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The Extraordinaries:
Introduction

T. SHER SINGH

 

 

 

Today, I venture into dangerous territory. (“What’s new?“ some of you may mutter to yourselves, but as readers that’s your prerogative.)

I know it is dangerous because some of you may pounce on me immediately …

But, first things first.

What I want to do is put before you a number of names, of men and women, who I deem extraordinary … in every which way. I will present them to you as examples of the exceptional people we already have in our community -- ready, able and willing -- who can lead us to great heights, but who remain, to date, untapped, ignored or unknown.

Why?

Your guess is good as mine. But what I hope to achieve through this series -- which I will begin tomorrow -- is to show you the quality of leadership that we need, and have available, and why it is imperative that we replace the current tired crew with a new one in order to move forward.

The list is not exhaustive, it is meant to be merely illustrative.

Some of you may not agree with my choices, or have better ones of your own. But, at the very least, I hope to highlight the qualities we need to identify before we raise our leaders onto a pedestal.

The current lot are simply not working. For many reasons.

Not all are bad or incompetent or self-serving. But we need to weed out the ones who, for example, fall under one or more of the following categories:

*   No management or public skills, only a desire to be in the limelight.
*   Too tired, with no new ideas.
*   Too immersed in old country concepts and politics.
*   Overworked -- already sitting on numerous boards, but providing little more than homilies.
*   More money than brains, and a hunger for recognition.    
*   Proven track record of mischief, shady alliances, incompetence, corruption.
*   Absence of humility or even a trace of Sikhi in their daily lives.

This should give you an idea of what we need to avoid.

If you have some extraordinary names of your own in mind, please send them to us. But a caveat: this is not an opportunity to flatter your friends or please your brother-in-law or sidle up to someone you wish to ingratiate.

Here are some criteria you may wish to consider:

*  Have achieved extraordinary things in their chosen field(s) of endeavour, AND done extraordinary things in their public lives in a variety of ways.
*  Are highly educated, intelligent and articulate, especially in the lingua franca of the land.
*  Are no longer hungry (the term in Punjabi is: “rujjey ho-ye!”) … for wealth or recognition.
*  Are committed to Sikhi, and not tangled with fringe causes or frivolous frolics.
*  Are fearless, and don’t feel beholden to any special interests. That is, they can and do speak truth to power.  
*  Display finesse in everything they do.
*  Have no personal agenda, either vis-à-vis politics or religion.

Another criterion I would put near the top of the list would be: if he or she is already involved in Sikh affairs, then let’s not burden him/her any more.

That is, find F-R-E-S-H faces!

So, tomorrow, I’ll present you the first of The Extraordinaries: The Power Couple.


To be continued ...
August 27, 2014   

Conversation about this article

1: Bant Singh (New York City, USA), August 27, 2014, 12:59 PM.

T. Sher Singh ji - good topic. And, if I could tweak point #2 on your list as below: "Are intelligent and articulate, especially in the lingua franca of the land." While being highly educated is desirable, it does not translate automatically into the two other qualities (intelligent and articulate) which I believe are more important. I take the example of the Black civil rights leaders or the Latino farm workers' leaders in the 70s. Many were not 'highly educated' in the traditional sense but were highly intelligent and articulate and transformed society for the better.

2: N Singh (Canada), August 27, 2014, 1:32 PM.

I think we should add that they should be 'born and bred' outside of India.

3: Nav Kaur (Australia), August 28, 2014, 4:10 AM.

Looking forward to it! One person comes to my mind already ... let's hear you first!

4: Jasbeer Singh (New Delhi, India), August 28, 2014, 12:45 PM.

"Are highly educated, intelligent and articulate, especially in the lingua franca of the land." Why highly educated? Leadership is a skill, isn't it?

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Introduction"









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