Management Concepts in Bhagavad Geeta
Hi friends,
There are many precepts in Bhagavad Geeta, which is not a Holy Book for the Hindus alone but is a book of concentrated wisdom handed down the ages from the ancient seers in India. Going through the Geeta one feels that it incorporates Applied Psychology, Applied Management and Applied Lifestyle. The Geeta speaks about not only all these but also about the food that we eat and the effect it can have on our character and behavior and over ages it has been proved true. One does not have to be a believer in any God or any philosophy to read and understand the Geeta as it is a quintessence of sublimated thoughts filtered and concentrated from the ancient texts called the Upanishads.
But now let us look into what the Bhagavad Geeta has to offer to a professional manager who deals with the management of his employees.
Many of the maxims expounded in the Geeta can be applied to management techniques. Let us in this brief blog try to see some of them.
In Chapter 4 verse 7 and 8, of the Geeta, in the verse starting (in Sanskrit) “Yada yada hi dharmasya … meaning literally ‘whenever Dharma (Honesty, Truthfulness etc) deteriorate, God incarnates to set the balance right and restore peace by protecting the good and destroying the evil individuals’. But viewed from a management viewpoint it can be interpreted as – “When there is instability and indiscipline in a system, the balance has to be restored by protecting the interests of the majority and weeding out the dishonest, corrupt and inefficient administrators.” This is exactly what a Board of Directors in an organization do or should be doing to keep the mission and the vision of the organization from going forward and not backward.
Another verse from Chapter 2 verse 22 runs thus “Vasaamsi Jeernani yatha vihaya … It literally means “just as we discard decrepit clothes and wear new ones, the soul discards its old body and assumes a new body after giving up the old ones “.
Translating it into management parlance, we could interpret it thus. In any organization, the administrators should abandon old and obsolete ideas (mindset) and accept newer ideas. The organization also should renounce old technology and techniques and embrace newer ones for its progress. Also, managers in the administration who hang on to old fashioned ideas also may need to be replaced with newer and younger blood with more innovative ideas using modern management techniques and technology, whichever be the organization – a factory or a hospital.
A third verse that I would like to discuss starts thus “Yad yad acharathi sresta … 3:21). This literally means – “Whatever a great man does, the others also do likewise (imitate him). Whatever standards he sets up, the world (other people) follow.”
By this verse, an important attribute of a leader is revealed. Applying this to modern management techniques, we can confidently state that administrators must lead the way in any organization and the subordinates should follow the manager. A leader in management in an organization should set an example to his subordinates rather than order them about. He should himself be disciplined and only then can he expect his employees to be disciplined. He must exercise thrift when it comes to financial matters of the organization and only then can he expect a similar behavior from his subordinates. In brief, he should be doing what he wants others in the organization to do. He cannot afford to come late to the office and command others to be on time. Neither can he be late for a meeting while ordering others to be punctual.
Mahatma Gandhi, who strongly believed in and followed the tenets of Bhagavad Geeta set an example to his disciples by ‘simple living and high thinking’. Thereby leading a whole nation to freedom and independence. He never ordered people. He always acted, and never preached.
A corrupt leader nationally would beget corruption in his subordinates and a tyrant would likewise influence his employees. In this one verse of the Bhagavad Geeta, the whole spectrum of ideas about the attributes of a leader has been conveyed very aptly and beautifully.
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