Leadership Model as explained by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.

There are many leadership models. Perhaps it is the hot topic always discussed. Still, the code for being a great leader is yet to be cracked. Lately when there is a leadership discussion or leadership course of top managers, I find few things like self awareness, mindfulness, spirituality content in that. However, though it is said a lot, it is very difficult to practice. I have seen leaders just speaking about empathy but not practicing it. Finally all those models are just to speak for others and not for themselves.

When we look back at our great ancient scripture, Bhagavad Gita, all dimensions of life are discussed in detail. The Gita teaches that leadership is not just about exerting authority and power, but it is also about being self-aware, practicing self-discipline, and leading with empathy and compassion. Here are some key principles of leadership based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.

Chapter 6, Verse 5

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् |

आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन: ॥5॥

"Let a man lift himself by his own self alone, let him not lower himself; for this self alone is the friend of oneself, and this self alone is the enemy of oneself."

Self-Awareness: A leader must be aware of his or her own strengths and limitations, and must strive to improve upon them.

Chapter 2, Verse 64

रागद्वेषवियुक्तैस्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन् |

आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति ॥64॥

"But a man who controls his senses by his mind and engages his active organs in works of devotion, without attachment, is by far superior. But by perceiving objects with the organs that are free from attraction and repulsion, and are under his own control, the self-controlled man attains serenity.”

Self-Control: A leader must be able to control his or her own thoughts, emotions, and actions, and must lead by example.

Chapter 13, Verse 8

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |

आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रह: ॥8॥

"Humility, unpretentiousness, nonviolence, forbearance, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control."

Humility: A leader must be humble and avoid being arrogant or self-centered.

Chapter 3, Verse 25 - 

सक्ता: कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत |

कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसंग्रहम् ॥25॥

"As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, O Bharata, so should the wise act without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path."

Vision: A leader must have a clear vision and be able to communicate it effectively to the team.

Chapter 6, Verse 23 

तं विद्याद् दु:खसंयोगवियोगं योगसञ्ज्ञितम् |

स निश्चयेन योक्तव्यो योगोऽनिर्विण्णचेतसा ॥23॥

"The yogi whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highest perfection of transcendental happiness. He is beyond the mode of passion, he realizes his qualitative identity with the Supreme, and thus he is freed from all reactions to past deeds."

Determination: A leader must be determined and persistent in achieving the vision and goals.

Chapter 2, Verse 47 

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 ||

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction."

Fairness: A leader must be fair and treat everyone equally, without showing favoritism or bias.

Chapter 5, Verse 18

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि |

शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिता: समदर्शिन: ॥18॥

"The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcast]."

Compassion: A leader must be compassionate and empathetic towards team members and their needs.

Chapter 2, Verse 14

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदु: खदा: |

आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥14॥

"O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."

Decisiveness: A leader must be able to make tough decisions in a timely manner, based on careful analysis and consideration.

Chapter 3, Verse 7

यस्त्विन्द्रियाणि मनसा नियम्यारभतेऽर्जुन |

कर्मेन्द्रियै: कर्मयोगमसक्त: स विशिष्यते ॥7॥

"But, O Arjuna, one who engages in Karma-yoga with the organs of action, controlling the organs with the mind and becoming unattached-that one excels. On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Krishna consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior."

Spirituality: A leader must have a spiritual outlook, and be grounded in values and principles that guide ethical behavior and decision-making.

So if you are looking for any leadership model for your organization, just follow this and built the behaviors around this model.

Please respond the survey, I am conducting, as a part of my research by clicking on >> Leadership Competencies required for managers while handling crisis situations. 

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organizations, current or past) 

Author's books are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga. You can buy the print copy of Vitality in Human Resources on amazon. Click >> Vitality in Human Resource: Adding human dimensions in HR processes   

Trusted Leadership

Creating the trust on leadership

"Businesses have evolved into something nearly unrecognisable compared to just two years ago. In this evolved and changed world, employees and customers are looking to leadership for guidance in the workplace."  

