In conversation with Swami Gaur Gopal Das, Personal Coach, Monk, Author, at BTMindrush2023

I realized data swamiji that we already had a name placard over there and no one could have missed you in the front row and the the minute you walked in we could the energy was palpable swamiji and that's something which the last time we met at the India today conclave as well I said it as well it's amazing the way it's so infectious every time we meet you swamiji but today we want to talk a little bit more because this is BT mind Rush where we have some of the who's who of India Inc in the audience and there's so many lessons in leadership that we can learn from you now swamiji told me that he travels nearly 200 to 50 days a year and is often well giving these sessions and coaching a lot of the top corporates from around the world so swamiji what's the one top theme that you have figured out in the last year of your travels when you do meet the who's who of the corporate world yeah first of all my first of all a very good afternoon to you ladies and gentlemen doesn't look like you're very happy seeing anywhere a very good afternoon to you ladies and gentlemen okay let's begin with a little bit of Rush at mind rush so it's my great pleasure privilege and honor to be here this afternoon and I want to sincerely thank business today India today for having me over uh here for this conversation this afternoon and thank you ayush for that introduction and thank you for that question uh what is it that in the last one year I have observed across corporates in fact one year could probably be a short time frame but overall in the modern times what is it that we are looking at in the corporate world in terms of leadership here we have successful leaders being recognized appreciated and rewarded for their incredible leadership traits uh this evening and in fact it's a little bit embarrassing can you imagine a monk like me sitting here in front of top performing c-level Executives who are all going to be rewarded and I begin the session can you imagine how embarrassing that could be it's only says one thing narratives are changing so in I I feel over a period of time to me there are four things that really distinguish a good leader from the others and the first thing is the Curiosity to always know and learn the humility and the vulnerability to say but I don't know a lot of times the blind spot of having achieved a certain amount of knowledge is to think that I've cracked it and I know it Innovation creativity growth comes from Curiosity and the vulnerability and humility to say that well this is what I don't know growth comes from not this line that I know growth comes from I don't know which means I have the Curiosity to learn you know Engineers are sometimes people who have solutions to problems that don't exist any engineers in the house here okay brilliant there was a very popular mechanical engineer right extremely popular mechanical engineer and back in the day during World War II he had gone to fight in the World War II and his his main task was to really repair the engines of the tanks because he was a mechanical engineer after the World War II was over he was from Italy he got back to Italy and just thought to himself that all these tanks and their engines are still lying at the war side what if I get those tanks engines back in Italy and do something about it he brought those engines back and started a tractor manufacturing company and it did so extremely well that he had this dream desire to buy a fancy car how many of you would like to buy a fancy car okay sorry I'm talking to sea level how many of you already would like to buy a car better than you have I know my hands have gone a lot more hands up you know I I always how many of you saw the movie diva in divar how many of you saw that dialogue between Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor where Amita Bachchan said that's empty swag cut to 2023 the dialogue has changed guys Mumbai 's Lamborghini um because in a city like Mumbai parking space is more valuable than the car I'm supposing you know so this gentleman this engineer had this dream to buy a sports car and back in the day the only up Market sports car was Ferrari he purchased a Ferrari day one he realized that there was a problem with the accelerator there was a problem with the brakes he decided to go and speak to the founder and owner of Ferrari Motors Enzo Ferrari I said look sir your car is fantastic there's an issue there there's a problem there the issue of knowing it all as it closes our ears and our minds to learn to know from others and therefore stunts our growth he said there's a problem with your accelerator and break if you could just sort that out boy there's nobody who's going to smash you out there in the market and guess what the typical stereotypical response of an accomplished business house thinking I Know It All I've sorted it all I've put it all in place I've smashed it all through which means nobody else can tell me what I should be doing and there's no scope for knowing more than what I know he said you're a mechanical engine engineer get lost man the guy went home and he thought to himself bloody who the hell is he to tell me this I'll probably start my own sports car line and he started his own sports car company the engineer's name was Mr ferruccio Lamborghini right if this gentleman would have just been open to listening the Curiosity to learn to correct to know to listen a he would have grown B he would have probably not created his own competition and which is why the first thing I feel very crucial is curiosity the second thing good leaders and I'm sure because you are here being rewarded you have that in you and there's no end to how much we can refine and own it the second aspect is adaptability right so crucial to be adaptable constantly like uh I the earlier it was mentioned we live in the hookah World everything's volatile so uncertain