IcebergSometimes while standing in front of the river, we may try to gaze below the surface to see the mysterious depths but may be unable to do so due to the layers of dirt accumulated on the surface.

Extending the analogy, today the river is exposing how we have the tendency to judge people on their surface appearance, and to find only their negative qualities. But if we scratch a little, go deeper and search beneath the surface we will see a beautiful soul.

Radhanath Swami in his search for love of God in the Himalayas stumbled upon a leper colony where he found an old woman in rags, severely affected by leprosy, her face deformed, lying on the ground in misery. Radhanath swami looked at her and felt in her teary eyes the love of a mother, an affection real and rare. Externally she was repelling but beneath the surface Radhanath Swami saw a mother waiting eagerly to share her love, as she placed her blood stained hand on his head. Radhanath Swami graciously accepted this as her blessings.

Leadership is about seeing the unseen, like in the case of the iceberg where only one-third of it is visible above the water while the rest remains submerged. The Titanic disaster is a classic example of failing to see the unseen. What is normally unseen could be circumstances that led somebody to do something—a hidden potential or some emotions waiting to erupt.

Sometimes we also do not see our own worth. There was this young man who took a break from education to render some voluntary service. The invitation came to go to England. Just four-and-a-half months after his arrival, the President of the organization called him and said, “I have a new assignment for you. I want you to travel across the country and train local leaders.” The young man was shocked and thought how he could train people two or three times his age. Sensing his doubt, the president looked into his eyes and said, ”I have great confidence in you.You can do this.” The President’s confidence and the ability to see more in him than he saw in himself, and the President’s willingness to entrust him responsibility strectched him to unlock the hidden potential inside him.

That assignment helped him to detect the work he wanted to devote his life to: unleashing human potential. And that is what he did. This young man is Stephen Covey, the coveted author of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and the founder of the world’s largest leadership learning company Franklin Covey.

Leadership is seeing and communicating the worth and potential to people so clearly that they come to see it of themselves.

Radhanath Swami sees the divine in everybody and connects with the divine in them in a way that makes them understand and appreciate the language of pure love of God.

Thus we see people from all walks of life—from the professors of Harvard Business School to the high profile bankers of one of the world’s largest banking corporations of the world to the village folks of rural India and the carpenters doing work in the temple in Mumbai—all feel at home with Radhanath Swami.

Radhanath Swami’s best friend is Gary who runs a fitness business. Even though their lifestyle and interests appear to be diametrically opposite, how respectful and accepting they are of each other!

One of Michael Angelo’ remarkable work of sculpture is the statue of David made from a mammoth 18-feet block of marble; This had remained untouched by other artists for decades because they felt it was not a good piece of marble. When asked how he sculpted such a great piece of art, he simply said, “David was already there in the block of marble. All I had to do was remove the unwanted chinks.”

Spirituality is the process of removing the chinks and finding our true self – our identity and our ideals and living by the ideals. A true leader helps us along the way.

Published by Deepak Bharwani

An entrepreneur at heart Deepak Bharwani functions with Pragati leadership Institute as a facilitator and concurrently runs his own marketing organization. With an MBA from the Mumbai University, backing him are fifteen years of domestic and international marketing experience servicing brands like Godrej GE Appliances, Citi Bank and ABN Amro Bank. Deepak found his passion in training six years back and has worked with Franklin Covey South Asia as a certified trainer in ‘7 habits of highly effective people’. Some of the most prestigious and coveted companies like Hindustan Lever Ltd., ICICI Bank, Nicholas Piramal, Efunds, Wipro, etc. have engaged him for training. Deepak believes in enabling people to live a ‘wholesome’ life and create enriching relationships to make this world a beautiful place to reside. Deepak’s incredible love for both children and spirituality has got him actively involved in running a spiritual school for children. Reach Deepak at deepak.bharwani@pragatileadership.com, Mobile – +91 99203-49012

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33 Comments

  1. Good points esp. on Michaelangelo. Swami Prabhupada was also similarly in his first year in US in early days was once sitting in parkbench and he said he can see so many temples, devotees. When a passerby where are they ? Theya re alredathere Only time si separating them from Manifesting. In due course, we know how Swami Prabhupada set up ISKCON centres all over the world.

  2. seeing the unseen is so important. deepak is bang on target; very lucid and eloquent. i liked the example of stephen covey and also the wide range of fans of radhanath swami. this proves a true leader, because he doesn’t see the externals but the essential good in everyone, he is effective in serving and helping people. thank you deepak and eager to read more posts from you

  3. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful article on seeing the unseen very beautifully explained how spirituality is the process of removing the chinks and finding our true self, our identity our ideals and living by our ideals. A true leader helps us along the way. All i can say is all glories to such great and true leaders like Radhanath swami.

  4. iceberg analogy is very relevant here, given the things we don’t see below the surface! nice article & good pic!

  5. A masterpeice interlaced with spiritual realizations…superb…let the ball be rolling for more moss to come in this site….

