Indian Ethos for Management - Bhagwad Gita, Ramayana and Lord Ganesha Lessons for Managers

Indian ethos for management is a unique approach to business and management practices that draws from India's rich cultural and philosophical heritage. It is deeply rooted in the values, beliefs, and principles of Indian culture and tradition.

Key aspects of Indian ethos in management include:

• Dharma (Duty and Righteousness): Indian management ethos emphasizes fulfilling one's duty and acting with righteousness. This means making decisions and conducting business in an ethical and morally upright manner.
• Karma (Action): Karma is the idea that actions have consequences. In management, it means that the actions and decisions of a manager or leader should be thoughtful and responsible.
• Seva (Service): Indian management ethos encourages leaders and organizations to serve not only their shareholders but also their employees, customers, and the community at large. Service-oriented leadership is highly valued.
• Sattva (Purity and Harmony): In the pursuit of excellence, Indian ethos promotes purity in thought, intention, and action. Harmony within the organization and with the environment is considered essential for success.
• Yajna (Sacrifice and Sharing): Yajna refers to the spirit of sacrifice and sharing. In management, this translates to sharing the benefits of success with employees and the community.

Table of Contents

• Indian Ethos for Management
  • Importance of Indian Ethos in Management
• Management Lessons from the Holy Bhagwad Gita
• Ethical Lessons from the Ramayana
• Lord Ganesha: The Ethical Lessons for Managers
• Lord Hanuman Ethical Lessons for Managers
• Saint Kabir’s Ethical Lessons for Managers

The Indian ethos in management holds significant importance for several reasons:

1. Ethical Leadership: It places a strong emphasis on ethical and principled leadership. This is crucial in today's global business environment, where ethical lapses can lead to legal and reputational issues.

2. Sustainability: Indian ethos encourages a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to business. In an era of environmental concerns and corporate social responsibility, this is highly relevant.

3. Employee Well-being: The focus on service and sacrifice encourages organizations to prioritize the well-being of their employees. This, in turn, leads to a more motivated and dedicated workforce.

4. Community Engagement: By promoting the concept of Yajna, Indian ethos encourages businesses to give back to the community. This fosters goodwill and social responsibility.

5. Global Perspective: Indian ethos, with its emphasis on universal values, can help Indian businesses expand and operate effectively on the global stage, as it resonates with many international stakeholders.

6. Holistic Approach: It promotes a holistic approach to management that takes into account not only financial success but also the overall well-being and happiness of individuals and society.

The Bhagavad Gita is associated with increasing an individual's efficiency and effectiveness in achieving their goals. The manager's responsibility is to ensure that his subordinates do their jobs effectively and efficiently. A manager must always strike a balance between all available resources and optimum utilisation. The following are the important lessons to be learnt from the Bhagwad Gita:

1. Commitment: A popular Gita verse advises letting go of expectations of desired outcomes from completing any work. Similarly, an individual must concentrate on completing the work rather than on the outcomes associated with it.

2. Ethical Leadership: The Gita emphasizes on the importance of ethical conduct of the leadership like Yudhishthira. In management, ethical leadership builds trust, build a creative workplace culture and ensures long-term success of the organisation.

3. Selflessness: Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna that the purpose of war is to lead the world to a better way of life (Dharma), not for his own benefit or to satisfy his own greed or desires. In an organisation, each individual should work by subordinating his or her own interests to those of the organisation.

4. Peace: Krishna instructs Arjuna to fight while remaining peaceful. "First, go inside and cleanse you," he says. "Fight for justice, not for hatred; fight with equanimity".

5. Adaptability and Flexibility: The Gita teaches that we must be flexible enough to adapt the changing circumstances. In the present dynamic world of business, flexibility to adopt change is vital for success of any organisation.

6. Behaviour: In management, an individual's identity is defined by his capabilities, work, and interactions with superiors, subordinates, and peers. According to the Bhagavad Gita, a human's identity is defined by actions and how he interacts with others, not by his caste, colour, or family background.

7. Continuous Learning and development: The Gita teaches the continuous learning and improvement is the key for success in any field. Alike Arjuna, Managers should also seek continuous learning and development to adapt to changing business environment.