so complex so ambiguous I mean look at how things are changing so rapidly language has changed a boy is asking his mom when was I downloaded mom thank God he didn't ask when was I uploaded sorry such a rapid change generation gap is 20 minutes generation gap is 20 minutes because by the time 20 minutes have passed by the app is updated the one before was an older generation app such a rapidly changing fast-paced world you know and which is precisely why adaptability is so crucial in the year 2009 there was a smartphone that was smashing it in the market absolutely smashing it in the market some of the biggest leaders of the United States swore by it saying we will not ever live our lives without the smartphone and the one issue with the gentleman who was leading the company was he thought that this is how it will be he thought that people will only use smartphones for sending emails and calling why do we need an internet browser and a phone to 2014 and as soon as one other company started introducing internet browsers on the phone in the year 2014 their market share dipped down to one percent why lack of adaptability there were seven words that are the biggest enemy of organizational and leaders we have always done it this way we have always done it this way markets don't care a competition doesn't care Changing Times don't care the rapidly changing Generations don't care the only person who cares is the person who is so rigid so rigid in his or her opinions and beliefs therefore it's very crucial to be very strong in one's values very firm with one's values but very flexible with one's belief but I'll ask I used to ask more because if I keep talking my God it's never going to be a conversation it seemed like a solo talks that's the beauty of it because everyone who's arrested in that moment but I'm going to build on that just to guide you since you spoke about smartphones see that's my favorite topic so I'm not going to segue into that but you're right right Innovation is one piece since we're speaking about leadership and lessons in leadership empathy and I want to understand from you the correlation between empathy and success especially in the corporate world because at the heart of every business is a leader who's a human being so these emotions and these virtues come into play number one is empathy a lost virtue number two how imperative is it swamiji for a leader to really practice that on a daily basis okay let me ask all of you some questions right how many of you at the moment are going through some personal struggle you may have to you could raise your hand you don't have to raise your hand it's all right how many of you experience stress at work because when you are a leader there's more stress than people whom you're leading because you have to deliver right how many of you have ever experienced politics at workplace oh thank you some of you are saying politics [Laughter] how many of you in your family have somebody struggling with some health issues thank you how many of you here have some issues in dealing with your teenage kids and seeing how to really Inspire them to really take that further step and not just be a victim of smartphone addiction thank you now as much as all of you as leaders have these issues that's how much the people whom you lead have these issues as well if you go through stress they go through stress if you go through workplace politics because of whoever is doing it to you they go through work plus politics at their own level if you go through the struggles and the anxieties of what's happening at home because of a terminally ill relative they are going through the same thing as well if you're going through the challenges of raising children and raising them with the right value system they are going through that as well and it's quite amazing to see that for us our problems are extremely crucial and important could a leader turn a blind eye on the problems that his the people whom he leads or she leads has while they themselves are going through those problems and which is precisely why I feel empathy is so crucial because we are not leading humanoids we're not leading machines we're not gaining robots we're not leading Stones we're not leading dead matters we are leading sentient emotive human beings who are feeling who feel bad who feel good who feel appreciated valued you feel completely do demotivated who feel motivated one day and demotivated another they who are in a great mood one day because things have gone well and in a terrible mood the other day just as much as we are and that's precisely why I feel empathy is so crucial compassion is so crucial not just as a human virtue not just as a human virtue but even as organizational performance to be boosted because when people are treated well when people are valued when people are dealt with with empathy and compassion they walk the extra mile by doing more than what is expected of them they walk the extra mile by doing what is more than what is expected of them uh in the Year 2007 when the economic Global recession happened because the Lehman Brothers crash there was a company in the Midwest of America Barry way Miller Limited overnight they lost 30 percent of their standing orders that meant a loss of 10 million dollars to them the then CEO and since it's the CEO Gathering here the then CEO Bob Chapman called for a board meeting and asked all the board members what do we do to recover this loss of 10 million the obvious answer layoffs layoffs Bob Chapman spoke to the board and asked them what if okay I'll ask you what if you're having a financial crisis would you lay off your wife some men are saying maybe also okay or would you lay off your husband okay let me take this controversial side aside okay I'm doing financially not so well will I lay off my parents saying sorry about Dad sorry Mom you're having a problem you see your way you manage because I don't have enough money will