Definitions for leadership

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If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,
do more and become more, you are a leader.”
(John Quincy Adams, American 6th US President)

“Leadership is: The últimate mandate! It is an apt prism through
which to summarize this long jourby that we have
taken through our Disruptive Age.”
(Tom Peters, 2005)

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Business & Buddhism

What has Buddhism to do with Management and why did the Dalai Lama write a book about it?

The Dalai Lama has been the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile and spiritual leader of Tibet for over 50 years. He won the Nobel Prize in 1989 and wrote the book “The Leader´s Way” together with Laurens van den Muyzenberg.In this book he states that he has come tu put his faith in the free market system although it has great potencial for abuse. But the fact that it allows freedom of thought and religion has convinced him that this system is the one to work from. He points out that especially the great potencial for abuse cries out for a RESPONSIBLE free market.

“True leaders recognize the importance of universal responsibility.”

Moreover he says that global companies can be a force for good, but that they have to manage the process much better, so that globalization truly is a positive development. Because Buddhism is focused on human values it´s holistic approach can be useful to help business leaders to make the right decision. Aditionally Buddism provides rational and logical ways to solve problems.Buddhism and business are at least not so different because they have in common the importance they attach to happiness. A company without happy employees, or stakeholders in general, will die in the end.
Moreover the Dalay Lama says that it is a dangerous simplification to recognize change as moving from one sitution to another.“The present is a result of great many causes and conditions; like a stream, it changes continously. Recognizing these interdependencies inspires a state of humility. It helps us to accept the complexity of making changes.”What managers can learn from the Dalai Lama is that true leaders should recognize the inevitability of change, the importance of universal responsibility and the need to combine economic systems with moral values.

(Quatations from the article: “The Dalai Lama”; published by BusinessSpotlight in september 2008 after an interview with the Dalai Lama.)

Cross-Cultural Management & Developing Countries

When we think of Cross-Cultural Management, we normally have in mind countries like the USA, Spain, Gemany, Japan, England or other developed areas in the world. But we have to take into consideration developing countries too.

Especially areas like Asia or South-America are becoming more and more important to the worlds economy. There already is much traffic of goods from and to these countries and it will become even more in the following years. Therefore it is important to know how to do business with and in these parts of the world. We should have in mind that they not only need us, but that we also need them. The world as a whole, with all its diversity, is a very sensitive sistem and we can not afford to put it into danger. Doing business with developing countries is not making money with cheap labor costs. It means to have a lot of responsibility and pay attention to the countries needs as well.

Business should always improve the situation of ALL members involved!If greed overcomes human responsibility, nobody will win anything in the long-term. If one part of the whole sistem fails, it will not last a long time until the rest will feel the consequences. Business has to be done ethically!