One of the things I learned was the relative importance of cheerful, willing cooperation compared to blind obedience. At Ananda, I delegated responsibility to others as much as I could. I did so partly because it takes the energy of many people to create a work of which the goal is to benefit people. Partly, too, I did so because I recognized that others were blessed with skills in which I myself was lacking. I contributed my own energy often to the limit of my strength while never forgetting that we are all only small cogs on life's very large wheel.
Community leadership requires team effort.
Success is not a one-man show. Instead, I tried to win them by kindly reason, and by my own sincere commitment to truth no matter who utters it. Each of them will tell it differently, and will give his or her perspective. And so they ought to do, for it is their story and Ananda's quite as much as it is mine. The story will be the richer because I didn't write all of it myself.