we lay off our children no we won't why because we consider them family empathy comes in when there is a sense of belonging and we say this is my family but Barry Bob Chapman said well we're not going to lay anybody off he called for a meeting of everybody everybody in the organization came to the podium and said to his people the first thing I want to assure you is that we are not sacking anybody out and he made a statement he said wouldn't it be better for all of us collectively to suffer a little bit then some of us to suffer a lot more because of having been taken out of the organization that's what gave rise to the furlough program that we will all go on a eight weeks of unpaid holiday and if we all go on an eight weeks of unpaid holiday we will recover our 10 million dollars empathy compassion that we don't want you to go through pain you are the ones who've made us successful you are the ones who brought us up I had the strategy I had the vision I had the blueprint but you were sweating it out you were toiling it out to execute the vision that I provided to your family guess what ladies and gentlemen this empathy this sensitivity this human compassion immediately boosted the morale up and trust me hand on my heart in the modern era what we need more than strategy is a moral where people don't cut Corners where people feel a sense of belonging and a sense of commitment and dedication to the organization and the vision of the organization because when we have all the strategies in place but we don't have that morale of the people in place this cutting corners the morale went up people in high ranking positions started talking to people in lower ranking positions saying Hey look I know you can't afford eight weeks holiday because you have a financial crunch at home I'll take your four weeks and go on a 12 weeks so you could go only on a four weeks holiday relationships deepened bondings deep in 20078 when the whole world was in a soup Barry waymiller did not just recover their 10 million dollars of losses Barry way Miller made a 10 million dollars profit that year at the time when everybody was going through trouble why because people are willing to give their Blood Sweat and Tears to somebody who cared which is why someone beautifully said I don't care how much you know until I know how much you care and therefore it's not about leaders who just know it's leaders who care people are fed up of leaders who just know we want leaders who don't just know but who care and When leaders care out of sensitivity compassion and empathy it's not just a human virtue it's an incredible boost to organizational performance and productivity somebody I want to pick up on that thought you said you've touched upon very relevant themes nowadays you took us back in rewind to 2007 stormy weather right now in the tech world in the business World jobs are scarce and some of these tenants might hold us in good stead you also spoke about sentience and and human emotions I've seen you and I've seen the Apple watch and you're a social media sensation so you use technology to your advantage and I appreciate that but I just want to understand from you when you look at what's happening in all over the world automation is leading to a loss of more jobs at this point at least for those a lot of companies who've been crystal ball gazing and said Hey listen these are jobs we won't require it will shape up differently hopefully but how do you see it because you understand the ways of the world how do you see it is is technology and all this Automation and all the new embracing all the new something that causes concern for you do you look at it with a sense of trepidation or you're confident that the world will adapt like you said acclimatize and then progress I think let's let's take it this way how many of us would with a hand on our heart agree that technology and what's happening in the world has added immense value to our lives immense value right personal lives business work everywhere immense value to our lives how many of us would want to see a world where technology progresses further to such an extent that Things become extremely easy smooth and a cakewalk for our work business and personal lives brilliant how many of us would like a world where with all of this having said and done and achieved we lose our jobs oh okay there are a couple of hands up there so the next person would that would be interviewed would possibly be you because ayush is ready to interview to check out how if I lose my job because of a artificial intelligence humanoid that has come up in the market Point definitely a point to be taken we have noted sir your hand was up and he's definitely going to interview on this uh the fact of the matter is this the reality is technology has added value the reality is with the brightest minds and with the brightest opportunities and the brightest avenues that have opened up Technologies escalating to the next level the reality of the matter is also this that when technology comes up there as ayush rightly said it kind of becomes a threat to human existence to human potential to the development of human potential I was in Singapore one year for an event called masters of the sanctuary one of the keynote speakers and I came up on stage I did my bit I love cracking jokes cracking people up there's about 2 000 people in the audience not a single Indian face I mean you don't have a single Indian face that's when you test your grounds because when this Indians they can immediately connect I am an Indian you can really frequencies match but there I was looking at people enjoyed it they gave me a standing ovation and I went backstage and when I went backstage everybody started shouting Sofia Sofia Sofia Sofia and I said these guys guarded wrong like and if you if you want an encore they should have shouted gopal I said these guys have gotten it wrong once I did an event and people did shout because they