Managerial Effectiveness-A Holistic View from the Bhagavad-Gita "Mind is very restless, forceful and strong,O Krishna, it is more

difficult to control the mind than to control the wind"-ARJUNA T 0 Partha, there is nothing in the three worlds that !"R# $R%!HNA

has to be done by neither me, nor

anything unattained that has to be attained, yet I engage in action. Bhagavan Sri Krishna -Bhagavad- ita !".##$

AB!TRA&T %ne o& the greatest contributions o& India to the world is 'oly ita which is considered to be one o& the &irst revelations &rom od. (he management lessons in this holy boo) were

brought in to light o& the world by divine *aharshi *ahesh +ogi , Sri Sri ,avi Shan)ar and Swami Bodhanand-i, and the [Link] .[Link] by the great /di San)aracharya the greatest .[Link] o& India and .roud son o& Kerala, and Sri. Srila [Link] Swami and humanism by *ata /mritanandamayi 0evi and Satya Sai Baba. *aharishi calls the Bhagavad- ita the essence o& 1edic 2iterature and a [Link] guide to .ractical li&e. It .rovides 3all that is needed to raise the consciousness o& man to the highest .ossible level.3 *aharishi reveals the dee., universal truths o& li&e that [Link]) to the needs and [Link] o& everyone. Swami 4hinmayananda-i .reached and educated the .[Link] and Swami Sandee. 4haitanya-i continuing the mission by )[Link] this lantern burning

always )nowing the wishes o& the modern generations. /r-una got mentally [Link] when he saw his relatives with whom he has to &ight 5mental health has become a ma-or international .ublic health concern now6. (o motivate him the Bhagavad ita is .reached in the battle &ield Kuru)shetra by 2ord Krishna to /r-una as a counseling to do his duty while multitudes o& men stood by waiting. It has got all the management tactics to achieve the mental e7uilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation. (he Bhagavad [Link] as a .ower&ul catalyst &or trans&ormation. Bhagavad [Link], song o& the 2ord. (he 'oly ita can be

ita means song o& the

ita has become a secret driving &orce behind the

un&oldment o& one9s li&e. In the days o& doubt this divine boo) will su..ort all [Link] searches. (his divine boo) will contribute to sel& re&lection, &iner &eeling and [Link] one9s inner .rocess. (hen li&e in the world can become a real educational dynamic, &ull and -oy&ul no matter what the circumstance. *ay the wisdom o& loving consciousness ever guide us on our -ourney. :hat ma)es the 'oly ita a .ractical .sychology o&

trans&ormation is that it o&&ers us the tools to connect with our [Link] intangible essence and we must learn to .[Link] in the battle o& li&e with right )nowledge; It shows us the .ath to handle the situation with [Link] mind [Link] o& what comes our way and reminds us time and again, that what the right action is. (he 'oly ita is the essence o& the 1edas, <.anishads. It is a universal [Link]

a..licable to .[Link] o& all [Link] and &or all times. It is a boo) with sublime thoughts and .ractical instructions on +oga, 0evotion, 1edanta and /ction. It is .ro&ound in thought and sublime in heights o& vision. It brings .eace and solace to souls that are

a&&licted by the three &ires o& mortal e8istence, namely, a&&lictions caused by one9s own body 5disease etc6, those caused by beings around one 5e.g. wild animals, sna)es etc.6, and those caused by the gods 5natural disasters, earth-7ua)es, &loods etc6. *ind can be one9s &riend or enemy. *ind is the cause &or both bondage and liberation. (he word mind is derived &rom man to thin) and the word man derived &rom manu 5sans)rit word &or man6. 3(he [Link] 2ord is situated in everyone9s heart, % /r-una, and is directing the wanderings o& all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made o& the material energy.3 (here is no theory to be internali=ed and a..lied in this .sychology. /ncient .ractices [Link] induce what each .erson needs as the individual and the universal coincide. (he wor) .roceeds through intellectual )nowledge o& the .laying &ield 5-nana yoga6, emotional devotion to the ideal 5bha)ti yoga6 and right action that includes both &eeling and )nowledge 5)arma yoga6. :ith ongoing .uri&ication we a..roach wisdom. (he Bhagavad ita is a message addressed to each and every human individual to hel. him or

her to solve the ve8ing .roblem o& overcoming the .resent and .rogressing towards a bright &uture. :ithin its eighteen [Link] is revealed a human drama.. (his is the [Link] o& everyone in this world, the drama o& the ascent o& man &rom a state o& utter de-ection, sorrow and total brea)down and [Link] to a state o& .er&ect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and trium.h.

