Issue No. 147 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights an extraordinary book on India—extraordinary. Many people ask if I actually read every book I review. Yes. In fact, I skipped the enews last week because this week’s book is a serious, but equally fascinating read. It took me two weeks to read it. You might enjoy it at the beach this summer, but bring a pen. And this reminder, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.
India Underlined
Question #1: If I want to read the definitive book on India, what book should I read? Answer: Being Indian.
Question #2: So with all the other books I’ve bought, but still haven’t read, why should I read a book on India? Answer: 1,166,079,217 people. [2024 update: 1,441,719,852]
With more than 1.1 billion citizens, India has the second largest population (behind China) of any country in the world and expects to be Number One in the years ahead. Rather than just whine about customer “service” call centers in India I encounter almost daily, maybe you and I should learn something about this incredible country. India is increasingly affecting my life (and leadership) every month.
A colleague from India, Dr. Richard Howell, general secretary of the Asia Evangelical Alliance, recommended this book. After five minutes, I was hooked. The cover endorsement says, “contains striking insights on almost every page.” Not true. It has multiple, multiple striking insights on every page. Fascinating. Incredible. Eye-popping. Deep. Implications far beyond India. Bring a pen. I underlined something on almost every page.
Yet I’m still at a loss on how to hook you into reading this. The subject is too vast—the illustrations are too perfect—and the writing is pure art form, yet clear and to the point. India is a conundrum. It’s an oxymoron. Just when you think you get it, you miss it. The book is unlike any I’ve read. I plead with you—read it.
Yet, frankly, even after reading it, I’m embarrassed by how little I really know about India—and I have traveled a fair amount (but not there). The author’s credentials are sufficient: press secretary to the president of India, official spokesman for the Foreign Office, and much more. Bottom line: practically every page has a point and an anecdote (many humorous) that I have found myself repeating to almost any person or group that will listen. This is an astonishingly pertinent and powerful book. Actually, it’s really not beach reading this summer—unless you bring both a pen and the power of concentration.
By the way, according to the CIA website, a 2001 census shows that the Hindu religion claims 80.5% of the people followed by Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh (1.9%), and “other” (1.8%), plus unspecified (0.1%). Parachurch and local church leaders will immediately find this book relevant.
To order this week’s book from Amazon (used copies from resellers), click on this title: Being Indian: The Truth About Why the 21st Century Will Be India’s, by Pavan K. Varma.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) Does the S.W.O.T. analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) in our strategic plan address anything about the 1.1 billion people who live in India? Why or why not?
2) Name five major cities in India.
Volunteers Must Have Goals Too - Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit
One of the big ideas in the Volunteer Bucket, Chapter 12, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to set goals for your volunteer program. Staff members have goals. Volunteers also step up when they have goals.
Any venture worth leading must have goals. Is deploying the spiritual gifts of your volunteers at the heart of your ministry, or are you filling slots with warm bodies? Is your volunteer pool used as an inexpensive farm team for the real action: the paid staff? What is your ministry philosophy about volunteers? What are your key goals, and are you measuring results? (See Ball #3 in the Results Bucket to refresh your memory regarding S.M.A.R.T. goals.)
You may need a weekly strategy meeting or an all-day offsite meeting or a two-day retreat. But if you’ve never been intentional about creating a powerful volunteer program, add this to your To-Do List right now. And while you’re at it, be sure your goals are comprehensive enough to cover the four critical parts of volunteerism: Cultivation, Recruitment, Orientation and Engagement. For more help, go to our website and download “Worksheet #12.1 - The G.N.O.M.E. Chart: Annual Volunteer Goals.”
NEXT CEO DIALOGUES:
• August 28, 2009 – CEO Dialogues 1-Day Roundtable (Dana Point, California)
• October 1, 2009 – CEO Dialogues 1-Day Roundtable (New York City)
Click here for more information.
MANAGEMENT BUCKETS WORKSHOP:
• October 20-21, 2009 – Mastering the Management Buckets Workshop Experience (Orange, County, California)
Click here for more information.
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