‘The Art Of Letting Go’

Reimagining life, as not what it is, but what it could be is something people often do, however metamorphosing those thoughts into actions is what people struggle with. Armed with a little discipline and having hope is something people need to inculcate in life. Captain Raghu Raman believes that letting go of the past, and welcome the future with an open mind is an important skill. Learning several skill sets, and constantly working towards educating oneself is key to success. 

At a recent BW Businessworld webinar, Captain Raman talked about how his experience in the army taught him discipline and flexibility. He stated that, moving from place to place, and constantly meeting new people is how an army personnel’s life is, therefore, the learning that ‘one cannot fall in love with a fixed idea.’ Though his talk, the idea of ‘learning and observing’, was emphasised, along with how one should be enticed not by the sexiness of a business, but by the arena of the business. 

A key takeaway from his talk was the fact that ‘nothing is as good, or as bad as it appears’ and that things can change the hindsight and all times shall eventually be remembered for their good aspects. In addition to that, having curiosity and a thirst to learn are imperative traits for every leader. The ability to learn skills quickly is needed in these times; along with the knowledge of what you ‘don’t know’. 

A key topic stressed upon several times by him was the idea of ‘leading from the front’, as is especially in the army. Some soldiers may not readily want to walk to their grave, and therefore the motivation, and leading from the front is an important aspect in keeping them motivated. The concept of leading from authority is slowly dying, and is changing into people actually acknowledging humility. 

To students, his message was to gather new skills, and gain maximum exposure, so that when a difficult situation is encountered, one has a large tool kit/skill set to deal with it. The Captain reiterated several times that leaders are created in traumatic times, one needs a crisis to emerge as a leader.