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Leadership Development: Pay attention to Your Gurus

Guest post by: Sylvia Lafair

Article Overview: Leadership development is filled with tests and challenges on a daily basis. There is always a moment to ask yourself the valuable question, "what did I learn from that?" When you ask what you learned from that situation or that person, you have encountered your "Upa Guru". The concept comes from India and translates as anybody or anything along the way that helps you grow. Even your enemies, those who annoy the heck out of you are your Upa Gurus. Bothersome people or circumstances can be seen as just that, bothersome, or they can be seen as opportunities to take a breath and not get caught in the drama of the moment.

Leadership Development: Pay attention to Your Gurus

Leadership development is filled with tests and challenges on a daily basis. There is always a moment to ask yourself the valuable question, "what did I learn from that?"

When you ask what you learned from that situation or that person, you have encountered your "Upa Guru". The concept comes from India and translates as anybody or anything along the way that helps you grow. Even your enemies, those who annoy the heck out of you are your Upa Gurus. Bothersome people or circumstances can be seen as just that, bothersome, or they can be seen as opportunities to take a breath and not get caught in the drama of the moment.

Sometimes the best laid plans go array and you have a moment when you can either change your perspective or stamp your feet and repeat the same old way of behaving.

I thought about Kate Gosselin and Sarah Palin on that aborted camping trip in Alaska when Kate did "Kate" and sulked, pouted and made a fuss. Palin and the rain were Kate's Upa Gurus, yet she learned nothing from her time in the majesty of the Alaska wilderness.

I had a fabulous trip planned for the New Year's week-end with my family in Tahoe; except everything that could go wrong did. It started with finding that the two bedroom suite we had booked was really a one bedroom studio; tight quarters for four adults and two children for five nights.

Then my son-in-law, who is not a complainer started to fever up and ended in bed really, really sick.

After 25 emails and phone calls we found better accommodations maybe less than a half hour away; miracles for New Year's week end.

So we packed our gear and headed north to a place that a friend of a friend of a friend said was really nice. This little trek about 20 miles away took us an hour and a half. Now it is supposed to snow in Tahoe in the winter. However, even in that part of the world where the more snow the better, the news casts were churning on and on about the treacherous conditions. They were. Cars were slipping and sliding all over the place. Weather had become an Upa Guru.

We got to the reception desk ready to sign in for our huge two bedroom suite and the woman smiled the kindest smile she could and said "Someone signed up on the internet and got your suite, the last one available at the lodge, about five minutes ago.

"But, but, we told you to hold it" was our plaintive cry.

"You said you would be here in twenty minutes" she countered.

"You said you would hold the rooms for us or we would have given you aq credit card on the phone."

She was so kind and nice and powerless, such a Upa Guru, that we finally smiled kind, nice, powerless smiles back and went to unpack in the perfect accommodations.

The next morning was bright sun on brilliant white snow. Frustrated and sad we packed up the cars ready for the slow ride back to San Francisco.

We had made other plans in the city to ring in the New Year.

The phone rang, it was our Upa Guru telling us the people cancelled because of weather and we could stay!!!

We looked at each other, sighed great big sighs of frustration, thanked her for giving us this opportunity and got in our already packed cars for what turned out to be an eight hour ride (should have been three) back home. It was, we all agreed, a test of our capacity to make lemonade out of lemons.

Upa Gurus are all over the place, so pay attention. It is not so much what happens as how you choose to handle the ups and downs that are put in your face. Once you can name the annoyances and difficulties they do seem more manageable. Shame Kate Gosselin never learned that difficulties are, as Palin pointed out, 10% situation and 90% attitude.

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Article Tags: challenges, circumstances, enemies, gurus, leadership development



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