wanted me to be up on stage again Sofia Sofia I turned to my secretary I said who the heck is this Sofia so this one guy came up comes up to me and says would you like to meet Sofia sir I thought oh I don't mind actually considering the kind of enthusiasm from the audience looks like Sofia must be a someone and I thought in my mind it was probably Sofia Vergara from Modern Family so this it will take you to see her so I I was walking towards the The Green Room where Sophia was in my mind thinking of any possible reference from Modern Family so that when I meet Sofia Vergara I say ma'am I saw this and it was a real nice night good to connect on something that is common as I came to the Green Room there was two huge bouncers the muscles were Rippling out of their coats like real out there they were standing there I said this guy said I'd like to see Sofia say sorry Sophia is getting plugged in I said Sophia is getting plugged in seemed like a new slang seemed like a new slang Singaporean slang what's plugged in or zoned in so I thought plugged in would mean like you know speakers like to get plugged into the ambience the atmosphere just be in their space and I was thinking like this maybe she's doing makeup maybe she's doing some makeup so I'm using some device to plug in and soon after the doors opened and there were two guys who were carrying the first ever humanoid that was made on planet Earth was called Sofia and when they say she's getting plugged in means literally getting plugged in and getting charged Sophia came up on stage I stood sat in the audience to listen to what Sofia said and they asked her a very touchy sensitive question the funny part is the answer was programmed in Sofia they asked her do you think artificial intelligence and the technology that has come up today will replace human beings has asked me I cannot forget what Sufi had answered in fact my second book energize your mind begins with the story right the story of Sofia and I can't forget what Sophia said Sophia said it needs a human being to create a Sofia and therefore there's no question ever that a Sofia can replace a human being because without a human being a Sofia cannot function you need an answer to be programmed into a machine and even with the growth of some of these artificial engines with no names the day before yesterday I typed in to one of them and you know what I mean no names you know what I mean I typed in to figure out the details of one of my friends who's a massive businessman his son who's now leading the business to check details guess what guys he's just about 34 years old this particular AI engine said that he was dead in 1944. it was dead in 1944. it requires a sentient human being true to run technology to create technology and that's why Sophia I remember said I am not here to compete with human beings I'm here to complement human beings and what human beings do and what human beings do to complement what human beings do it's our human responsibility so while we use all technology to while we upgrade to the best that is available to not do away with the human potential that is behind it we hope it remains that way swamiji but you mentioned your book energize your mind and now that you've given us a little bit of a trailer it seems very alluring there's also an app that you've come up with monkey fight right now that's very interesting yeah from your long career quitting HP in a year then obviously going to the monastery you've learned the ways of the world now traveling the world and now an app what is monkify all about yeah what's monkeyfy all about the tagline for monkey fire is be a monk without be having to be a monk monkey fire life without having to be a monk and when we are talking about Monk monk has very little to do with a hairstyle or with a dressing Style and monkhood has a lot to do with a set of universal values and principles that we follow in life and therefore I know CEOs who are like monks because they lead based on those principles and I know monks who are like CEOs because being instead of following these principles they just lead businesses without empathy I remember going to San Francisco and speaking at Salesforce and what was beautiful about speaking at Salesforce was they gave me a tour of the entire building and on every single floor of their offices at Salesforce they had a mindfulness Zone half more than half of the offices that Salesforce has has a mindfulness Zone where their people can go their people can unwind their people can meditate their people can practice mindfulness officially designated zones where they can skip their smartphones away and guess why because Mark benioff at Salesforce firmly believes that two things are required for the success of a business thoughtful decision making and innovation and when it comes to decision making when the mind is all cluttered up we decide more based on feelings than on facts to be able to keep feelings outside of our decisions and base our decisions on objective facts the Mind needs to be uncluttered and mindfulness and meditation was included there to unclutter the mind for objective decision making not me secondly Mark benyoff also felt that when it comes to innovation a lot of times we need to have a beginner's mindset when we know a lot it kind of counterintuitive when we know a lot how can we have a beginner's mindset when we know a lot Mark Benya firmly believed and believes that we need a fresh beginner's mindset and what mindfulness meditation helps Zen Buddhist term called shoshin what it does is it allows you to take a step back and start looking at whatever it is without any judgment without any conclusions and just puts into you into a space where you're looking at everything from a completely neutral point of view or a neutral perspective started this mindfulness zones for decluttering the mind and thoughtful and objective decision making and for having this unbiased fresh beginner's mindset