What salvaged the drudgery and boredom of a day long meeting as part of a senior officers annual conference once when I was in the Army was the sense of humor of the chairman – a general officer . The story goes like this –
We used to have a three day conference every year at the apex level with about 25 to 30 senior functionaries at the directional level attending . The purpose was to present and discuss for subsequent implementation major policy level changes , new strategies for the department and best practices noticed during the year. Many a times, the schedule used to get extended beyond the stipulated time plans because of every one ‘ s attempt to side track or impress the top brass with irrelevant questions . As is customary with all such occasions , the lunch and dinner breaks were eagerly awaited and many of the participants treated the intervening sessions for serious discussion as ” fillers ” between meals.
On the third and last day of one such session , the last speaker got his chance almost three hours behind the schedule and every one present hoped that he will be brief and to the point so that the Chairman could start with his concluding remarks and put an end to the misery!!. However,the speaker was in no hurry . He started his address as under –
Gentlemen , it is my great privilege to address the ” cream ” of our organisation gathered here . On hearing this , the Chairman interjected and told the audience ” I never realised that I am heading a Dairy Farm!! ” .This joke brought up the spirit of all present and we ended the meeting on a cheerful note . Great Leaders retain a sense of humour!!