3>reed &rom attachment, &ear and anger, absorbed in *e, and ta)ing re&uge in *e, .uri&ied by the .enance o& )nowledge, many have attained union with *y Being.3 *ind is very restless, &orce&ul and strong, % Krishna, it is more di&&icult to control the mind than to control the wind ? /r-una to Sri Krishna

!UMMAR'

India9s one o& the greatest contributions to the world is @ta. /r-una got mentally [Link] when he saw his relatives with whom he has to &ight. (he Bhagavad @ta is

.reached in the battle &ield Kuru)shetra by 2ord Krishna to /r-una as counseling to do his duty. It has got all the management tactics to achieve the mental e7uilibrium. *anagement has become a .art and .arcel in everyday li&e, be it at home, o&&ice, &actory, overnment, or in any other organi=ation where a grou. o& human beings assemble &or a common .[Link], management .[Link] come into .lay through their various &acets li)e management o& time, resources, .ersonnel, materials, machinery, &inance, .lanning, .riorities, .olicies and .ractice. 9*anagement o& time is a systematic way o& doing all activities in any &ield o& human e&&ort. (he westem management thought o& .[Link] to some &or some time has absolutely &ailed in its aim to ensure betterment o& individual li&e and social wel&are. (he [Link] .osition o& /r-una in the &irst [Link] o& the @ta is [Link] &or this human

situation which may come in the li&e o& all men o& action some time or other. 2ord Krishna in the @ta advises how to manage &or a better time. 'is (ime.9(he lac) o& management

will cause disorder, con&usion, wastage, delay, destruction and even [Link]. *anaging men, money and material in the best .ossible way according to circumstances and environment is the most [Link] and essential &actor &or a success&ul management. *anaging men is su..osed have the best tactics. *an is the &irst syllable in management which [Link])s volumes on the role and signi&icance o& man in a scheme o& management .ractices. >rom the .re-historic days o& aborigines to the .resent day o& robots and

[Link] the ideas o& managing available resources have been in e8istence in some &orm or other. :hen the world has become a big global village now, management .ractices have become more com.le8 and what was once considered a golden rule is now thought to be an anachronism. (he lac) o& management will cause disorder, con&usion, wastage, delay, destruction and even [Link]. *anaging men, money and material in the best .ossible way according to circumstances and environment is the most [Link] and essential &actor &or a success&ul management. *anaging men is su..osed have the best tactics. *an is the &irst syllable in management which [Link])s volumes on the role and signi&icance o& man in a scheme o& management .ractices. >rom the .re-historic days o& aborigines to the .resent day o& robots and [Link] the ideas o& managing available resources have been in e8istence in some &orm or other. :hen the world has become a big global village now, management .ractices have become more com.le8 and what was once considered a golden rule is now thought to be an anachronism.

%NTR (U&T% N

In any wor) situation, be it at home, o&&ice, &actory,

overnment, or any other

organi=ation where a grou. o& human beings assemble &or a common .[Link], management .[Link] come into .lay through their various &acets li)e management o& time, resources, .ersonnel, materials, machinery, &inance, .lanning, .riorities, .olicies and .ractices. *anagement is thus an orderly conduct o& activities in any &ield o& human endeavor. It is about )[Link] onesel& engaged in interactive relationshi. with other human beings in the course o& .er&orming oneAs duty. Its tas) is to ma)e .[Link] [Link] o& -oint .er&ormance, to ma)e their wea)nesses irrelevant and build u. a team [Link] - says the *anagement uru Peter 0ruc)er *anagement .resu..oses the e8istence o& man B the watchword is no man, no

management. *an is the &irst syllable in management which [Link])s volumes on the role and signi&icance o& man in a scheme o& management .ractices. >rom the .re-historic days o& aborigines to the .resent day o& robots and [Link] the ideas o& managing available resources have been in e8istence in some &orm or other. :hen the world has become a big global village, management .ractices have become more universal as also more

com.le8. (hus *anagement is a .rocess in search o& e8cellence, to align .[Link] and get them committed to wor) &or a common goal to the ma8imum social bene&it. /n e&&ective *anagement stri)es harmony in wor)ing - e7uilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, .lans and .er&ormance, .roducts and mar)ets. It resolves situations o& scarcities be they in the .hysical, technical or human &ields through better allocation and utili=ation .rocesses. (he negation o& management is disorder, con&usion,

wastage, detention, delay, decadence and destruction.