8. Emotional Stability: Bhagavad Gita says that we should not be depressed in the face of our small failures, but instead, work toward our goal. In management, we must persevere in our efforts to improve an organisation despite all odds, Bhaktshanaprabhu advises.

9. Setting clear goals and objectives: The Gita teaches the importance of setting clear goals and objectives. In management, setting and communicating goals helps in achieving the common goal of the organisation.

10. Clarity: A manager's intention toward the goal should be clear and achievable, distinguishing him from others. According to Lord Krishna, intention is essential for achieving one's goals. Similarly, a person who is afraid of change is distracted from the right way of living (Dharma).

Ramayana is a Hindu Historical epic. Dashrath was a king who had four sons named Ram, Lakshman, Bharat, and Shatrughan. The Ramayan, written by Saint Valmiki, was their story, full of twists and turns. It teaches use different lessons and these are as follows:

1. Loyalty: Bharata's true mother, Queen Kaikayi, demanded that Ram go into exile in the forest for 14 years and that Bharat take over as king. King Dashrath was devastated, but when Ram learned the truth, he honoured his father's promises. It teaches us to keep our promises regardless of the circumstances. Ram carried out his father's instructions. It should be understood by all company executives, managers, and employees. Everyone in a company must work hard to fulfil the manager's or representative's commitment to external entities or individuals.

2. Leadership: When Ravan, the king of Lanka, kidnapped Sita, Lord Ram demonstrated spectacular leadership skills by leading an army of monkeys. Under his command, his army developed special skills to combat the enemy. His vision was to rescue Sita from Ravan and overcome all obstacles in the way.

3. Delegation: Ram was tasked with discovering the location of Sita, and designing the bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka. He was also in charge of delegating responsibilities to the appropriate individuals. The bridge was an engineering marvel that has the potential to generate electricity for millions of years.

4. Teamwork: The Ram Setu Bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka was not an easy task. Sugriv, Jamvant, Hanuman, Nal, and Neel, among other monkey soldiers and leaders, all contributed manpower and teamwork. It is thought to be the world's first bridge.

5. Ethics and Morality: In the Ramayan, Ram sent Hanuman a warning to leave Sita or face an ethical battle. In Ram's absence, Ravan duped Sita and kidnapped her. Even then, Ram always took steps to reclaim Sita. The entire Ramayan is a model of morality.

6. Time Management: Every employee must learn the importance of timely production and delivery of products and services. Ram was an excellent example of time management by meticulously planning all of the events and arriving on time before Bharat after 14 years of exile.

7. Decision-Making: Lord Hanuman was a superhero who could not be defeated in times of crisis, writes Ram Agrawal. He showed excellent decision-making abilities by deciding to take the mountain if he was unable to identify the medicine that would save Laxman's life.

8. Cooperation: The Ram Setu Bridge was built without the use of heavy or advanced technological equipment. It was the result of Nal and Neel's brilliant coordination, which they directed and performed. The entire army of monkey soldiers set a great example of cooperation in building the world's first bridge.

9. Value System: The battle in Ramayana was fought to set an example for society. Ravan was the villain who kidnapped Sita and forced her marriage. As a result, Ram assassinated Ravan. Every business has a value system. To avoid strict and penal action, all employees must understand its significance.

10. Determination: When Ram learned that Sita was in Lanka, he made it his mission to get there and rescue her no matter what. He was able to organise an army, travel to Lanka, and win the battle.

Lord Ganesha, Son of Lord Shiva, is a Hindu God who is also revered in Jainism and Buddhism. Lord Vinayaka, son of "Lord Shiva" and "Goddess Parvati," is known as the God of success.

1. Visionary: Lord Gajanana's big head represents having an intellectual mind filled with conceptual clarity, information, knowledge, wisdom, and vision. Management professionals must deal with a number of common issues, problems, difficulties, or conflicts. As a management professional, you must think creatively in order to find solutions to problems.

