The Termites Nobody Mentioned
An Unexpected Lesson in Leadership, Respect and the Courage to Disagree Some of the most valuable leadership lessons come not from books, seminars or management gurus, but from our own mistakes. One such lesson came to me years ago, courtesy of a group of well-meaning boys, enthusiastic tutors and, believe it or not, a colony of termites. The story goes back to my days as Housemaster of Kashmir House at The Doon School. We had just concluded our Pagal Gymkhana , an event every bit as mad, merry and energetic as its name suggests. The boys had thrown themselves into it wholehear tedly and, by the time the dust had settled, we had raised a rather handsome sum of money. Money in the House kitty had a very peculiar way of making a Housemaster feel like a visionary. Suddenly every corner of the House seemed to be screaming out for improvement, and every improvement started to look like a legacy. I was no exception. I called a House Council meeting, attended by the tutors and...