hidden image

Mother Teresa: A Teacher Par Excellence

Don Aguiar Don Aguiar
05 Sep 2022
Mother Teresa had clarity in vision, ambition, determination, a never give up attitude and the ability to inspire others to participate in her vision.

Mother Teresa went to Ireland in 1928 to join the Sisters of Loretto at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and sailed six weeks later to India, where she taught for 17 years at the Order's school in Calcutta (Kolkata). From 1937 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught at Loreto St Mary's School. She was appointed headmistress of the school in 1944. A teacher of geography, she was so fluent in Bengali that she taught with ease in the school that used Bengali as its medium of instruction.

What does Mother Teresa teach us?

We must each strive to be the best at what we are gifted at, and that is making something beautiful for God. The greatest poverty is being unloved, which means both the materially rich and poor know and experience it. She believed that everyone deserved to be loved.

She was a great teacher and role model because she did so many things to improve the lives of others including dedicating her life to helping people in need. Mother Teresa is a deserving hero because of her acts of selflessness, dedication, and compassion towards the poor AND always put others before herself.

She is an ultimate example of transformational leadership, a model for helping others aspire to, and attain high levels of performance for themselves and the organization. Transformational leadership is a type of leadership style that leads to positive changes in those who follow.

If CEO’s/COO’s or Managing Directors or even the Christian associations, Clergy and religious were to model themselves after Mother Teresa’s leadership style they will find her to be a very good teacher & an inspiring success story. All the traits that the modern corporate world seeks in a business head she possessed in plenty. 

Mother Teresa had clarity in vision, ambition, determination, a never give up attitude and the ability to inspire others to participate in her vision. She was empathetic, a good communicator, brave, bold and a good listener who was quick to adapt to change. 

If we were to pen down her achievements & the length of her career (if I may take the liberty of using this word in reference to her work) she beats all popular business bigwigs or Church leaders based on the conventional corporate or evangelisation measurements of success, namely: 

* Shareholder gains. 

* Increase in market share. 

* Growth of the organization. 

* Employee satisfaction. 

* Social impact. 

In addition to the above, she built a brand so strong that not only did it become internationally recognized in less than two decades but the brand legacy continues to get stronger as time passes. 

The only bone of contention in this thought process would be the absence of the word “profit”. She did not make profit like how corporate leaders do for their organizations, some may argue. To this I would say that she did but with a shift in paradigm. 

Her success did not lie in how much profit she earned from the world but how much the world profited from her.

Recent Posts

Corrective press notes are not substitutes for accountability. This crisis demands independent investigation, judicial scrutiny and reversal of the SIR. Institutional complicity is the gravest betraya
apicture Oliver D'Souza
05 Oct 2026
The revelations have shattered public confidence in the Election Commission. Gyanesh Kumar's continuance as Chief Election Commissioner is untenable. Whether through resignation or impeachment, he mus
apicture Cedric Prakash
05 Oct 2026
It was never the powerful, privileged or educated who kept Indian democracy alive, but the poor who queued under the scorching sun to exercise their franchise. Now, the very machinery entrusted with p
apicture A. J. Philip
05 Oct 2026
The Opposition has a historic opportunity to unite against the erosion of electoral integrity and defend citizens' fundamental right to vote. Delayed response, political fragmentation and narrow inter
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
05 Oct 2026
India's institutions were supposed to be built on merit, independence and constitutional accountability. Yet, beneath their lofty credentials, kinship networks quietly reproduce privilege, compromise
apicture John Dayal
05 Oct 2026
Article 342 of the Constitution of India empowers the President to officially specify indigenous tribes, tribal communities, or specific groups within them as "Scheduled Tribes," in consultation with
apicture Pachu Menon
05 Oct 2026
I have seen the professional anti-caste intellectual. S/He arrives. S/He speaks. S/He refers to Ambedkar. S/He cites John Rawls. S/He quotes Michael Foucault.
apicture Dr Suryaraju Mattimalla
05 Oct 2026
Before recording a crime, obtain written consent from everyone involved
apicture Robert Clements
05 Oct 2026
How can greater knowledge be accompanied by greater wisdom, greater prosperity by greater solidarity, greater power by greater responsibility, and greater connectivity by genuine human fraternity?
apicture Br. Dr. Lawrence Soosai Nathan, OFM Cap.
28 Sep 2026
"Deus meus et omnia" ("My God and my All!") was St. Francis of Assisi's favourite prayer. According to early Franciscan accounts, most notably recorded by Brother Bernard of Quintavalle, Francis's fir
apicture Br. Cyriac George, OFM Cap.
28 Sep 2026