to become successful in their careers. For that you need to start first to group of people and help them to identify what are their wants and needs. Leading is not dictating others to do and asking /demanding work from others.

I am not sure whether you know about the term “servant-leadership”, one of my favorite topic always want to share and follow it. The central meaning of servant leadership is that the great leader is first experienced as a servant to others, and that this simple fact is central to the leaders’ greatness. True leadership emerges from those whose primary motivation is a deep desire to help others.

Servant-leadership emphasizes increased service to others, a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community, and the sharing of power in decision making. The words servant and leader are usually thought of as being opposites. When two opposites are brought together in a creative and meaningful way, a paradox emerges. So the words servant and leader have been brought together to create the paradoxical idea of servant-leadership.

You may get many questions in your mind. The first one will be “Who is a servant-leader?” The servant-leader is one who is a servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant, first to make sure that other people highest-priority needs are being served.

Those who served grow as persons. While being served, become healthier, wiser, free, more autonomous, and more likely themselves to become servants. At its core, servant-leadership is a long-term, transformational approach to life and work in essence, a way of being that has the potential for creating positive change throughout our society.

There are set of characteristics central to the development of servant-leaders; In that you can see listening is the first priority. Leaders have traditionally been valued for their communication and decision-making skills. While these are also important skills for the servant-leader, they need to be reinforced by a deep commitment to listening intently to others. The servant-leader seeks to identify the will of a group and helps clarify that will. He or she seeks to listen receptively to what is being said. Listening, coupled with regular periods of reflection, is essential to the growth of the servant-leader.

The second one is empathy. The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits. One assumes the good intentions of coworkers/team members and does not reject them as people, even if one finds it necessary to refuse to accept their behavior or performance.

Third one is healing. One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one self and others. Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they also have an opportunity to "help make whole" those with whom they come in contact. There is something subtle communicated to one who is being served and led if implicit in the compact between servant-leader and led is the understanding that the search for wholeness is something they share.

Fourth one is Awareness. General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader. Awareness also aids one in understanding issues involving ethics and values. It lends itself to being able to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position. Awareness is not a giver of solace; it is just the opposite. It is a disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace. They have their own inner serenity.

The next one is Persuasion. Another characteristic of servant-leaders is a primary reliance on persuasion rather than positional authority in making decisions within an organization. The servant-leader seeks to convince others rather than coerce compliance. This particular element offers one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant-leadership. The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups.

The next one is Conceptualization. Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to "dream great dreams." The ability to look at a problem (or an organization) from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. For many of us, this is a characteristic that requires discipline and practice. Servant-leaders are called to seek a delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day focused approach.

The seventh one is Foresight. Foresight is a characteristic that enables the servant-leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future. It is also deeply rooted within the intuitive mind. Foresight remains a largely unexplored area in leadership studies, but one most deserving of careful attention.

The eighth one is Stewardship. It has defined as holding something in trust for another. Servant-leadership, like stewardship, assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion rather than control.

The last one is Commitment to the growth of people. Servant-leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. As a result, the servant-leader is deeply committed to the growth of each and every individual within the institution. The servant-leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything possible to nurture the growth of employees.

These characteristics of servant-leadership are by no means exhaustive, but they serve to communicate the power and promise that this concept offers to those who are open to its invitation and challenge. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is the great example for Servant Leadership. He inspired me lot to adopt this leadership style.

Wish you all to have passionate professional and social life. Wish you all to become a servant leader in future.

“Keep learning…Keep listening….Keep leading….Your life”

All the best for your career and future endeavors!!!

Regards and Thanks

Visukumar Gopal