which was required for good innovation in the organization and according to him and the organization it has worked magically monkeyfy this app was started with this in mind we all with as professionals as Business Leaders as individuals in our personal lives at our work struggle with a lot on a daily basis and what we need is something that can put us into that space of calm something that can put us into that space of Peace something that can put us into a space where we can start looking at things where we keep our feelings aside and look more at facts so monkey fire is about this where we have affirmations where we have guided meditations a lot of people find it hard to sleep we have sleep tales and sleep meditations we have a lot of podcasts and talks that we're going to very soon launch and all of that is with this in mind to help people come into that particular space where mindfulness can help them take charge of their lives and we wish you the best swamiji with that particular Venture I just want to get your take on something so many people who consume your content especially on social media there's a lot of Millennials like me who grew up with existential angst and existential dilemmas about one particular word purpose and then now you have gen Z who are impatient Restless they have their own Fair set of problems do you still think purpose is crucial in terms of determining our paths in our lives how we perform at the workplace how we manage all our responsibilities at home where does purpose come in and how important is that serotonin release right right Mark Twain something said something very beautiful he said there are two most important days in our lives first is the day when we were born and second is the day when we find out why the day we are born is known to us the day when we find out why is the day when we probably start discovering our purpose but I remember one of my visits to London I went to one of my friends took me to see just spend an evening at Saint Paul's Cathedral we're walking in central London walking around in fact I think I had a house talk at the House of Commons and I finished that talk and after that talk we were walking around and we came to the Saint Paul's Cathedral and I remember meeting the priest there and the priest there told me an incredible story of the Saint Paul's Cathedral when it was being made the architect there probably about 1700s when he was making this Cathedral one day he was not known to the people who were working at the construction site one day the architect just walked around he was just moving around to see what was happening and he saw a bricklayer laying bricks he asked the bricklayer what are you doing the man replied well I'm laying bricks he moved a little ahead he saw another bricklayer he said what are you doing he said well I'm laying bricks because I need to make money for my family he moved a little further ahead and he saw another third bricklayer he said what are you doing he said I've heard that this gentleman this architect is creating a spectacular Cathedral and I'm trying to lay the brick in such a way that I can help him in making this Cathedral extremely beautiful now you really don't change what you do we don't change what we do we have our jobs we have our families we have our businesses we lead we do what we do and we're going to have to do what we do it's a shift of mindset that takes us off from the work mode to the purpose mode here was one bricklayer who was just doing his work I'm just doing it for the heck of doing it second one is his motivation behind doing it was making money and maintaining a family fine that's a part of purpose as well and the third person well there's a spectacular Cathedral being created I'm trying to play my role in a way that I can create an impact and make a difference it's easy to make a buck it's hard to make a difference another core of a purpose is how do we make a difference in whatever it is that we do and leave a legacy behind of trying and adding value to the world that we live in and one thing that I always say is when you're wanting to make a difference to others ladies and gentlemen charity begins at home it's very crucial that you make a difference to our own lives and I see a lot of leading Professionals in the world today they're burning the candle at both ends in trying to make the ends meet and meeting up with their deadlines what a word that line is deadline right by the time you cross it you know what happens deadline and which is why at the core and the Helm of purpose is self-care and I feel to be able to care for our own physical emotional mental health needs is so important today with so many pressures such volatility so many challenges coming our way self-care is pivotal because when our oxygen mask is in place we're going to be able to put the oxygen mask on somebody else's place face properly and therefore purpose to me is in whatever it is that we are doing adding value making a difference to whatever magnitude it could be and it begins with making a difference to our own lives which is paying attention to our own physical emotional mental health and spiritual needs swamiji what an absolute pleasure it's been thank you thank you for gracing us with your presence I think we've really set the Baha'i with this session guys a huge round of applause to join us thank you and we hope to see you very soon oh thank you thank you guys thanks so much thank you [Music] thank you

Channel: Business Today

Views: 194,042

Keywords: Business Today, BUSINESS LIVE, today, today's business news, BTTV, business news, Swami Gaur Gopal Das, Personal Coach, Monk, Author, Lifestyle Strategist, Motivational Strategist, Spiritual pursuits, Meditation, Mental health, meditation, lifestyle, business today event, bt best ceo awards, bt mindrush, bt mindrush 2023

Id: cIo8yv8-kGc

Length: 35min 38sec (2138 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 26 2023