E))E&T%VENE!! AN( E))%&%EN&'

(he [Link] distinction between e&&ectiveness and e&&iciency in management is that C&&ectiveness is doing the right things while C&&iciency is doing things right. (hough there are varied [Link] o& business organi=ations, the general .[Link] o& e&&ective management a..ly to almost all o& them - the di&&erences being mainly in the a..lication than in .[Link]. /gain, e&&ective management is not limited in its a..lication only to business or industrial [Link] but to all organi=ations where the aim is to reach a given goal through a 4hie& C8ecutive or a *anager with the hel. o& a grou. o& wor)ers. (he *anagerAs &unctions are now widely )nown and do not re7uire [Link]. (he critical 7uestion in every *anagerAs mind is how to be e&&ective in his -ob. (he reason is that unless the *anager reaches a level o& e8cellence and e&&ectiveness that sets him [Link] &rom the others whom he is managing, he will be merely a &ace in the crowd and not an achiever. (he modern management [Link] li)e vision, leadershi., motivation, e8cellence in wor), achieving goals, meaning o& wor), attitude towards wor), nature o& individual, decision ma)ing, .lanning etc., are all discussed in the Bhagavad analysis. (he ideas contained in the Bhagavad ita with a shar. insight and &inest

ita tac)le the issues &rom the grass roots

level o& human thin)ing because once the basic thin)ing o& man is [Link] it will automatically enhance the 7uality o& his actions and their results.

*E!TERN

%N)U+EN&E

(he management thoughts .revailing in our country generally originate &rom the :est. (hey are based mostly on the lure &or a .erennial .ro&it [Link] o& the 7uality o& the means [Link] to achieve that goal. (he result is while huge &unds have been invested in building [Link] o& modem management education, no .[Link] changes are visible in the [Link] o& the 7uality o& attitude towards wor) although the standard o& living o& a &ew has gone u.. (he result is that the same old struggles and con&licts in almost all sectors have ta)en dee. roots in the body .olitic. (he western idea o& management has .laced utmost reliance on the wor)er 5which includes *anagers also6 - to ma)e him more e&&icient, to increase his .roductivity. (hey .ay him more so that he may wor) more, .roduce more, sell more and will stic) to the organi=ation without loo)ing &or alternatives. (he sole aim o& e8tracting better and more wor) &rom him is &or [Link] the bottom-line o& the [Link]. :or)er became a hirable commodity, which can be used, [Link] and discarded at will. (he wor)ers have also seen through the game .lan o& their .aymasters who have reduced them to the state o& a mercantile .roduct. (hey changed their attitude to wor) and started

[Link] such measures as uncalled &or stri)es, Bandhs, 0harnas etc. to get ma8imum bene&it &or themselves &rom the organi=ations. (he victim is always the society at large. (here&ore, in a situation where management and wor)ers have become [Link] and contradictory entities their a..roaches are di&&erent and interests con&licting. (here is no common goal or understanding which .redictably leads to constant mutual [Link], &riction, disillusion and mistrust because the entire set u. wor)s at cross .[Link]. (he absence o& a common goal, human values and the erosion o& human touch in the organi=ational structure results in a .ermanent crisis o& con&idence. :hile these management thoughts have brought .[Link] &or some time it has absolutely &ailed in their aim to ensure betterment o& individual li&e and social wel&are. It has by and large remained a soulless management edi&ice amongst an oasis o& .lenty &or a chosen &ew and .oor 7uality o& li&e &or others. 'ence, there is an urgent need to have a re-loo) at the .revalent management [Link] on its ob-ectives, sco.e and content. It should be rede&ined so as to underline the [Link] o& the wor)er as a man, as a human being with all his .ositive and negative characteristics and not as a mere wage-earner. In this changed .[Link], management ceases to be a [Link] but becomes an instrument in the .rocess o& national wel&are B loka sangraha.

