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Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic CenterFocus on the purpose— *This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. * — It is a great pleasure and honor to be here. The first time I met them was I think almost 22 years ago. When they were studying in the Al-Humza Karia. And Alhamdulillah we is their father. Dr. Mirza Baudin is… Continue reading Focus on the purpose2024-11-2230 min
Juma KhutbasWhat is real education?The purpose of education is to civilize the individual. To connect the human being to his Creator, so that he recognizes Him, has a relationship with Him, strives to please Him, relies on His Mercy, and looks forward to His Forgiveness. The purpose of education is to give the child ethics, values, and morals which… Continue reading What is real education?2024-07-2725 minJuma KhutbasWhen the rubber meets the roadThe Qur’an commands us to be patient, to have Sabr and promises help to those who have patience. Allahﷻ taught us how to face difficulty and said: فَٱذْكُرُونِىٓ أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لِى وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ Baqara 2: 152-3 Remember Me; I will remember you. And thank Me,… Continue reading When the rubber meets the road2024-07-2025 minJuma KhutbasMuharram, another New YearThe month of Muharram is a great and blessed month. It is the first month of the Hijri year and is one of the sacred months about which Allahﷻ says: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ ٱلشُّهُورِ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِى كِتَـٰبِ ٱللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ مِنْهَآ أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ Tawbah 9: 36 “Verily,… Continue reading Muharram, another New Year2024-07-1321 minJuma KhutbasHow to beat sadnessLast week I told you that Allahﷻ prohibited sadness. That sounds unreasonable and you may say, ‘I don’t want to feel sad. But I do. So, why is sadness prohibited?’ We are conditioned to see emotions as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. The reality is that emotions are value neutral. They are neither positive… Continue reading How to beat sadness2024-07-0723 minJuma KhutbasIt’s my LifeWe live in a paradoxical world. We are knowledgeable about the earth but are burning it up at a pace which is out of control. We are knowledgeable about health but disease, especially mental illness is in rampant proportions. We collectively have enormous wealth, but its distribution ensures that vast populations are deprived, even starving,… Continue reading It’s my Life2024-06-2925 minJuma KhutbasDon’t be sadMy brothers and sisters, we are living in difficult times which are testing us in ways that at least I had never imagined. On the one hand Allahﷻ has kept us and our families safe and well in this land. On the other hand, we are seeing every day what is happening to Muslims and… Continue reading Don’t be sad2024-06-2423 minJuma KhutbasHajj – A Journey of LoveHe was Khaleelullah. And Allahﷻ loved him, so He tested him. In each test, by the help of Allahﷻ, he proved true to his Covenant with Allahﷻ. So, Allahﷻ gave him the job of building His House, the Ka’aba. Allahﷻ said: وَإِذْ بَوَّأْنَا لِإِبْرَٰهِيمَ مَكَانَ ٱلْبَيْتِ أَن لَّا تُشْرِكْ بِى شَيْـًٔا وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّآئِفِينَ وَٱلْقَآئِمِينَ… Continue reading Hajj – A Journey of Love2024-06-1624 minJuma KhutbasJoy of SubmissionThe most important thing in life is not wealth or knowledge or even action. It is attitude. With the right attitude, you can create wealth, acquire knowledge and find the motivation to act. Without it you may have wealth, fame, influence, and knowledge but you despair. Just look for celebrity suicides on Google and you… Continue reading Joy of Submission2024-06-0100 minJuma KhutbasOne Ummah under Rasoolullahﷺ2024-05-2500 minJuma KhutbasThe position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 4There are several ways to guide. The most reliable way is to give the person a compass to find direction, a map with details of the route and a guide to take them to their destination. That is what Allahﷻ did. He gave us the compass, the Qur’an, a map, the Sunnah, and the guide,… Continue reading The position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 42024-05-1930 minJuma KhutbasThe position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 3All knowledge begins with Adab – an attitude of respect for knowledge and everything and everyone related to it. Adab is like the preparation of the soil for planting. Without preparation the best seed will perish. So also with knowledge, especially the knowledge of Islam. Without Adab we may get the words, but never the… Continue reading The position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 32024-05-1118 minJuma KhutbasThe position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 2Allahﷻ declared that Muhammadﷺ is His Messengerﷺ and the last of them and the Seal of the Prophets and that after him there is no other. مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمًا Ahzab 33: 40 Muḥammad is not the father of any of your… Continue reading The position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 22024-05-0522 minJuma KhutbasPosition of Rasoolullahﷺ in IslamThe opposite of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge. Ignorance which is recognized is a blessing because the person then seeks to dispel it by learning. But the illusion of knowledge produces arrogance which shuts the door to learning and greases the slide into Jahannam. As happened for the first time when… Continue reading Position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam2024-04-2816 minJuma KhutbasRemember the StandardThere are two ways to lead our lives. The way we