A Different Crowning Achievement

            Having attended one of the Friday Lecture Forums conducted in the Prajna auditorium of the Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS) in Phuentsholing in 2016, I was always inspired to enrol in the programs that this institute offers to the Bhutanese citizens who have prospective of being nation’s future leaders. 

First day of the course

   

            Today, it has been exactly a month since I graduated from the RIGSS after the successful completion of the 6^th Young Professionals Leadership Program (YPLP) – a four-week leadership program designed for mid-career professionals across the spectrum of public, corporate, and private sectors. Even as a novice mid-level civil servant, having joined the bandwagon of numerous potential leaders after getting selected through a series of rigorous filtration processes, the triumph of completing this course was one of the most decorated crowning achievements of my life.

 

With Dr Singh, A Negotiation Expert

                

    YPLP is an avenue offered to young civil servants based on meritocracy and their potential to be prospective future leaders. Besides amassing the participants from various disciplines and dimensions of the nation’s working force, this program engages the participants to be conscious of the pertinent and relatable national issues and challenges faced by our country.  

                RIGSS, the premier institute which was envisioned by His Majesty the King is steered by a faculty that comprises the Kingdom’s eminent front-runners of various organizations who assume distinguished portfolios along with numerous leadership pundits from both regional and international circles. The flavour of their homegrown insights, the vastness of their visions, and the adhesiveness of their communication potency certainly made me drenched with a belief that the RIGSS was indeed the Indigenous Harvard of our Kingdom.  

With Dr Adrian Chain, a leadership Guru

                Of the 28 days, three weeks of the course are devoted to having intellectual osmosis and professional dialogues amongst the participants and the experts within the RIGSS classrooms and its campus popularly known as the Coronation Hostel. In the 4th week, it is an outdoor learning expedition and team-building camp. For the outdoor camp, we had terrific trekking in the illustrious Druk Path Trek (Video by my colleague Mr Nidup Gyeltshen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epu-ve5zV4g) along with two Singaporean trainers, one of whom was the first Singaporean to have conquered Mount Everest. The adventurous program spearheaded by them was so fleshy to clement us even in the snow-clothed mountains that suffered the frequent kiss of the icy alp gale.   

Building pyramid near Jimilangtsho

Trekking towards Druk Path Trek

                But of oodles of memories, the audience by His Majesty the King was certainly one thing that will remain cherished in the shrine of my mind. The gravity of the royal attention webbed with ultimate trust and confidence for the 30 young professionals to assist the Monarch in carrying our nation peacefully to the infinite times was another thing that would be unendurable to witness wither from the screen of our memory. With solemn faith, I prayed that may I be your dedicated, loyal and patriotic citizen till eternity.

His Majesty the King with YPLP-6 participants

            The significance of this program was further echoed when the Prime Minister of Bhutan gave us the audience in the Gyalyong Tshokhang. The lyrics of his expectations and the ingredients of the message embraced a Royal flavour and aroma of insights.

With the Prime Minister of Bhutan

            The closing ceremony was graced by His Excellency the then Chairperson of the National Council, Dasho Dr Sonam Kinga. on behalf of my friends, I took the opportunity to express our gratitude to the RIGSS within a time frame of 5 minutes.   

Receiving the Certificate of Completion from the then Chairperson, National Council

                In retrospect, I vividly remember that within the span of just about a month, I had the opportunity to learn about my country, appreciate its smallness and reaffirm my dedication. 

Delivering the closing speech on behalf of my friends

A certificate of completion

On meeting the requirements set by Dale Carnegie & Associates Inc.

            Below is the speech that I delivered on behalf of my friends during the closing ceremony: 

        Just as April 14^th is an accomplishment day for the Dutch scientist Christian Huygens to discover Titan, the largest moon in Saturn in 1655, or 

 

          Just as April 14^th is a wish-fulfilling day for India to have Ambedkar Jayanti, the first law minister and the father of the Indian constitution in 1891, or 

 

        Just as April 14^th is an unforgettable day for the British to remember the collision of the RMS Titanic with an iceberg during its maiden voyage in 1912; and 

 

         Just as April 14^th is an auspicious day for the Aries, the first astrological sign in the zodiac to be adorned with generosity, optimism, and a positive attitude, 

 

        So is it a day of accomplishments, wish-fulfilment, memorable, and promising for the cohort of the 6^th Young Professionals Leadership Program.  

 

        Honourable Thrizin, Chairman, Royal Civil Service Commission, CEO, DHI, other distinguished dignitaries, Director, the faculty of the RIGSS, ladies, and gentlemen.   

 

            On behalf of YPLP-6, may I take this privilege to share some of my reflections regarding the program. 

 

        As the world gradually turns to a graveyard of globalisation in its influence, digitalisation in its economic muscle, and compartmentalisation in its territory, the otherwise small and beautiful Bhutan, cannot afford to avoid this seismic wave of disturbance. Under such a systematically volatile world, popularly referred to as the VUCA system, the survival of our sovereignty is highly reliant on how we buffer and navigate the compass of this inevitable influence.  

 

        But, thanks to our visionary monarchs, under whose benevolent reigns have secured this landlocked Kingdom safely until this date. And today, the birth of this premier institute and a think-tank – the RIGSS, a brainchild of His Majesty’s farsightedness is yet another milestone that can contribute to consolidating the status of our sovereignty, by reinventing a strategic vision that is resilient, dynamic, and malleable. 

 

            On the flight of an insightful journey for almost a month along with the crews composed of the Kingdom’s prolific leadership frontrunners and managerial pundits from abroad, we successfully crossed the last terminal of YPLP with the luggage of profound wisdom. 

 

            Through this journey, we were able to telescope the overarching vision of our King and his leadership aspirations. We are now fully aware of the environmental health of our national security affected due to the tsunamic waves of geopolitics besides understanding the anatomy of our history and culture and physiology of our Foreign policies and Bhutanese economy. 

 

            So, RIGSS to us is indeed a synonym for a ‘Library of Wisdom’. And if there is any middle name for this institute, it will certainly be “The Gateway of Transformation”.  

 

            Today, as we graduate from this institute, we vow to remain as special RIGSS Alumni, and ambassadors of His Majesty’s hopes and aspirations and therefore be prepared to share the knowledge and national concerns in the place where we work and be an important arm of the institute’s advancement activities. 

 

        Thus, appreciating RIGSS as the powerhouse of generating prudent knowledge and transcendental wisdom, it is only apt that we offer a statue of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, as a token of our sincere appreciation. 

(Invite the Director of the RIGSS to kindly receive the momento from our two captains). 

 

            Like the double flaming sword of Jetsuen Jampelyang that annihilates ignorance, the fundamental cause of cyclic existence and suffering, may RIGSS live on to illuminate the hearts of many Bhutanese leaders in the days to come.  

        Last but not least, let me borrow the words of William Shakespeare from his play The Twelfth Night, I quote, “I can no other answer make, but, thanks, thanks, and ever thanks”. 

 

Kadrinchey!

 

What we need is not a Leader to lead the Masses – we need Leadership of the Self 

– His Majesty the King during the Royal Address to the University of Calcutta, 5^th October 2010