- For many successful leaders/HiPo, who are coachees/coaching clients, a grandmother was someone who touched them deeply. They would have been the best cheer-leaders for them.
In some cases, the boys/girls pick up fluency in their mother tongue/communication skills, learn to be empathetic, storytelling skills, being obedient to elders (being a good follower, before becoming a good leader), learn about the roots, all from their grandparents.
All these are key to the development of an individual — of course, key leadership skills.
- ‘Grandparents’ days My grandfather was born in 1906, my grandmother in 1912. During my childhood, mornings began on my grandfather’s lap. He would wear a white cotton kurta, meticulously darned at a few spots. I used to ask him why he didn’t just buy a new one! “Son, your generation is blessed, it has not seen the tough times we endured, that’s what taught us the true value of money.” He shared grim stories of his youth — the Great Depression, World War Two and India’s partition. I also recall observing my grandmother, washing her hands frequently, bathing more than once a day — a stickler for cleanliness. I did not understand then, but now, I relate to it! Those years were my learnings of a different world and my first lessons on risk management…..’ @Uday Kotak. An abstract of a letter being attributed to Mr Kotak is going rounds, Hope it is from him only.
When Bill Gates, Obama and other twitter accounts could be hacked, and funds sought…. you can not be sure of what is real and what is fake news!
Grandparents have an important role to play in the overall development of a child. It is now widely accepted our personalities take a share in our early years. Grandparents’ influence could be very vital, positive mostly, and at times negative, at times. For example, their belief, bias on a lot of things like money, gets passed on to us.
And that is what children growing up in cities, in nuclear families, in apartment complexes are missing. We are depriving an important part of their ‘right to childhood’.
Today when the elders are suffering from isolation, children are suffering from house-arrest like situations. Grandparents would have made a big difference.
As and when we get back to the new normal, will we remember these valuable lessons?
