Badshah’s Beatitudes

Earlier this Fall, Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director of Microsoft’s Global Community Affairs was in NY for the Clinton Global Initiative and then in Washington, DC, attended the Business Civic Leadership Center Global Corporate Citizenship Conference. After his active engagement at both of these summits, Akhtar shared his thoughts on the shifting the economic and political dynamics shaping our future on his Microsoft Unlimited Potential blog… later published in the Huffington Post.

Toward a New Normal — Visions for Development Leaders (Huffington Post)

In this article, Badshah calls upon everyone, especially those in the development community – businesses, governments, international donors, NGOs and individuals, “to embrace change, chart a new path, and to become more relevant to the communities they serve”. Armed with a well-rounded perspective and a depth of expertise in the realms of global economics, corporate philanthropy, information technology, architecture, environmental and urban planning, as well as arts and culture, the insights he shares in this piece focus on the positive opportunities at hand for a myriad of global development initiatives. Inspiring ideas, indeed, but more importantly, scalable ones that can be mapped and adapted to smaller, grassroots level cultural and community development efforts. So I took note.

Akhtar’s practical, yet visionary call to action so resonated in me, that it triggered associations of biblical proportions. I have taken some poetic license to rename his “common elements” and now refer to them as, “Badshah’s Beatitudes: 9 Common Elements of Development”. With his permission, I edited them down and borrowed a format from another familiar sermon on a Mount. They hang in clear sight on my bulletin board…to remind myself to create a “new normal” everyday.  I hope you’ll do the same…

BADSHAH’S BEATITUDES: 9 Common Elements of Development

Blessed Be the Innovative…

for they look at things anew. The fresh edges they carve will both preserve and restore.

Blessed Be the Relevant…

for they design and deliver necessary solutions.

Blessed Be the Visible…

for they are actively engaged and extend their knowledge.

Blessed Be the Transparent…

for they share knowledge and incite collective growth.

Blessed Be the Collaborative…

for they bring people together to solve big problems.

Blessed Be the Focused…

for they keep their eye on the end goal.

Blessed Be the Risk-takers…

who tolerate ambiguity and failures on their path to new worlds.

Blessed Be the Geeky…

the seekers who reinvent the “new normal”.

Blessed Be [the] Change…

unpredictable, shifting, but necessary to survive and flourish.

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