I discovered Rotaract pretty late in my life. The fact that it’s invite-only in some places doesn’t help the fact either. I am glad that I am a part of it for many reasons. Rotaract is supposed to shape you into a leader and it provides many opportunities to do so.
This post is not about Rotaract but rather qualities that one should be learning either in school or colleges.
This weekend we went to Karla Water Park with entire district. Ours was the host club and had made arrangements for the same. Our club president, Pramod Shinde, and Secretary did a fabulous job not only in organizing the event but in organizing some really fun activities.
We played tug of war in a pool and treasure hunt. Tug of war already is a difficult game to play and when you do it in water, it’s even more difficult. Our team won both the games. What we did differently were changing strategies as per the challenges. We saw that our opponent team had come up with a strategy and stuck with hypothesis even when they lost two games. That’s certainly not a good way to move ahead.
I recently read this book Good Strategy, Bad Strategy. In the book, the author discusses the birth of Starbucks. Howard Schultz after a visit to Italy in 1983 was awed by the grace and flair of Italian coffee bars, where expensive coffee was served in a relaxed social setting, which was in contrast with American coffee culture where the mass market was comprised of cheap, bland coffee. Schultz set up a similar coffee experience in back in America where he convinced his employers at a roasting company in Seattle to give him space to set up a small espresso bar. Thus, Starbucks was born. While Schultz copied the Italian original, he soon realized that Americans preferred lounging in chairs to standing in bars, so he introduced chairs. Now that’s a change in your hypothesis. If Schultz didn’t do that, Starbucks prolly wouldn’t have been where it is now.
I doubt a lot of people in my team had read this book. But we came up with the change on a whim in order to win. I believe these qualities can be developed when you are in school or college.
I also noticed that the losing team did not take the loss gracefully. Our District representative had to call out on them to accept the loss.
One needs these qualities if they want to be a leader. But how do we cultivate them. Clearly schools and colleges are not helping. One way is to join organizations like Rotaract, but that’s not possible to everyone.
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