December 2008

'This page has been approved by the United Grand Lodge of England’

2008 January February March April May June July August September October November December

RW DGM' s MESSAGE FOR DECEMBER 2008

AIMING FOR THE MOON

Our recent achievement through the great efforts of the ISRO team in sending Chandrayaan to the moon is the culmination of decades of organizational planning executed by the leaders of our Space Agency, and their co-workers.

Such an effort and the realization of a truly super-human goal focuses one’s thoughts on leadership skills, and their role in realizing such goals. It is said, obviously on observation and experience, that leaders produce leaders. In the case of ISRO our Space authority, Vikram Sarabhai incubated Satish Dhavan who in turn developed Abdul Kalam, and the present Chief G. Madhavan Nair amongst many others. The organizational structure of ISRO reflects accurately its goal-oriented strategies and is built up on project-specific leadership channels. Qualities of leadership have been identified as requiring 1) Vitality and Endurance, 2) Decisiveness, 3) Persuasiveness, 4) Responsibility and 5) Intellectual Capacity (Chester Barnard 1886 – 1961).

I would add to this list the need for subordinate development of the next generation of leaders to ensure the continued security and vitality of the organizations that is led.

Freemasonry also affords opportunities for developing leaders for not only its own long-term security but also for the management of charity initiatives. For example, there are certain ‘active’ offices in Freemasonry such as The Registrar, Treasurer, Secretary and the Superintendent of Works which need to be properly and professionally represented. These offices, therefore, need particular care in recruitment, retention and training, to be able particularly to fill such active offices with efficiency and responsibility.

It is the duty of all Senior Brethren to include in their overall mentoring responsibilities, and your Ruler is no exception, the development of good Masons and efficient Masonic administrators who can contribute to the good order of their Lodge and perhaps also of the District administration. It is also for this reason of skills development that we have discouraged the long occupation of Lodge offices such as that of Secretary which denies younger Brethren the opportunity to learn the intricacies of Lodge administration.

By sharing responsibility and the processes of decision-making we create the next generation of leaders, and like our compatriots at ISRO we may, perhaps, metaphorically aim for the moon, in our Masonic endeavours.

This is the season of good will and we hope all of you will enjoy the festive season that is before us. I send my Christmas greetings to all our Christian Brethren, and to all my Brethren my best wishes for the prospective New Year.