Leadership - The Mother Lode

It is already a couple of weeks since I returned from India and if I weren't wearing my sparkly bangles I would barely remember I had been abroad. Time moves on so quickly and covers its tracks so well. My English life has re-established itself effortlessly; I no longer expect to be entertained by posting a parcel or have to fight to get information about how things are working. No hang on, I work in the NHS, of course I still have to do that.

The main lesson I learnt on this trip is that leadership is the key. How one person can make so much difference; not because they do everything themselves, but because they empower others to be the best they can. Effective leaders are resonators - they emit an emotional frequency which resonates with people and increases each individuals ability, capacity and, most importantly, willingness to work together in unison. They coalesce activity so the noise in the system is reduced and the energy expended becomes so much more productive. Often the amount of net energy can be reduced which has the knock-on effect of keeping people healthier. Also, there is the more subtle effect of creating a unified ideology, the buzz word I think is ownership - by generating the feeling that the doorstep belongs to people reduces their tendency to crap on it.

RUHSA, New Best Life Shelter and Karuna Niwas are prime examples of this and, not coincidentally I feel, each one is lead by a fabulous, strong, determined, clear-headed and passionate woman - Rita, Catherine and Celine. Going back to the beginning and we find the story also begins with another impressive woman - Ida Scudder. The women are extraordinary role models and I feel blessed to have found myself a part of these women's lives.