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May 24, 2006
"As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." --Marianne Williamson
Be-ing Other-centered in Business
He teaches them to be grateful and wants them to meditate. But Prof. Srikumar Rao's isn't a spiritual teacher: he teaches at Columbia Business School! In his gentle voice, he asks them to stop living in a "me centered" world and start living in an "other centered" one. In one exercise, students spend an hour each day for a week helping someone else without expecting anything in return. It may not be advanced accounting, but the results do filter down to the bottom line, and students know it: up to 200 students apply for 40 spots. Prof. Rao likes to imagine what a generation of other-centered businesspeople could do for the world. "In about a decade, my students will be in leadership positions," he says with a satisfied smile. "And they will ask, What can I do to make things better?"
BE THE CHANGE
Prof. Rao's students are told to hold conversations while blindfolded, to become acquainted on more than a superficial level. They are also told, over the course of a week, to eat at least one meal a day alone and in silence, to sharpen focusing skills. His style of networking includes suggesting that people help five people they admire without any expectation of repayment. Try one or more of those suggestions.