BHAGAVA( G%TA AN( MANAGER%A+ E))E&T%VENE!!

(he basic .[Link] behind this &undamental trans&ormation is &ound in the Bhagavad

@ta

which [Link] .roclaims that Dyou try to manage yoursel&A. In this conte8t the [Link] *anagement uru Bhagavan Sri Krishna enlightens us on all managerial techni7ues which

will lead to a harmonious state o& a&&airs as against con&licts, tensions, low e&&iciency and .roductivity, absence o& motivation and lac) o& wor) culture etc common to many [Link]. 'is &ocus is on rational thin)ing and not emotional reaction, stressing the [Link] o& management more on values than revenues. :e &ind in the @ta a holistic theory o& managing human a&&airs. Behind holism 5also

wholism6 lies the theory that the whole is greater than the sum o& its .arts. (he holistic a..roach is treats the whole .erson rather than the [Link] o& a disease. It is the ,ational Cmotive (hera.y o& the modern management -argon. /n attem.t is made here to e8amine some o& the modern management [Link] in the light o& the Bhagavad ita. Utili,ation of availa-le [Link]

(he &irst lesson in the management science is to choose wisely and utili=e [Link] the scarce resources. 0uring the curtain raiser be&ore the *ahabharata :ar 0uryodhana chose Sri KrishnaAs large army &or his hel. while /r-una selected Sri KrishnaAs wisdom &or his

su..ort. (his [Link] gives us a clue as to who is an C&&ective *anager which is con&irmed by the &inal outcome o& the war. [Link] towards *or/

I shall narrate a story here which will show di&&erent &acets o& the relationshi. between man and his wor). (hree stone-cutters were engaged in erecting a [Link]. /s usual a '.,.0. 4onsultant as)ed them what they were doing. (he [Link] o& the three wor)ers to this innocent-loo)ing 7uestion is illuminating. DI am a .oor man. I have to maintain my &amily. I am ma)ing a living here,A said the &irst stone-cutter with a de-ected &ace. D:ell, I wor) because I want to show that I am the best stone-cutter in the country,A said the second one with a sense o& .ride. D%h, I want to build the most beauti&ul [Link] in the country,A said the third one with a visionary gleam. (heir -obs were identical but their .[Link] were di&&erent. :hat ita tells us is to

develo. the visionary .[Link] in the wor) we do. It tells us to develo. a sense o& larger vision &or the common good in .er&orming oneAs own duties.

*or/ (he .[Link] verse #.EF o& the

&ommitment ita advises non- attachment to the &ruits or results o& actions

.er&ormed in the course o& oneAs duty. 0edicated wor) has to mean Dwor) &or the sa)e o& wor)A. I& we are always calculating the date o& .romotion &or .utting in our e&&orts, then such wor) cannot be commitment-oriented causing e8cellence in the results but it will be .romotion-oriented resulting in inevitable disa..ointments. By tilting the .er&ormance towards the [Link] bene&its, the 7uality o& .er&ormance o& the .resent duty su&&ers on account o& the mental agitations caused by the an8ieties o& the &uture. /nother reason &or non-attachment to results is the &act that wor)ings o& the world are not designed to .ositively [Link] to our calculations and hence [Link] &ruits may not always be &orthcoming. So, the ita tells us not to mortgage the .resent commitment to an uncertain &uture. I& we

are not able to measure u. to this height, then surely the &ault lies with us and not with the teaching. Some .[Link] argue that being unattached to the conse7uences o& oneAs action would ma)e one un-accountable as accountability is a much touted word these days. 'owever, we have to understand that the entire second [Link] has arisen as a se7uel to the [Link] lost sense o& accountability on the .art o& /r-una as detailed in the &irst [Link] o& the ita in .er&orming his swadharma. Bhagavad @ta is &ull o& advice on the theory o& cause and e&&ect, ma)ing the doer [Link] &or the conse7uences o& his deeds. (he @ta, while advising detachment &rom the avarice o&