2. Good Listener: As a management professional, you must master the art of listening carefully and calmly. You must be a good listener in order to provide fruitful solutions to your organization's problems.

3. Focused: As a management professional, you must keep a close eye on your employees to avoid mistakes. To sharpen the KSAOs, keep an eye on the activities they engage in while performing their duties or jobs. You are a popular and successful management professional due to your microscopic focus and determined behaviour.

4. Future Oriented: Long Nose/Trunk of the God implies that you should be able to smell or judge your surroundings in order to protect yourself. A management professional must be alert, cautious, and aware of their competitors. The future is uncertain, and no one knows who will surpass them.

5. Speak Less: Lord Vighanaharta's small mouth represents "Speak Less and Listen More". When motivating, inspiring, discussing, and communicating with your employees, uses a practical or pictorial presentation. Because using too many words while performing duties create ambiguity in practitioners' minds.

6. Effective Communication: A management professional should have clarity while communicating with others. Effective communication acts as a weapon in minimising chances of disputes and misunderstanding between the parties involved. The Lord Dhumraketu is an elephant-headed God have human throat to communicate with others, according to the Hindu religion.

7. Sacrifice: The Lord Ekadanta has two tusks, one of which has been broken. The right tooth of Lord Ganesha was broken by Rishi Parshuram, when he refused to allow Rishi to meet with Lord Shiva. This was the reason he named as "Ekdanta". To become a good management professional, he/she needs to overcome his/her emotions and perform their duties carefully. So, you have to act selflessly for others irrespective of their needs, wants, desires and expectations. It shows the will of sacrifice and how selfless you are.

8. Saama, Daama, Danda and Bheda: There are four hands which indicate that you have to follow the four sutras to be successful in your life. Saama (Equity), Daama (Compensation/Remuneration), Danda (Rules/Regulations) and Bheda (Division) play an important role in achieving the goals or targets set by professionals.

9. Adaptability: The big belly of "God Lambodara" shows good capacity to digest everything. It is essential for management professional to be emotionally balanced and stable. He must accept failure and move forward to overcome his deficiencies. He should keep the confidential information and secrets shared with him.

10. Will-Power: If you have limited resources with you and with these resources you have to look after the operations of your organisation. It means whole responsibility and accountability lies upon you to run, manage and take decision regarding proper functioning of your enterprise. For this, you should have strong will power so that you can attain the targets easily and effectively.

The "Lord Hanuman" also called as "Pawansuta", "PawanPutra" or "Monkey God" is the son of King Kesari and Mata Anjana. Maruti Nandan is also famous for His intelligence, knowledge of all four Vedas (The Rig-Veda, The Yajurveda, The Samaveda and The Atharvaveda. "Bajrang Bali" was the kingpin, who arranged meeting of Lord Rama and Sugreeva (King of Monkey Kingdom) or crossing the sea in search of Mata Sita or blazing Lanka. These lessons help them to resolve different hindrances faced by them in their daily life.

1. Effective Communication: Effective communication or speaking skills not only helps a professional in creating good societal relationship and it also motivates them in building reputation, status, image and trustworthiness with team members in an organisation. Maruti Nandan acts as an authentic messenger of Mata's life line Lord Rama.

2. Tactical Approach: Lord Pawansut is considered as one of the greatest Indian Managers of all time for his tactical approach and ability to focus on the assignments allotted to him. His qualities, skills and tactics were outstanding like lifting mountain to save the life of Lakshman and using his tail to burn the Ravana's Lanka.

3. Reliability: Lord Hanuman's life goal was to serve Lord Rama only and dedicated his life in the feet of his deity. It depicts that the reliability is must in the present day environment. How successful and blooming people are different from those unproductive or failed one, this difference is due to reliability and loyalty towards objectives, aims, ends, goals and ideas.

4. Humbleness: In Ramayana, Sursa was sent by Gods to test the competence of Lord Hanuman. She tried to create hindrances in the way of Him by enlarging her body. If a professional is competent but if he/she fails to show their humble and polite nature towards other, they will never achieve their targets.