want and the way Allahﷻ wants for us. Whichever way we choose, we will be held accountable for it when we die. The issue with living the way we want is that our knowledge is limited, and our desires rule us. The benefit of… Continue reading Remember the Standard2024-04-2217 minJuma KhutbasBuild the RelationshipEvery relationship in the world has two things associated with it; a benefit that we derive from it and a responsibility that we owe to it. Any relationship that does not benefit ceases to exist even if it began and carried on for a while. Very soon any intelligent person will realize that they are… Continue reading Build the Relationship2024-04-0632 minJuma KhutbasSpirit of Ramadan – Part 4Ramadan comes to help us to become Muttaqoon and become eligible for all the promises of Allahﷻ. That process begins with Istighfaar and Tawba. فَٱسْتَغْفِرُوهُ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ رَبِّى قَرِيبٌ مُّجِيبٌ Hud 11: 61 So seek His forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. Surely my Rabb is Ever Near, All-Responsive ˹to prayers˺.” Seeking… Continue reading Spirit of Ramadan – Part 42024-03-2920 minJuma KhutbasSpirit of Ramadan – part 3The purpose of fasting is not to fast but to transform our lives and put ourselves on the path of success in this world and the next. Ramadan comes to reset our standard, the criterion of what has value and what doesn’t. When we stay away from even the Halaal during the hours of daylight… Continue reading Spirit of Ramadan – part 32024-03-2428 minJuma KhutbasSpirit of Ramadan – part 2Ramadan is the month of self-reflection and introspection with the intention of getting our lives back on track. Our life is a journey which we hope will end in Jannah. Our parents Adam (AS) and Hawwa (AS) came from Jannah and when Allahﷻ sent them to the earth, He gave them the key to return… Continue reading Spirit of Ramadan – part 22024-03-1628 minJuma KhutbasSpirit of RamadanMy brothers and sisters, in another day or two we will enter Ramadan. The question I ask myself and you is, will we enter Ramadan or will we allow Ramadan to enter us? If we enter Ramadan then on the 1st of Shawwal, we will exit Ramadan. But if we allow the spirit of Ramadan,… Continue reading Spirit of Ramadan2024-03-0926 minJuma KhutbasJustice and IhsaanWe hear this Ayah in every Jumu’ah Khutba in practically every masjid on the face of the earth. Let us focus on just two words in it – Al Adl wal Ihsaan. إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ Nahl 16: 90 Indeed, Allah commands justice,… Continue reading Justice and Ihsaan2024-03-0222 minJuma KhutbasBecome a Standard Bearer – Part 2Allahﷻ gave us a purpose of existence which is given to the highest in any society – to guide and show the way. This is the purpose that we inherited by being the followers of Rasoolullahﷺ – to give to the world. To give mankind a standard by which to live. To give it by… Continue reading Become a Standard Bearer – Part 22024-02-1126 minJuma KhutbasBecome a Standard Bearer“Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.” Saheeh Hadeeth [Ibn Maajah, Kitaab al fitan 3986 Like most thinking Muslims of our time, over the last few years, I have also been thinking about the sad state that the Muslim Ummah finds itself… Continue reading Become a Standard Bearer2024-02-0429 minJuma KhutbasWinning is about staying in the race“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Jabir (R) reported: Rasoolullahﷺ said, “The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people.” I… Continue reading Winning is about staying in the race2024-01-2825 minJuma KhutbasWinning is about staying in the race“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Jabir (R) reported: Rasoolullahﷺ said, “The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people.” I… Continue reading Winning is about staying in the race
The post Winning is about staying in the race appeared first on Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Centre - We came to give, not to take..2024-01-2825 min
Leadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesGoing back to school at an advanced age
At age 70 I decided to go back to college.
In this episode, I talk about my return to formal education – an 8-week Immersive Arabic course at Middlebury Language Schools.
2023-08-0641 min
Leadership is a Personal ChoiceGoing back to school at an advanced age
At age 70 I decided to go back to college.
In this episode, I talk about my return to formal education – an 8-week immersion Arabic course at Middlebury Language Schools.
2023-08-0641 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesBeware of gradual change
I quote from something a dear friend sent me. “In Ernest Hemingway’s famous novel, The Sun Also Rises, a character is asked how he went bankrupt. “In two ways,” he answers. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
A famous sentence, one that aptly describes how businesses go down. We get fixated on the sudden events that occur at the end of the trajectory—banks calling in their loans, creditors going to court, unpaid salaries, and the like. It all feels dramatic and sudden, and we look for answers in the here and now.
But those answers can only be foun...2023-05-2328 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceBeware of gradual change
I quote from something a dear friend sent me. “In Ernest Hemingway’s famous novel, The Sun Also Rises, a character is asked how he went bankrupt. “In two ways,” he answers. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
A famous sentence, one that aptly describes how businesses go down. We get fixated on the sudden events that occur at the end of the trajectory—banks calling in their loans, creditors going to court, unpaid salaries, and the like. It all feels dramatic and sudden, and we look for answers in the here and now.