sel&ish gains by discharging ones [Link] duty, does not absolve anybody o& the conse7uences arising &rom discharge o& his [Link]. (his verse is a brilliant guide to the [Link] *anager &or .sychological energy conservation and a .reventive method against stress and burn-outs in the wor) situations. (hus the best means &or e&&ective wor) .er&ormance is to become the wor) itsel&. /ttaining this state o& nish)ama )arma is the right attitude to wor) because it .revents the ego, the mind &rom [Link] through [Link] on &uture gains or losses. ![Link],ation It has been .resumed &or long that satis&ying lower needs o& a wor)er li)e ade7uate &ood, clothing and shelter, recognition, a..reciation, status, .ersonality [Link] etc are the )ey &actors in the motivational theory o& .ersonnel management &or Sel&-actuali=ation. Gow even in the country o& its origin this theory is being considered as nothing but sel&aggrandi=ement and a means to convert [Link] relationshi.s into institutional business transactions &or sel&-advancement at the cost o& common wel&are. (he recent instances o& >inancial Institutions in the <.S./. granting bonuses to the to. e8ecutives [Link] their receiving State /id &or their own survival is a case in .oint. :hat is the Indian .ictureH It is the common [Link] that the [Link] o& grievances &rom the lowest to the highest is identical and only their scales and [Link] vary. It should have been that once the lower-order needs are more than satis&ied, the to. echelons should

have no .roblem in [Link]=ing their contribution to the organi=ation. But more o&ten than not, it does not ha..en li)e thatI the eagle soars high but )ee.s its eyes &irmly &i8ed on the dead animal below. (his .arado8ical situation is [Link] by the theory o& Sel&-transcendence or Sel&-reali=ation .[Link] in the ita. Sel&-transcendence is overcoming [Link] obstacles in oneAs

.ath. It involves renouncing egoism, .utting others be&ore onesel&, team wor), dignity, sharing, [Link], harmony, trust, sacri&icing lower needs &or higher goals, seeing others in you and yoursel& in others etc. (he .ortrait o& a sel&-actuali=ing .erson is that he is a man who aims at his own aggrandi=ements and underrates everything else. %n the other hand the Sel&-transcenders are the visionaries and innovators. (heir resolute e&&orts enable them to achieve the a..arently [Link]. (hey overcome all barriers to reach their goal. (hey are achievers li)e 'anuman-i, *ahatma andhi, and (ila). (e-egoisation / :estern scholar [Link])s about the ita as It is the [Link] o& od [Link])ing to the [Link] o& ita says

man and teaching him how to conduct li&e. (hat is why it is a .ractical boo).A (he

D+ou su&&er, but you do not give way to su&&ering. +ou have inner balance, a harmony o& mind. (his then is the &irst condition, not to see) the &ruit o& oneAs wor). (his does not mean indi&&erence to the wor). (he wor) must be done with detachment.A (his is because it is the Cgo which [Link] the wor).

(his is the bac)bone o& the (heory o& *otivation which the modern scholars tal) about. (his is not merely a theory o& *otivation but it is a theory o& [Link] as well. (he ita &urther advises to .er&orm action with loving attention to the 0ivine [Link] redirection o& the [Link] sel& away &rom its egocentric needs, desires, and .assions towards creating suitable conditions &or .er&orming actions in .ursuit o& e8cellence. (agore says wor)ing &or love is &reedom in action which is described as disinterested wor) in the ita. (he holistic vision o& wor) tells that all wor) [Link] o& its nature have to be directed towards a single .[Link] namely .romoting the good o& all beings - lokasangraha. (his vision was .resented to us in the very &irst mantra o& isavasya Upanishad which says that whatever e8ists in the <niverse is [Link] by od. 'ow can there be any individual

ha..iness, i& all are oneH (he answer it .rovides is to en-oy and strengthen li&e by sacri&icing oneAs own sel&ishness by not coveting otherAs wealth. (he same motivation is given by Sri Krishna in the (hird [Link] o& ita when 'e says that D'e who shares the wealth generated only a&ter serving the .[Link], through wor) done as a sacri&ice &or them, is &reed &rom all the sins. %n the contrary those who earn wealth only &or themselves, eat sins that lead to &rustration and &ailure.A (e-0ersonification (he disinterested wor) &inds [Link] in devotion, surrender and [Link]. (he &ormer two are .sychological while the third is the strong-willed determination to )ee. the mind &ree o& and above the dualistic .ulls o& daily [Link]. 0etached involvement in wor) is

