Day 2 of the ‘Global Leadership Forum’ saw world leaders deliberating the need for decisive leadership to create trusted communities and a connected world. The forum highlighted the need for better implementation of Social Capital, sustainable and developing economies with an active involvement of women.
Held at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in
New Delhi under the aegis of the World Culture Festival, a celebration of The Art of Living’s 35 years of service to humanity, the second day of the forum saw prominent leaders such as Hon. Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, India, Hon. Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, New and Renewable Energy, India, Hon. General Vijay Kumar Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Minister of State for Statistics and Program Implementation, India, Dr. Kiran Bedi, recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award, IPS Officer 1972-2007, Hon. Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament, India among others.
Hon. Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, India said ‘We are happy that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has taken this initiative for this great event. The first human had no concept of nationality and boundaries. The first human was a woman obviously.’
‘There’s a huge exponential growth of population today. If there was no culture and identity, I don’t know if we could have grown like this. Therefore, culture is the essence of the way people live. In our own country, we see different styles of living and culture exhibitions.’
H.E. Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik , Former Prime Minister of Norway and President, The Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights, Norway said, ‘Remember as a leader, we are not to secure our own interest, but because someone wants us in this position. So let us practice servant leadership. Let us use dialogue as a main means. If team members whom we rely on, experience that we only give orders, they will lose interest and integrity to give results and we fail. Let them know we value them. All will feel ownership to the result then. It is about inclusiveness.’
‘Democracy is about how you treat minority, about creating an inclusive society and managing internal conflicts. So let us make an inclusive society. Our common basic values across cultures and national border is human dignity. It lies in the foundation of democracy. Sooner or later, there will be an uprise. Let us take off in this direction for peace resolution. This is our challenge for today.’
Hon. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal & New Renewable Energy, India said, ‘We all have to work together to remove hunger and poverty, well-being of humanity, gender equality, sustainable management of resources in the world, cleanliness, creating a better infrastructure and lifestyle for people. We need to address terrorism and climate change. This can only happen when we all come together. Leadership has to be decisive, to take strong, bold decisions.’
‘Equality is what we need to address. Focus on political and religious minorities has caused most damage. We need to change that and bring focus on spirituality. Focus more on the under privileged and deprived without considering status differences. Art of Living today can lead the world in bringing together all cultural and social societies.’
‘Society needs committed leaders like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for improving lives organically and universally. This kind of partnership where the entire society transpires as one, the entire universe conspires to help us achieve that.’
Hon. General VK Singh, Minister of State for External affairs, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistic and Program Implementation, India said, ‘A global leader needs to understand cross cultures and appreciate diversity. Global leaders must have “cautious honesty”.’
‘Armed forces of India practice two important things. Firstly Inclusivity - we do not have labels that distinguish people from their caste, religion, creed. And secondly, the nation comes first, every time.’
Day 2 saw discussions about the necessity of social capital with political institutions to achieve development, leaders sharing their personal journeys of success, the role of global leadership community in achieving development, the role of women in leadership and transformations of mindsets to multiply the pace of achieving development.
Founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Art of Living is celebrating 35 years of service to humanity in the form of the World Cultural Festival. The Global Leadership Forum, organized under the aegis of World Culture Festival seeks to bring accomplished leaders from the world to discuss not only the challenges they face but also to share their journeys and successes.
About Art of Living
Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives. The organization operates globally in 155 countries and has touched the lives of over 370 million people. The programs are guided by Sri Sri’s philosophy of peace: “Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace.”
To help individuals get rid of stress and experience inner peace, The Art of Living offers stress-elimination programs which include breathing techniques, meditation and yoga. These programs have helped millions around the world to overcome stress, depression and violent tendencies. The movement has spread peace across communities through diverse humanitarian projects, including conflict resolution, disaster relief, sustainable rural development, empowerment of women, prisoner rehabilitation, education for all, and environmental sustainability.
About World Forum for Ethics in Business
The World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB) is a registered public interest foundation based in Belgium. The mandate of the Forum includes all manners of pursuing and establishing the indispensable ethical foundations of business in a globalized world through building awareness, creating ethical leaders and changing the rules of the game by pushing for collective action for transparency.
WFEB works towards a just society and inclusive growth. It aims to support and showcase organizations which are profitable yet focus on sustainability and values and create shared value. WFEB is governed by its President Rajita Kulkarni and its Board Members Dr. Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President for Change, Knowledge and Learning, World Bank; Jo Leinen, Member of European Parliament; Nirj Deva, Member of European Parliament; Madhu Rao, Vice-Chairman Shangri-La Hotels; Roland Glaser, Former CEO Minerva School; and Ram Lakhina, Chairman of The Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce and Trade. Over the past thirteen years 40,000 leaders from more than 60 countries joined in worldwide conferences and innumerable stories of transformation at a personal as well as at a corporate level have taken place.
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