But those answers can only be foun...2023-05-2328 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesBeware of the C-WordAs you work towards a great goal you will become restless, irritated, and impatient and inclined to take shortcuts and cut corners – all for the excellent reason that you want to see the project up and started as soon as possible. But in this urgency, there will be the tendency to accept compromises. I am … Beware of the C-Word Read More »2021-12-3112 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceBeware of the C-Word
As you work towards a great goal you will become restless, irritated, and impatient and inclined to take shortcuts and cut corners – all for the excellent reason that you want to see the project up and started as soon as possible. But in this urgency, there will be the tendency to accept compromises. I am writing this to warn you of the biggest danger to success. The C word. Compromise. For to compromise is to die a death without honor.
2021-12-3112 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesDavid and Goliath
Accompanying Video: https://youtu.be/rxcdLVicuEw
2020-10-2728 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceDavid and Goliath
Accompanying Video: https://youtu.be/rxcdLVicuEw
2020-10-2728 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesGift of a Year
In 1968, Hyderabad was in a state of pandemonium. The city was the bedrock of the infamous Telangana agitation and witnessed both frenzy and fire as a multitude of students demanded statehood for Telangana. As one would expect, it effected the lives of people living in Hyderabad, regardless of their age, profession and residence. People lost jobs, students lost an year of their education and businesses had to be shut down.
Fast-forward to 2020 and those who remember 1968, remember it as just another year. Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig narrate his story of living through 1968 and how the lessons...2020-09-2118 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceGift of a Year
In 1968, Hyderabad was in a state of pandemonium. The city was the bedrock of the infamous Telangana agitation and witnessed both frenzy and fire as a multitude of students demanded statehood for Telangana. As one would expect, it effected the lives of people living in Hyderabad, regardless of their age, profession and residence. People lost jobs, students lost an year of their education and businesses had to be shut down.
Fast-forward to 2020 and those who remember 1968, remember it as just another year. Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig narrate his story of living through 1968 and how the lessons...2020-09-2118 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThird Time Lucky
Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig narrate his story of securing a job at the plantation estate after returning from Guyuna and the lessons he learned along the way.
2020-09-1417 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceThird Time Lucky
Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig narrate his story of securing a job at the plantation estate after returning from Guyuna and the lessons he learned along the way.
2020-09-1417 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceMentoring, Elixir of Life
A lot of people seek out mentor-ship but very few consider actually becoming a mentor. What does it take to be a mentor? How do you convey your knowledge to your protegee? What are some things to do and not to do? Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig answer all your questions about being a successful mentor.
2020-09-0621 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesMentoring, Elixir of Life
A lot of people seek out mentor-ship but very few consider actually becoming a mentor. What does it take to be a mentor? How do you convey your knowledge to your protegee? What are some things to do and not to do? Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig answer all your questions about being a successful mentor.
2020-09-0621 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesTeambuilding is about you
Team building while being critical to any organisation, is all about the individual. Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig explain the three major things you as an individual can do to bolster your team’s overall functioning: Learning from your mistakes, encouraging new ideas and sharing experiences.
2020-08-3015 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceTeambuilding is about you
Team building while being critical to any organisation, is all about the individual. Listen to Mirza Yawar Baig explain the three major things you as an individual can do to bolster your team’s overall functioning: Learning from your mistakes, encouraging new ideas and sharing experiences.
2020-08-3015 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesInfluences.
Based off the BBC4 “Desert Island Discs” podcast, college student Omar Abdelaal sits down and asks Leadership Consultant Mr. Mirza Yawar Baig to select 8 music titles most connected to his life experiences. Interviewing in the outdoors, a natural habitat for the interviewee, childhood memories and stories are shared with us through laughs and tears. A podcast special you could say features all, (some wind disturbances and Mr. Baig’s music selection). We ask you to live the environment Mr. Yawar Baig loves so much by going on a brisk morning walk and enjoy!
Moving forward, please let us kno...2020-08-231h 04Leadership is a Personal ChoiceInfluences.
Based off the BBC4 “Desert Island Discs” podcast, college student Omar Abdelaal sits down and asks Leadership Consultant Mr. Mirza Yawar Baig to select 8 music titles most connected to his life experiences. Interviewing in the outdoors, a natural habitat for the interviewee, childhood memories and stories are shared with us through laughs and tears. A podcast special you could say features all, (some wind disturbances and Mr. Baig’s music selection). We ask you to live the environment Mr. Yawar Baig loves so much by going on a brisk morning walk and enjoy!
Moving forward, please let us kno...2020-08-231h 04Leadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 4
A good plan with graded steps plays the role of bringing the stars within reach. It also indicates that enough thoughtshare has happened in the genesis of the plan. Potential supporters look for this consciously or unconsciously. For example, when venture capitalists are listening to a business plan, more than looking at the numbers, they look to see if there is enough passion behind the idea, if enough due diligence has been done, and if enough alternatives have been generated and answered.
