Dear all,
Recently there was a query on one of the Yahoo Groups. The query was "What is the difference between Devotion and Dedication?". I had given detailed reply for this post.
Dean of prominent business school also read this reply. He liked my reply so much that now he has invited me to give guest lecture to MBA students of his institute. My reply is given below.
Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar Management & Behavioural Training Consultant
Bangalore - 560 094
+91 9900155394
Limit of your words is limit of your world.
Devotion means (a) Ardent, often selfless affection (b) strong attachment to or affection for someone or something (c) religious zeal; piety
One devotes to a person or a principle hence we say "ardent devotee of Sai Baba" etc. Devotion is not for a cause but a belief of a way of life.
Dedication means the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team". Dedication means working for a cuase.
Baba Amte dedicated his life for providing medical services to the lepers. Same is the case of Mother Teressa too. Freedom fighters had dedicated their lives for acquiring freedom for our country.
In the corporate set up, we require dedicated employees. A dedicated employee is self-motivated, requires fewer instructions and has compete trust on the authorities. Working long not necessarily means dedication. A dedicated employee would rather puts his/her heart and soul in his/her work.
A dedicated employee shows affective commitment towards his/her work. A less dedicated employee may show commitment but that could be either continuance commitment or normative commitment.
In the current crisis of Satyam, few employees came forward and immediately pledged their support to the new management. This was the act of their dedication.
Dedicated employees give same performance irrespective of the hygienic conditions that job provides.
Indian soldiers guard our borders at Nasirabad where it is believed that temperature touches whopping 50 degree C! Same soldier will continues to guard our border at Siachen Glacier where temperatures becomes -40 degree C in the winter. It's not just bad weather but Indian soldier has to put up with bullets that come from across the border too. Can borders of our country be protected without dedication?
Business Leadership fails if the leader is not dedicated for the cause. Most of the businessmen prefer to dedicate themselves for making more money. But these businesses are not sustained. Current Satyam fiasco is classic example.
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