01-04-22 Radical Transformational Leadership: What does this imply? Guest Hosts Kirsten Gallo and Sudarshan Rodriguez
Guest Daljeet Wadhwa is the Founding Director of Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication (SACAC)
An underlying principle of RTL is that we all have innate greatness within us and we can manifest that greatness in ourselves and others through our work. Even as children, we understand fairness. We understand caring. With RTL, we can design systems to manifest health and wellbeing. We can design systems that are fair. But we must first hold these values for ourselves and all others. RTL gives us tools, templates, and practices to create meaningful change in the world. At its core, RTL is a way to deliver results and shift the systems and mindsets that maintain the status quo so that our results endure. Our systems deliver what they were designed to deliver.
Today, we discuss the role of media and communication professionals who are not only accountable but also responsible for the content they deliver. The reach and role of mass media and social media in responding to issues and setting the tone for global, nationwide, and local conversations is unparalleled. Media and communication professionals have a powerful influence on how we see the world and on the decisions we make— decisions that may make the world better or worse. In other words, media professionals interpret the world for us. They can promote fear and disregard for others or they can construct new social realities, generative conversations, inquiry, and inspiring action.
Fallacy: There is a fallacy that because media professionals are trained and skilled, that they should always write facts from a neutral point of view. Similarly with advertising, marketing professionals should be creative about promoting products and services for which they have been hired, regardless of the consequences for people or the planet. They have to deliver what their audience wants! We falsely believe that leadership development and universal values have nothing to do with journalists and other media professionals.
New Learning: Media professional need to report facts. The universal values of dignity, equity, and compassion are essential for every human being to manifest their full potential, including media professionals. What they see influences how they choose to lead their lives and what they report, write, and document, which in turn shapes the mindsets of people and the trajectory of the future of humanity and our planet. Transformational stewardship development is of paramount importance for media professionals too. Responsible media and advertising is critical for a thriving humanity and planet.
KIRSTEN GALLO
Kirsten Gallo served as the head of the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Division. She held a variety of positions in the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service conducting natural resource monitoring and stewardship of public lands. She holds a doctorate degree in Ecology and has dedicated her career to conserving natural resources and demonstrating interdependence between humans and our environment. She began applying RTL tools and techniques in 2009 and created platforms for leadership in five federal government agencies and NGOs. Kirsten is now working to make RTL a global movement as she works in the fields of the environment, leadership, and finance. Specifically, she’s working to remove chemicals from our food systems and return to regenerative agricultural techniques to support the wellbeing of people and the planet.
SUDARSHAN RODRIGUEZ
Sudarshan Rodriguez is a development professional with experience in disaster management, environmental sciences, environmental economics, policy, and environmental law. He has worked with Dr. Monica Sharma as an RTL practitioner coach since 2010.
After 22 years in the development sector with a variety of organizations, including the United Nations, grassroots organizations, policy think tanks, civil society and academia, he dove into the adventure of setting up the next generation development consultancy and social purpose enterprise called “RTLWorks”. Before founding RTLWorks, he was the Programme Director at Mahatma Gandhi Academy of Human Development, heading a center of the Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Mumbai located in Nagaland, India focusing on Livelihoods and Social Entrepreneurship.
He also delivers and implements Radical Transformational Leaderships ‘learning-in-action programs’ for business and non-profit organizations on different aspects of leadership development for sustainable change.
DALJEET WADHWA
Daljeet Wadhwa is the Founding Director of Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication (SACAC) and a Radical Transformational Leadership (RTL) Practitioner Coach.
Daljeet amplified the mission of SACAC to become an educational institute bringing meaningful change in our society, communities and the planet. Her work has led her to increasingly focus on de-glamourising and demystifying media and arts to raise awareness regarding important socio-political and cultural issues. Under her direction in the last 18 years, SACAC has become an institute shaping generations of media professionals in the country having a deep sense of inner purpose and who think creatively, work consciously through authentic and responsible communication.
In all her works, personal and professional, Daljeet remains rooted and guided by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother’s vision in her spiritual journey towards leading a conscious life.
Learn more about Dr. Monica here: www.radicallytransform.org