2020-08-1616 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 4
A good plan with graded steps plays the role of bringing the stars within reach. It also indicates that enough thoughtshare has happened in the genesis of the plan. Potential supporters look for this consciously or unconsciously. For example, when venture capitalists are listening to a business plan, more than looking at the numbers, they look to see if there is enough passion behind the idea, if enough due diligence has been done, and if enough alternatives have been generated and answered.
2020-08-1616 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 3
As I have said earlier, it is in the nature of extraordinary goals to inspire extraordinary effort. Nobody rises to low expectations; people rise to high expectations. It is essential that the final result is visualized clearly and is as real as possible to the person who sets out to accomplish it. The more desirable the end result, the more people will be willing to take the inevitable drudgery and the mundane, which is a major and essential part of all endeavors. It is the promise of great reward that drives the soul when the body has passed the...2020-08-0922 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 3
As I have said earlier, it is in the nature of extraordinary goals to inspire extraordinary effort. Nobody rises to low expectations; people rise to high expectations. It is essential that the final result is visualized clearly and is as real as possible to the person who sets out to accomplish it. The more desirable the end result, the more people will be willing to take the inevitable drudgery and the mundane, which is a major and essential part of all endeavors. It is the promise of great reward that drives the soul when the body has passed the...2020-08-0922 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 2
The challenge was that there was no formal training course, degree, or program that I could attend to qualify as a leadership trainer. Also, I was sitting on top of the hill in the Anamallais while everything I needed to qualify was miles and days away in the cities. To make matters more interesting, I needed my job (I also enjoyed it very much) and so had to figure out a way of self-learning where I could get the study and experience I needed while still holding down and full-time job. Less as a conscious decision and more because o...2020-08-0323 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 2
The challenge was that there was no formal training course, degree, or program that I could attend to qualify as a leadership trainer. Also, I was sitting on top of the hill in the Anamallais while everything I needed to qualify was miles and days away in the cities. To make matters more interesting, I needed my job (I also enjoyed it very much) and so had to figure out a way of self-learning where I could get the study and experience I needed while still holding down and full-time job. Less as a conscious decision and more because o...2020-08-0323 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 1
Believe it or not, the first time that color television sets became freely available in India was after the Asian Games in 1985. Almost everyone I knew in the plantations immediately bought a color TV and a VCP (no VCRs yet), so that the lonely evenings in the plantations could be spent watching films. There used to be weekend parties to watch some movie or the other or to watch some sport event. When Boris Becker beat Kevin Curren and won Wimbledon in 1985 aged 17, becoming the youngest champion in tournament history, a record which holds to this day, we were...2020-07-2616 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceThe power of the extraordinary goal – Part 1
Believe it or not, the first time that color television sets became freely available in India was after the Asian Games in 1985. Almost everyone I knew in the plantations immediately bought a color TV and a VCP (no VCRs yet), so that the lonely evenings in the plantations could be spent watching films. There used to be weekend parties to watch some movie or the other or to watch some sport event. When Boris Becker beat Kevin Curren and won Wimbledon in 1985 aged 17, becoming the youngest champion in tournament history, a record which holds to this day, we were...2020-07-2616 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceShift in Education from IA to AI
Covid has brought us face to face with the reality of what is truly important in life. Thanks to the enforced isolation of home quarantine and the shut-down of all public life, we have been forced to face ourselves. Education, like other things has had to change in the way it is experienced – teaching and learning. Technology has helped us in self-learning and access to databases to search add and share our thoughts with the rest of the world. In this context, this lecture attempts to look at what is really important to focus on. Remote education is not me...2020-07-1929 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesShift in Education from IA to AI
Covid has brought us face to face with the reality of what is truly important in life. Thanks to the enforced isolation of home quarantine and the shut-down of all public life, we have been forced to face ourselves. Education, like other things has had to change in the way it is experienced – teaching and learning. Technology has helped us in self-learning and access to databases to search add and share our thoughts with the rest of the world. In this context, this lecture attempts to look at what is really important to focus on. Remote education is not me...2020-07-1929 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceHit the road running
A senior manager in Dubai who I am coaching asked me this question.
Question: I want to be able to improve my self-belief the way you did this while in the plantation industry and later on in America when you stuck to your guns to become a highly paid consultant. Increasing my Imaan would be one aspect. Additionally I would like to focus on the behavioral part as well.
Listen to this episode to learn more!
2020-07-1511 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesHit the road running
A senior manager in Dubai who I am coaching asked me this question.
Question: I want to be able to improve my self-belief the way you did this while in the plantation industry and later on in America when you stuck to your guns to become a highly paid consultant. Increasing my Imaan would be one aspect. Additionally I would like to focus on the behavioral part as well.