the )ey to mental e7uanimity or the state o& nirdwanda. (his attitude leads to a stage where the wor)er begins to &eel the .resence o& the [Link] Intelligence guiding the [Link] individual intelligence. Such [Link]&ied intelligence is best suited &or those who sincerely believe in the [Link] o& organi=ational goals as [Link] to narrow .ersonal success and achievement.

* R$ &U+TURE AN( ETH%&! %N * R$

:or) culture means vigorous and arduous e&&ort in .ursuit o& a given or chosen tas). :hen Bhagawan Sri Krishna rebu)es /r-una in the strongest words &or his unmanliness and imbecility in recoiling &rom his righteous duty it is nothing but a clarion call &or the highest wor) culture. Poor wor) culture is the result o& tamasic guna overta)ing oneAs mindset. BhagawanAs stinging rebu)e is to bring out the [Link] dormant ra-asic guna in /r-una. In [Link] JK o& the ita Sri Krishna elaborates on two [Link] o& :or) Cthic vi=. daivi [Link] or divine wor) culture and asuri [Link] or demonic wor) culture. J. 0aivi wor) culture. - means &earlessness, .urity, sel&-control, sacri&ice, absence o& greed,

straight&orwardness, sel&-denial, calmness, absence o& &ault-&inding, gentleness, modesty, absence o& envy and .ride. #. /suri wor)

culture - means egoism, delusion, desire-centric, [Link]

.er&ormance, wor) which is not oriented towards service. It is to be noted that mere wor) ethic is not enough in as much as a hardened criminal has also a very good wor) culture. :hat is needed is a wor) ethic conditioned by ethics in wor). It is in this light that the wisest counsel enunciated in the ita Dyogah karmasu

kausalam should be understood. Kausalam means s)ill or method or techni7ue o& wor)

which is an [Link] [Link] o& wor) ethic. +ogah is de&ined in the

ita itsel&

as samatvam yogah uchyate meaning unchanging [Link] o& mind. (ila) tells us that .er&orming actions with the [Link] device o& an e7uable mind is +oga. By ma)ing the e7uable mind as the bed-roc) o& all actions ita evolved the goal o& uni&ication o& wor) ethic with ethics in wor), &or wiihout ethical .rocess no mind can attain [Link]. /di San)ara says that the s)ill in .er&ormance o& oneAs duty consists in maintaining the evenness o& mind in success and &ailure because the calm mind in &ailure will lead him to [Link] [Link] and see clearly where the .rocess went wrong so that corrective ste.s could be ta)en to avoid such shortcomings in &uture. (he .[Link] o& reducing our attachment to .ersonal gains &rom the wor) done or controlling the aversion to .ersonal losses enunciated in 4h.# 1erse EF o& the ita is the

&[Link]& .[Link] &or attaining e7uanimity. (he common a..rehension about this .[Link] that it will lead to lac) o& incentive &or e&&ort and wor), stri)ing at the very root o& wor) ethic, is not valid because the advice is to. Be -udged as relevant to manAs overriding 7uest &or true mental ha..iness. (ila) [Link] the [Link] o& this theory by saying that i& any wor) is done with the sole idea o& [Link] .ersonal bene&it out o& such wor), and therea&ter i& there is any obstruction in the matter o& getting the desired result or bene&it, then the chain o& misery starts. (hus while the common .lace theories on motivation lead us to bondage, the &reedom and real ha..iness. ita theory ta)es us to

* R$ RE!U+T!