5. Problem Solving: When Lakshman was unconscious due to war with Meghnada, Lord Sankat Mochan was asked to bring Sanjeevani herb from Sumeru Parvat in the Himalaya mountain ranges. He went there to bring the herb but Bajrag Bali got confused to identify that and it was the major problem faced by Him.

6. Adaptability: An individual to be a professional must have adaptable nature in order to adjust himself in the changing situations. In Epic Ramayana, Lord Hanuman has supernatural powers and with it He may turn himself into any shape like as small as an ant, as huge as a mountain.

7. Courageous: In Ramayana, Lord Hanuman took brave decisions and risks to accomplish the tasks assigned to him. The fear and panic situations restricted the capabilities of an individual. To become a good professional, an individual must perform his/her role in a courageous way for the growth and development of organisation.

8. Dynamism: In Ramayana, when Lord Rama and His younger brother Lakshman were kidnapped by Patala Lok's King Ahiravana, thenVeer Hanuman went there to rescue them. He has to put out lamps from five directions such as North, South, East, West and Upward directions respectively. For doing this, He changes His shape to fivefaced figure.

9. Leading: During the battle between Lord Rama and Ravana, He managed and directed the whole army of mischievous animals such monkeys, baboons and others with His leading capabilities. It presents that being a professional whether an academician, manager, lawyer, researcher, leader, artist, musician and others, one must be an initiator.

According to Saint Kabir's the following lessons must be learned by a manager: -

1. Action Oriented: “Kaal Kare so aaj kar, Aaj kare so ab, Pal mein parlay hoyegi, Bahuri karega kab,” says the narrator i.e. It is critical to complete one's task rather than postponing it indefinitely. What if the world were to end tomorrow? Be prepared, and act now.

2. Faith and Patience: “Dukh mein sumiran sab kare, sukh mein kare na koye, Jo sukh main sumiran kare, toh dukh kahe ko hoye,” says the poet. That is, if one maintains faith during times of peace, nothing bad will ever happen. Have faith that the manager will achieve the objectives.

3. Communication: “Aisee vani boliye, Mann ka aapa khoye, Apna tan sheetal kare, Auran ko sukh hoye,” says the speaker. In other words, instead of being arrogant, be humble and courteous to others. What matters most is spreading joy through words.

4. Will-Power: “Chinta aisee dakini, Kaat kaleja khaye, Vaid bichara kya kare, Kahan tak dawa lagaye,” says the poet. Worry, for example, is a disease that no doctor can cure with his medicines. After all, it is ultimately heartbreaking.

5. Self-Analysis: “Bura jo dekhan main chala, buran aa milya koye, mann khoja aapna, toh mujhse buran aa koye, mann khoja aapna, toh mujhse buran aa koye, mann khoja aapna,” In other words, I couldn't find any flaws in others. But when I looked within, I couldn't find anyone who was as flawed as I was. Thus, before passing judgement on anyone, one must first examine oneself.

6. Well-Wisher: “Kabira khara bazaar mein, Mange sabki khair, Na kahu se dosti, Na kahu se bair,” i.e. instead of seeking friends and enemies, Kabira seeks wisdom and well wishes while blessing others. Make yourself a well-wisher.

7. Positive Attitude: “Jab tu aaya jagat mein, Log hanse tu roye, Aisi karni na kari, Pache hanse sab koye,” i.e. Live your life so well that when you die, others will miss you.

8. Selflessness: “Chaah miti, chinta miti, Manwa beparwah,' says the Buddha. Who Shahenshah, i.e. He who desires nothing, is the true king. There will be no room for worries when there are no desires.

9. Time Management: “Raat gawai soyeke, Diwas gawaya khaay,' says the timekeeper. Kodi badle jaye', Hira janam anmol tha.” That is, you were born to shine like a diamond. However, if the nights are spent sleeping and the days are spent eating, it will lead to worthlessness.

10. Humbleness: “Uncha dekh aavas, Kabira garv na keejiye. Uper jamsi ghaas', Kaal pairon punyah letna.” i.e Never be proud of your wealth, because in the end, you will be buried beneath the earth, and all that will remain is the growing grass above you. Be modest and humble to all.