Listen to this episode to learn more!
2020-07-1511 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceBC to AC
We are living in defining times. Never in living memory has the world seen something like the Covid-19 virus and the disruption that it has caused all over the world. Not in living memory or history. There are those who claim that it is a hoax. But dead bodies don’t lie. The world has come to a halt. Literally speaking. Never again will the word ‘disruption or disruptive’ have the same meaning. Never again will ‘Vision 2020’, be something to trumpet about. Never in my life would I have thought that every country in the world would have the same tale...2020-04-1818 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesBC to AC
We are living in defining times. Never in living memory has the world seen something like the Covid-19 virus and the disruption that it has caused all over the world. Not in living memory or history. There are those who claim that it is a hoax. But dead bodies don’t lie. The world has come to a halt. Literally speaking. Never again will the word ‘disruption or disruptive’ have the same meaning. Never again will ‘Vision 2020’, be something to trumpet about. Never in my life would I have thought that every country in the world would have the same tale...2020-04-1818 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesEvery choice has a price tag
The objective of life is to achieve that which you did not know you could. To scale heights that leave you breathless with fear until you realize that it is excitement and not fear at all. Excitement is fear that anticipates a happy ending. Short breath, dry mouth, alive senses, and joy. The objective is to see how much more you can achieve. And you never can tell that unless you try to do that which you have never done before. Safety is only one of the considerations in the strategy to achieve that. Never the objective. As they...2020-03-3124 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceEvery choice has a price tag
The objective of life is to achieve that which you did not know you could. To scale heights that leave you breathless with fear until you realize that it is excitement and not fear at all. Excitement is fear that anticipates a happy ending. Short breath, dry mouth, alive senses, and joy. The objective is to see how much more you can achieve. And you never can tell that unless you try to do that which you have never done before. Safety is only one of the considerations in the strategy to achieve that. Never the objective. As they...2020-03-3124 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceWhat’s your worth?
Today we live in a world where dignity has quite wrongfully been linked to material wealth. No matter how learned a man or woman may be, or how kind or truthful or trustworthy, if they are not wealthy, they are treated with disdain. Net worth has only one meaning. And I can’t think of a more dishonorable meaning; to equate a person to the amount of money in his pocket. HNI; what if it meant Person with the best character? Instead of Person with the most money, no matter how he earned it and no matter what his ch...2020-03-2320 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesWhat’s your worth?
Today we live in a world where dignity has quite wrongfully been linked to material wealth. No matter how learned a man or woman may be, or how kind or truthful or trustworthy, if they are not wealthy, they are treated with disdain. Net worth has only one meaning. And I can’t think of a more dishonorable meaning; to equate a person to the amount of money in his pocket. HNI; what if it meant Person with the best character? Instead of Person with the most money, no matter how he earned it and no matter what his ch...2020-03-2320 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceJack Welch, Built to last
Jack Welch passed away at the age of 84, on March 1, 2020. I decided to title my podcast ‘Built to Last’, after Collins & Porras’s book by that title which I consider to be one of the best corporate (or other) leadership books that I have ever read. Jack Welch was ‘built to last’. https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/jack-welch-my-memories/
2020-03-1030 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesJack Welch, Built to last
Jack Welch passed away at the age of 84, on March 1, 2020. I decided to title my podcast ‘Built to Last’, after Collins & Porras’s book by that title which I consider to be one of the best corporate (or other) leadership books that I have ever read. Jack Welch was ‘built to last’. https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/jack-welch-my-memories/
2020-03-1030 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceStand, if you’re alive
Have you ever seen an eagle take a duck in flight? Or a leopard bring down a wildebeest running with his herd? Or Rafael Nadal return a serve? They all have one thing in common and that is FOCUS. You may be impressed by the fact that these three are focusing on their target. But stop for a minute to ask how they can do it. They do it by ignoring everyone and everything else. So I say to you, “Focus is the art of ignoring fluff.” Everything other than your target is fluff.
2020-03-0212 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesStand, if you’re alive
Have you ever seen an eagle take a duck in flight? Or a leopard bring down a wildebeest running with his herd? Or Rafael Nadal return a serve? They all have one thing in common and that is FOCUS. You may be impressed by the fact that these three are focusing on their target. But stop for a minute to ask how they can do it. They do it by ignoring everyone and everything else. So I say to you, “Focus is the art of ignoring fluff.” Everything other than your target is fluff.
2020-03-0212 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesChange the language
The one who controls the language, controls the debate. Today Indian Muslims are in a peculiar situation where they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. and interestingly it is all a product of language. ‘Secularism’, which was the refuge, not only of Muslims but all those who believe in our Constitution and in the freedom and dignity of all Indians, is a term that has now lost all credibility. It has come to mean “Muslim lover = Paki lover = Anti-national.” Muslims have been so effectively ‘othered’ that anyone who even attempts to stand by them, automatically...2020-02-2312 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesNation and Forest Fires
The whole logic of fighting forest fires is about preventing them from starting. And if they do start, then trying to prevent them from growing. If this is not done, then once a fire grows beyond a certain size, nothing can put it out until everything that can burn has been burnt. The fire will die only when everyone and everything is dead. And all that is left is ash.