  6. Very nicely highlighted the qualities of a true leader with supportive analogies and stories.Just to quote a few:
    “Leadership is seeing and communicating the worth and potential to people so clearly that they come to see it of themselves.”
    “Spirituality is the process of removing the chinks and finding our true self – our identity and our ideals and living by the ideals. A true leader helps us along the way.”

  7. Too true. We generally jump to conclusions simply based on the externals. Thank you for sharing this inspiring article and Radhanath Swami’s thoughts on this subject.

  8. Very important topic has been discussed here. We should never judge people based on what they look externally, because if we go deep into their hearts, we will find the same grace, the same feeling which we want everyone of us to have.

  9. A wonderful way of explaining, That the real beauty lies beneath.The seekers of the eternal truth should dive deep , beyond the layers of material covering and see the beautiful presence of God and see the positive in everything. Very inspiring.

  10. A nice post.I liked example of Stephen Covey and Michael Angelo.Yes and speaking about HH.Radhanath Swamiji’s associations
    all feel at home.I thank author for such nice article and awaits for more and more articles which will help person like me to
    shape my spiritual life.

  11. Author has clearly explained a nice point of seeing the unseen potential in others and how spirituality helps one to understand this from the core. I understand that this leadership principle can be enhanced by the touch of spirituality.

    Today we read these principles in different “self-help” or management books but they seem to be impractical. But now we see here how we can implement them if one has developed the quality of humility and we can learn from practical example of Radhanath Swami.

  12. Spirituality is the process of removing the chinks and finding our true self – our identity and our ideals and living by the ideals. A true leader helps us along the way. This is a wonderful stetement. Thankyou Radhanath Swami for being a true leader.

  13. Thanks Mr. Deepak, Actuallly when we judge the people just seeing their externals or superficial surface actually we limit & doubt the capablities of the person & hinder his way to show his actual potential.

  14. The author has got a deep point on the subject matter of leadership. Radhanath swami, truly glorious could see the the love erupting within the heart of the leper lady. Indeed a great saint!!! Thankyou

  15. its difficult to know how much the iceberg is above the sea and how much below, but in case of character of saints like radhanath swami, which is like a clear transparent water, everything is seen in and out, and that’s what marks a real saint.

  16. Thank you for sharing this. Radhanath Swami’s mission is to train people to see beyond the outward appearance and see the little spiritual spark inside everyone and fan that spark to cultivate a society based upon true love.

  17. Thanks for sharing. Radhanath Swami is a true leader who helps us in the process of removing the chinks and finding our true self

  18. Very true,” Radhanath Swami sees the divine in everybody and connects with the divine in them in a way that makes them understand and appreciate the language of pure love of God”.- that is why the congregation of SriSri RadhaGopinath has multiplied so fast

  19. It’s so important not to be taken in by externals. It’s a wonderful lesson for us to see below the surface before judging people or taking decisions.

  20. this site was really a eye opening site for the so called leaders of today. only person as described by radhanath maharaj here can be a good leader

  21. Extending the analogy, today the river is exposing how we have the tendency to judge people on their surface appearance, and to find only their negative qualities. But if we scratch a little, go deeper and search beneath the surface we will see a beautiful soul. If one follows this statement in life, he can become the best friend of all living entiities.

  22. Everything in the world has a good and a bad side with it, it depends upon us what we want to see.

  23. That was a brilliant article! It was great to learn how stephen covey became the great leader he is today and how leaders like Radhanath Swami see the hidden potential in everyone!

  24. I read this story (leper) first time in journey home book and I was really moved. Thanks Maharaj for sharing this by giving us an example of ice-berg.

  25. Its very amazing that at some point or other we face these situation and know that we are seeing only negative but we are not able to control the mind. But after expertise in chanting we can raise our consciousness one level above and see the things from a different perspective, one that is of scriptures and pure devotees.

  26. Thank you for sharing such a nice article. It is really true that most of us worried about the other persons just by seeing topmost layer, this article very nicely compares this as seeing the river from the top and estimating it's depth. HH Radhanath swami is an expert in seeing the people on a deeper level.

  27. Thank you for sharing this article. It clearly explains to understand the person from the deeper levels than just estimating the people by seeing them on the top level.

  28. Hare Krishna..thank you for sharing such a nice article. It explains the estimating a person by comparing with a nice example of estimating a river from the topmost layer. We should always try to estimate the people from deeper level.

  29. Thank you for sharing this great article. I remember one statement by Swamiji that – bhakti means to look for the substance. Many people misunderstand bhakti to be meant for sentimentalist, but bhakti yogis or devotees are greatest – for they see the substance in everyone – the spirit soul part and parcel of God and irrespective of external appearances, they can elevate everyones consciousness

  30. A very nice article – motivating us to see the unseen with lucid examples of Radhanath swami and Stephen Covey. We tahnks teh author adn look forward for more!

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