Co-Administrative Head, Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
A spiritual guide to Brian Bacon, Tex Gunning,
Joseph Jaworski, Charles Handy, Peter Senge, David Cooperrider,
Rita Cleary, and others.
“It's God's task to purify the impure, to
transform the world,” Dadi Janki tells us. “But He
can't do it alone. He says, 'I've got to get it done through
you. You've created hell in the world, and so you have to be the
instruments to create heaven. Then you can be the masters of
heaven.'” This message is Dadi Janki's mandate for
leaders. And while this diminutive woman draped in a white sari
might appear to be from an era long past, she is a guiding force
to a bright future. “Those with a positive vision of the
future,” she writes, “give us an image of a world .
. . where the highest human potential is fully realized. But we
can get to that stage only when there are leaders to take us
there.”
And she is determined to create those leaders. Through
“Call of the Times” dialogues, she invites key
figures in government, business, and the nonprofit sector from
all five continents to engage in the deepest level of dialogue
and reflection about the current human situation. After these
dialogues, she has been known to select someone to continue to
work directly with her—meditating and engaging in
discussion—to insure that that person viscerally grasps
our world crisis and is compelled to take action in new and
profound ways. For example, after meeting Dadi Janki and the
Brahma Kumaris, Brian Bacon, strategic advisor to some of the
world's largest multinationals, began to offer his highly
regarded leadership trainings gratis at the Brahma Kumari World
Spiritual University. And Joseph Jaworski, founder of Generon
Consulting, credits Dadi Janki with the inspiration for his
Global Leadership Initiative, designed to tackle the biggest
challenges facing humanity.
“Her leadership is not based on any formal position
that she holds,” says Tex Gunning, president of Unilever
Bestfoods Asia. “Her power comes purely from her spiritual
credibility. As a leader, the more I've searched for role
models, the more I've come to realize that this is the most
profound power. If my boss asks me to make a meeting, I look at
my agenda first. But if Dadi Janki, with whom I have no formal
relationship, tells me to be in London, I just get on the
plane!” As she makes profoundly clear to those who come in
contact with her, there is no choice but to respond to the call
to change the world: “As God says, 'This is what you have
to do.' And we must say, 'Yes, we will.'”