2020-02-1621 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesMaster or Victim
People sometimes look at the misery that surrounds us and ask, ‘Why doesn’t God do something about all the sick and dying and starving people?’ The answer is, ‘God did something already. He created you and gave you the means to feed at least one hungry person, pay for the education of one child, pay the hospital bill of one sick person and so on. If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed one. If you can’t build a school, pay the fee of one child to go to school. It is a common cop-out strategy to blame the...2020-02-0808 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesIt’s not my fault
On April 13, 1919, the 9th Gurkhas, 54th Sikhs & 59th Sind Rifles, on the orders of Col. Dyer, fired on an unarmed, peaceful crowd gathered to celebrate Besakhi at the Jalianwala Bagh in Amritsar. As a result, 1000 people died and perhaps three times that number were injured. Even though, the crowd was overwhelmingly Sikh, one of the platoons firing on them was the 54th Sikhs. The interesting thing is that Col. Dyer himself didn’t fire a single round. I am sure that if one were to ask each one of those soldiers why he fired, he would have given the sa...2020-02-0114 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceFor he was a man
I started my corporate career in Guyana with the Guyana Mining Enterprise in Kwakwani, on the Rio Berbice. Kwakwani was a small mining town, hanging on the bank of the Berbice River trying not to get pushed into its deep and dark waters by an aggressively advancing forest. Living in the middle of the Amazonian rain forest with no family and only a Scarlet Macaw and sundry chickens, turkeys and a series of wild animals as pets may not be the normal youngster’s dream job, but it was mine. I lived on Staff Hill, in a small bungalow wi...2020-01-2518 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesFor he was a man
I started my corporate career in Guyana with the Guyana Mining Enterprise in Kwakwani, on the Rio Berbice. Kwakwani was a small mining town, hanging on the bank of the Berbice River trying not to get pushed into its deep and dark waters by an aggressively advancing forest. Living in the middle of the Amazonian rain forest with no family and only a Scarlet Macaw and sundry chickens, turkeys and a series of wild animals as pets may not be the normal youngster’s dream job, but it was mine. I lived on Staff Hill, in a small bungalow wi...2020-01-2518 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesConfusion about kindness
What is kindness? Is it accepting substandard work or is it insisting that only the best quality is acceptable? There is often a lot of confusion about this and people think that they are being kind when they say nothing to their group members, family or friends who routinely over promise and under deliver. …https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/confusion-about-kindness/
2020-01-1812 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesBecome a rock in the foundation
I want to begin by saying that today I am truly proud that my nation, India, is still a democracy and that we the people of India are people with courage and the willingness to stand up for each other. Frankly, going by our recent history and the rapid polarization of our society and proliferation of hate speech and hate politics, I never thought I would see the day when Hindus, Sikhs and Christians would stand shoulder to shoulder with their Muslim brothers and sisters to protect them and their rights. https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/become-a-rock-in-the-foundation/
2020-01-1115 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesMentoring is a contact sport
Mentoring is the in-thing today. There seems to be a profusion of those who want to or believe they can mentor others. The interesting thing is the name for the one who wants to be mentored. It is ‘mentee’. I tell anyone who wants to be mentored by me, ‘If you are demented enough to want me as your mentor, you will thenceforth be known as ‘mental’. I say this only partly in jest. Partly because most of the people that I have met in this context live under all sorts of romantic notions about what mentoring is and what the ‘...2020-01-0434 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLiving thoughtfully – #2
There are two stages to reflection: What happened and what did I learn? …https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/living-thoughtfully-maximize-your-roi/
2019-12-2831 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLiving thoughtfully – #1
As I grow older I am aware of an ever increasing sense of urgency; a feeling that I have progressively less time left to leave behind a legacy that can be a credit to me. This sense of urgency has nothing to do with the fact that the reality of time running out is one that we all face. It has more to do with the desire to do something to maximize the benefit of the time that I have left. Naturally like all of us, I have no idea how much exactly is left, so all the more...2019-12-2123 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesChange the script
We have reached a stage in our development (if I dare to call it that) as human beings where our world seems to run on hatred, not love. I think we all know the many reasons for this and how the flames are fanned. I remind myself and you that all fire burns and the result is always ash. It doesn’t matter why the fire was set. If it was set, it will burn everything that lies in its path and turn it to ash. Is this what we want with our lives? Ashes? If not, I have a...2019-12-1413 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThe Statesman within
My friend asked me a question; Where are the statesmen? Where have they all gone? For the sake of some clarity, I defined statesmen as people who were highly respected for their integrity, were highly ethical and moral and showed long-term vision for their people and countries and spent their lives in helping their people achieve that vision and not in amassing personal wealth. …https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/where-are-the-statesmen/
2019-12-0723 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesTry
It was December 1980. I was sitting on the veranda of my house in Guyana. It was about 9.00 pm, dark, balmy evening in the tropics. As usual on most days in this season, it had rained in the day and stopped. The air was heavy with moisture but the breeze, cool. Before me was the orange orchard of the Staff Hill, bounded on the far side by the forest. The rain-forest of Guyana. The evening had signed off to the night by the booming calls of the Howler monkeys who also announced the beginning of the new day. Scarlet Macaws...2019-11-3013 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesAttitude
“Can we change their attitude?”