One of the important factors we need to think about is improving the trust capital in the organisation (please read Vinod Bidwaik : Trust Capital). However, leaders may have different opinions on how to create trust. Role modelling is missing and their limited understanding about the business and human capital is creating challenges within organisations. In fact the major weakness is they don’t know what exactly trust means. Most of the time, expectations are just to follow leaders without challenging their thought process. Lack of alignment from employees point of view is also the lack of trust on the leader. This is based on the experience employees get during the interaction with leaders. If employees don’t trust the leaders, it also means that employees are not engaged and aligned to the larger purpose. You will not see the impact short term. People still may work, achieve their results, or may just do what is told or expected, but the impact is long term.   

Leaders must also act as a guide in the midst of uncertainty. The high call of trusted leaders is to give as much clarity as possible during the VUCA world. Your fastest opportunity to build trust is in times of crisis and recovery, but it is also the time you can lose it most quickly. People don’t follow the leaders they don’t trust. 

When trust in teams goes up, people feel safe and valued so they are willing to share ideas and praise, which in turn leads to increased innovation and productivity. Trust builds psychological safety. 

How to improve trust in leadership?

Relationships: Networking and building relationships across the organisation is crucial nowadays. Relationships are primarily based on the emotional connections between employees and leaders. Sometimes title, position, poor listening skills, attitude, aggression and micro management keeps away employees from the manager. Sometimes, leaders have the blind spot of their behaviours, like managers spending more time with one team member can create the wrong perceptions in other team members. Perhaps the manager may have more stakes in the role of that person or it may be his favourite area and s/he may be doing it unintentionally but people perceive it differently. Even managers and employees living in the same area and if they are carpooling, other team members become insecure. This may lead to gossiping about the proximity between two. So as a leader, you need to build relationships so that all people get the feeling of equality.    

Clarity in communication: Communication is effective when you understand the next person. Trusted leaders speak from the heart. First they understand the audience and then decide their strategy to communicate. They demonstrate empathy and are effective in listening. It is not about showing what knowledge you have but being vulnerable and asking the right questions and saying, “I don’t know,” if they don’t know any subject.    

Role Modelling: People trust when you walk the talk. Unfortunately nowadays, all dnyan is for others and not for leaders. Nowadays sustainability is the buzzword. Every corporate leader is speaking about reducing carbon emission and the irony is that to explain sustainability, those leaders are travelling from one continent to another. People preaching on carbon emission have lavish offices with continuous running air conditioners and with luxury cars. So role modelling is very important when you want to believe people in leadership.   

Capabilities and Competencies: People will trust you when you have the functional, behavioural and leadership competencies and you are capable to manage the role you have taken. Continuous learning, being agile and relevant is the key to becoming competent. Unfortunately people speak a lot about but hardly implement in their behaviours.   

 

In Spite of having and doing good 100% people will not trust leadership. People still have their opinions and perceptions and those are built by them based on their experiences, right or wrong, with you. However, always keep doing good work, making a positive impact in the lives of people.

Please respond the survey, I am conducting, as a part of my research by clicking on >> Leadership Competencies required for managers while handling crisis situations. 

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organizations, current or past) 

Author's books are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga. You can buy the print copy of Vitality in Human Resources on amazon. Click >> Vitality in Human Resource: Adding human dimensions in HR processes    

Royalty from books is used for social cause. 

Leadership Competencies required for managers while handling crisis situations

 Dear Professional Colleagues,

I am pursuing my Ph. D. research on “Leadership Competencies required for managers while handling crisis situations.” from D. Y. Patil University, Ambi, Pune. 

Corona Pandemic was an unique situation where employees and managers were not aware how to handle the crisis, however, still everybody was able to manage the situation. Managers had to demonstrate different behaviors to manage the team & manage the business. My research focuses on identifying those competencies and behaviors demonstrated by managers during the pandemic crisis and developing the leadership model which will be beneficial for professionals at large to use in any types of crisis situations.

You are requested to spend your valuable time and respond to the survey below. I will be happy to share the findings after the research. 

The link is as under. Please click on below link or copy paste in the browser. 

STUDY OF LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES REQUIRED FOR MANAGERS WHILE HANDLING PANDEMIC AND CRISIS SITUATIONS IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN AND AROUND PUNE.

Best Regards,

Vinod Bidwaik