Tillitonse - A Transformational Journey Together

Introducing  the Digital Diet Plugged In, Checked Out This note is mainly drawn from the introduction of a book by the same name. I have added my own Digital Diet Plan at the end. Please share your 'diet' or experiences in the comments section to help us all.... Sanjay Rao Chaganti– (sanjay@tillitonse.org) Do you need a digital diet? Let's see: Do you sometimes feel the urge to pull out your smart phone when someone else is making a point in conversation? Have you ever realized that you were texting while your child was telling you about her day at school and later couldn't remember any of the details of her story? Have you ever felt that something hasn't really happened until you post it on Facebook or tweet about it? Has looking left and right given way to looking up and down as you type on a smart phone and cross the street? Do you know you shouldn't be texting an...

“As you advance in your career, it becomes difficult to see how someone could hold a totally different opinion from yours and still be correct” gently whispered Si Thu Thein, the mild mannered Research Director at PSI Myanmar during our one on one coaching session last week. I knew instinctively that I was hearing something deep. I asked him to clarify. Si Thu spoke about the workshop with the senior leadership team of his organization the previous day.   He was surprised by his own awareness   - that while his colleagues had different opinions from his, they were not wrong….and that he and they could both still be right while having different interpretations. Si Thu went on to further explain that one’s views tend to become more rigid over time and it becomes harder to even consider a perspective that is different from ours.   As we become more senior at work, judgment, more often than not, triumphs over openness and possibility. And in that aware...

Last week as part of a leadership development initiative in Yangon, Myanmar, we explored how one behaved when being observed (‘adaptive’) versus the way one behave in a ‘natural’ unobserved state.   Simply stated – HOW WE BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY WHEN SOMEONE IS WATCHING… Today, the lesson came truly home… I awoke late this morning. Having missed my morning class, I decided to ‘do’ my morning ‘quiet routine’ in the verandah next to the garden. I opened the door to see my houseguest already there sipping tea. She asked if I wanted to do ‘yoga’ there, I answered in the negative and walked towards the garden where I rolled out my mat and began my quiet time….. Typically, this routine last for about seven minutes. But today, I went on for close to 20 minutes. Why? Because I was putting on a show to impress my houseguest. I think this desire to impress surreptitiously kicked in the moment I saw her. I think somewhere inside a voice kicked in “Audience, Sanjay, an audie...

One of my coaching clients is among the most well meaning, empathetic leaders you can find. He is both liked and respected – a rare combination, as you know. But one day, in a vulnerable moment he was unduly sharp and responded insensitively. And now, months later, the impact of that one action is still reverberating! As I listened in, I was struck by the parallels in my life – the times when I had responded, nay reacted, all to quickly and the resulting negative consequences. As I take baby steps towards increased mindfulness, Victor Frankl’s immortal line comes up – “ Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” As the two nuclear countries in the sub-continent get ready to celebrate another Independence day, maybe it is just that ‘space’ – that allows us to choose our response that is indeed the best measure of freedom. Not just for countries…but as indiv...

CHARTING YOUR OWN PATH BY LISTENING TO YOUR INNER GUIDANCE A few weeks ago in Pune, India, I spent time with a wonderful person and came back inspired! She is a single mom who left her successful corporate career without a Plan B to create an awesome sanctuary for healing – for herself and others! Vidhisha had a successful career in the HR/Learning Dept of a large international IT firm, but an itch for a larger meaning simply had to be scratched. Despite the pressures of being the primary bread winner, a house loan to deal with and moving to a new town where no one knew her, she took the plunge. She walked out of the security of a paycheck…. As she shared with me –“There seemed no other choice…I was being guided and had to do what I had to do.” Today, Vidhisha runs ‘The Sanctuary’ in Pune – a wonderful space for healing and nurturing. She effortlessly talks about her plans to reach more….this is not bravado nor pure ambition. I sensed it came f...

My life has been wonderfully touched by many who have enriched me! These are people you meet and somehow stay connected over years......and ever so often you are so much in sync that you start looking like each other too!!! Arjun, the 'Karna' in so many of us, has always inspired me to be more selfless and giving. A true warrior who if often misunderstood, but never doubted has been a constant presence in my life for over three decades across continents. This morning I was struggling through my morning Asana and Pranayama class. One of these days, when the mind plays tricks and you catch yourself in the mirror, feel your excess weight, sense lethargy and look at one's unfit body and ask yourself - Is this all worth it after all these years of waking up at 5 am to be at a class at 5.45??! Surely, it's supposed to get easier...... I asked the universe for a sign to keep me going.... And Facebook provided me this sign. Evidently, I posted these pictures two...

SEX, CHOCOLATE &   CHASTITY CHARITY “Did you know that when you make a donation to charity, your brain acts in a similar way to when you are having sex or eating chocolate? It’s true. Thanks to fMRI technology, researchers are able to see brain activity when certain acts are taken and  in a study on charitable giving when people donated to a worthy cause, the midbrain region of the brain lit up . This is the area of the brain that is responsible for our cravings (food and sex) and pleasure rewards, showing the link between charitable giving and pleasure” To read more, click http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brady-josephson/want-to-be-happier-give-m_b_6175358.html I AM DISTURBED….Yesterday, I went in to listen to one of India’s biggest entrepreneurs Shiv Nadar on a panel entitled “Beyond Business.” I was expecting to hear about his company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. But, was simply blown away to learn about the vision, missio...