“No.”
“Can they change their own attitude?”
“Yes.”
“So, what is our goal? To change their attitude, or to convince them that they need to change it themselves?”
“That is challenging, difficult, will take sweat and tears……….do I really want to even try it?”
“Ah! We are now at the root of the problem and it is: Do I want to change my own attitude?”https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/attitude/
2019-11-2322 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesBecome a villager
In 1985, when I was studying at the IIM Ahmedabad, our Professor of Organization Behaviour (OB) Area was Prof. Pulin Garg. One day he told us a very interesting story which has remained in my mind all these decades. He told us that some years earlier Ford Foundation, the American NGO, did a project to help village farmers to enhance crop yields by using metal plowshares instead of their traditional wooden ones. …https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/become-a-villager/
2019-11-1616 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesOld friend, here I come
The idea of meeting old friends after decades of having been out of touch is romantic indeed but one that is in reality fraught with danger. Old friends are a mirror in whom you see your own face and the experience is always moving, sometimes frightening. Old friends are markers in the journey of life, voices from your past, which speak of what you were and could have become. It is an experience that leaves you with feelings of thankfulness both for what happened and what didn’t; for what you became and what you didn’t despite the seed...2019-11-0904 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesThree Fundamental Laws
I am going on a long journey and want to remind myself and you of the three critical lessons that I learnt from my life. I call them my Three Fundamental Laws. I hope they will help you as they helped me all my life. …https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/three-fundamental-laws/
2019-11-0225 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLeadership is about living your values
Leadership is not playacting. It is not pretension. It is not a game. It is authenticity, integrity, putting your money and yourself where your mouth is. We learned to walk our talk and the perils of not doing so, long before we knew that there was such a term. Credibility falls through the gap between walk and talk. We learned that there is only one way of living, and that is by our values. And that was a good way. It helped us to sleep soundly at night and to hold our heads high, during the day. …https://ya...2019-10-2619 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesO! Teacher stop teaching
Our present methods of teaching which are inflicted on by far the vast majority of children the world over are the single biggest cause for killing the imagination that every child is born with and making them into square blocks which fit our own frightened, constrained and slavish worldview. Those who comply we ‘pass’ and those who challenge it and refuse to succumb, we ‘fail’. The occasional among those we ‘fail’, go on to great fortune. The vast majority disappear, never to be heard from again. Destroyed by the education system they didn’t deserve or ask for. https://yawarb...2019-10-2019 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesEulogy or Elegy
First the words;Eulogy: a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, especially a tribute to someone who has just died. Elegy: An elegy is a sad poem, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone who is dead. But eulogies, Wikipedia assures me, can also be delivered at retirement functions and other such events when a person is leaving you but not for the next world. I assume that it is not a crime to deliver a eulogy, so to speak, by simply expressing appreciation and thanks to someone who...2019-10-1315 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesHow to behave around snakes
Snakes have always had a fascination for us. We fear them, some people worship them, we hate them, and we kill them. Those who don’t do any of this and instead, appreciate them for what they are; rodent controllers, snake population controllers and just plain law-abiding citizens with as much, if not more, right to be left alone in peace, than we do, are a rare breed. The reason is the prevailing ignorance about snakes and the proliferation of myths. Ignorance breeds myths and that leads to hatred. This is the basis of all stereotyping, demonization and violence; ig...2019-10-0623 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLearning how to learn
Learning and even more relearning, is a key survival skill as well as the single most important skill that any person can learn and continue to remain adept in, if he wants to be and remain successful throughout his life. I will tell you in a minute why I say that relearning is even more important. But first something about learning. …https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/learning-how-to-learn/
2019-09-2936 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesFIKR
Sometimes people ask me for the secret of success. We live in a world of fantasy where people want magic formulae for everything. Let me tell you the good news. It is not a secret, but it is a magic formula. Focus + Investment + Consistency. Works every time. …Read more at https://yawarbaig.com/wherearetheleaders/fikr/
2019-09-2216 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesSuccess is the biggest danger
Success seems to breed fear of failure. This is a paradox, since success should really build confidence. It does that too, but what seems to happen over the years is that we become progressively more afraid of losing what we have created and our ability to take risks decreases. This to me explains why entrepreneurs who have built large organizations are so afraid to allow others to take the same kind of risks that they took when they were alone, creating the company. Somehow, as they succeed, people who build organizations seem to forget the real lessons of their...2019-09-1617 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLast of the ‘Innocents’
“First
To Log In, First To Log Out
People
born in the mid-to-late 1970s are the last generation of humans on the planet
to have grown up without the internet. Social scientists call them the Last of
the Innocents. In his book The End of Absence, Vancouver writer Michael Harris
calls people who grew up prior to the popularisation of digital culture
“digital immigrants” — they have lived both “with and without the crowded
connectivity of online life.”
Soon
no person on earth will remember what the world was like before the internet.
There will be records, of...2019-09-0822 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesSee with ‘THEIR’ eyes
Have you ever been in the shower
in a 5-star hotel, nice and wet all over and you reach for the shampoo bottle,
only to find that there are three? That is not because you are drunk and are
seeing triple but because you are faced with three identical bottles but with
totally different contents. What is in the bottles is not a mystery of course.
It has been helpfully printed on the label. However, the label was designed by
a 20-something design engineer sitting in a sweatshop in India or Bangladesh,
who has never seen the inside of...2019-08-2521 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesHow to kill loneliness before it kills you
And
the solution is – Kill loneliness before it kills you. Let me tell you how!
But
first an alert: This is going to sound a bit preachy.
Please bear with me. I am talking to myself.
First,
when they tell you that age in a number and that it is all in the mind, believe
me, it is true. You are as old as you allow yourself to feel. This is not a pep
talk. This is fact. I am 63 and I know what I am saying. It is your call. Pick
a number.
Re...2019-08-1123 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLoneliness Kills
They sit there, alone and lonely, knowing that there is nobody to carry the tradition forward to the next generation.
There
was a time when joint families were the norm in India, where the whole family
lived together in one big house. In many or most cases there was only one
kitchen, and everyone ate together. The head of the family was the oldest male.
In matrilineal systems (mostly in Kerala and coastal Karnataka) it was the
oldest woman. He/she controlled all the money, and everyone gave their earnings
to her. She/he ran the house...2019-08-0414 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesDifferentiate
If you asked me to tell you in one word; only one
word, the secret of success, I would say, “Differentiate.”
Let me begin with a question; “What do you ask for
when you go to the corner store to buy toothpaste?” Do you say to the attendant,
“Please give me toothpaste?” If you did, what would happen? Maybe you should try
this out the next time you go shopping. What would happen is that the store attendant
would ask you, “Which brand would you like?” You will face the same situation
if you went to buy almost anything...2019-07-3027 minLeadership is a Personal Choice – Yawar Baig & AssociatesLeadership is a Personal Choice – Introduction
My name is Yawar Baig. Mirza Yawar Baig.
My motto is, “I will not allow what is not in my control to prevent me from doing what is, in my control.’
My mission is, “Opening the world, one mind at a time.”
Welcome to our channel, “Leadership is a Personal Choice.” Because it is.
I speak to audiences around the world and I can tell you that if I asked anyone from any country, of any race or religion, at any economic and educational level to tell me in one word, the biggest...2019-07-3005 minLeadership is a Personal ChoiceLeadership is a Personal Choice – Introduction
My name is Yawar Baig. Mirza Yawar Baig.
My motto is, “I will not allow what is not in my control to prevent me from doing what is, in my control.’
My mission is, “Opening the world, one mind at a time.”
Welcome to our channel, “Leadership is a Personal Choice.” Because it is.
I speak to audiences around the world and I can tell you that if I asked anyone from any country, of any race or religion, at any economic and educational level to tell me in one word, the biggest...2019-07-3005 min
Audio of Lectures Archives - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic CentreAdvice to Motakifeen by Mirza Yawar BaigThe post Advice to Motakifeen by Mirza Yawar Baig appeared first on Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Centre - We came to give, not to take..2015-08-1611 min
Born to serveInfluential Khalifa Profile Interview of the week. Sheikh Mirza Yawar BaigWelcome to Born to Serve on VOC on 91.3 fm, the programme that focusses on leaders who fulfill the role of serving the community and Ummah & ultimately Allah SWT….One such Khalifa is our next guesT Sheikh Mirza Yawar Baig .2015-06-1324 min
DebtFreeMuslims PodcastEpisode 4 - Interview with Shaykh Mirza Yawar Baig
DebtFreeMuslims.com Podcast Episode 4
This episode is brought to you by MuslimMatters.org - Because Muslims matter.
Our guest for this episode is Shaykh Mirza Yawar Baig.
In this episode we cover:
-Financial issues affecting Muslims in America vs. globally
-Understanding the concept of rizq (sustenance) in Islam and misconceptions surrounding it
-The importance of good parenting
-Wants vs. Needs, identifying needs in regards to things like education
-Self-Worth that our children need
-The mind...2014-03-1740 min