(he

ita &urther [Link] the theory o& non- attachment to the results o& wor) in [Link]

1erses J"-JM the [Link] o& which is as underN I& the result o& sincere e&&ort is a success, the entire credit should not be a..[Link] by the doer alone. I& the result o& sincere e&&ort is a &ailure, then too the entire blame does not accrue to the doer. (he &ormer attitude molli&ies arrogance and conceit while the latter .revents e8cessive [Link], de-motivation and sel&-.ity. (hus both these [Link] sa&eguard the doer against .sychological vulnerability which is the cause &or the modem managersA [Link] li)e 0iabetes, 'igh B.P. etc. /ssimilation o& the ideas behind #.EF and JL.J"-JM o& the ita leads us to the wider [Link] o& lokasamgraha or general wel&are.

(here is also another dimension in the wor) ethic. I& the )arma yoga is blended with bha)tiyoga then the wor) itsel& becomes worshi., seva yoga. / *ahatma 1ive)ananda are illustrations. andhi and Swami

MANAGER1! MENTA+ HEA+TH

(he ideas mentioned above have a close bearing on the mental health o& a manager. Sound mental health is the very goal o& any human activity more so management. /n [Link] describes sound mental health as that state o& mind which can maintain a calm, .ositive .oise or regain it when unsettled in the midst o& all the e8ternal vagaries o& wor) li&e and social e8istence. Internal constancy and .eace are the .rere7uisites &or a healthy stress-&ree mind. Some o& the [Link] to sound mental health areJ. reed -&or .ower, .osition, .restige and money. #. Cnvy -regarding othersA achievements, success, rewards. ". Cgotism -about oneAs own [Link]. E. [Link], anger and &rustration. M. /nguish through [Link]. (he driving &orces in todayAs rat-race are [Link] and greed as well as e8cessive ambition and [Link]. (he natural &allout &rom these &orces is erosion o& oneAs ethical-moral &iber. /lthough these .ractices are ta)en as normal business ha=ards &or achieving .rogress, they always end u. as a .ursuit o& mirage - the more the needs the more the disa..ointments. (his .henomenon may be called as yayati-syndrome.

In *ahabharata we come across a )ing called +ayati who, in order to revel in the endless en-oyment o& &lesh e8changed his old age with the youth o& his obliging youngest son &or a mythical thousand years. 'owever, he lost himsel& in the .ursuit o& sensual en-oyments and &elt .enitent. 'e came bac) to his son .leading to ta)e bac) his youth. (his yayati syndrome shows the con&lict between e8ternally directed ac7uisitions, motivations and inner

reasoning, emotions and conscience. @ta tells us how to get out o& this universal .henomenon by .rescribing the &ollowing [Link]. J. 4ultivate sound .[Link] o& li&e. #. Identi&y with inner core o& sel&-su&&iciency. ". et out o& the habitual mindset in dealing with the .airs o& o..osites. E. Pursue e8cellence by converting wor) into worshi.. M. Build u. an internal integrated re&erence .oint to &ace contrary [Link], and emotions. K. Gurturing ethical-moral rectitude. 4ultivating this understanding by a manager would lead him to [Link] &rom the state o& con&usion and distortion, to a state o& .ure and &ree mind i.e. universal, [Link]

consciousness where&rom he can .rove his e&&ectiveness in discharging whatever duties that have &allen to his domain. BhagawanAs advice is relevant hereN tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu mamanusmarah yuddha cha D(here&ore under all circumstances remember *e and then &ightA 5>ight means .er&orm your duties6 Need for Heroes who 0ractice what the2 0reach :hatever the e8cellent and best .ersons do, the commoners &ollow, so says Sri Krishna in the ita. (his is the leadershi. 7uality .rescribed in the ita. (he visionary leader must also be a missionary, e8tremely .ractical, intensively dynamic and [Link] o& translating dreams into reality. (his dynamism and strength o& a true leader &lows &rom an [Link] and [Link] motivation to hel. others. I am the strength o& those who are devoid o& .ersonal desire and attachment. % /r-una, I am the legitimate desire in those, who are not o..osed to righteousness says Sri Krishna in the J0th [Link] o& the @ta.

RE+EVANT TH UGHT! ) R MANAGEMENT )R M BHAGAVA( G%TA

I& we develo. the s)ill, orientation and attitude to draw [Link] the [Link] o& )nowledge &or our day to day living issues 5such as Business *anagement6, then we will reali=e that the world o& ancient Indian wisdom [Link] u.. %ne may locate a number o& direct and relevant thoughts in these te8ts. 2et us loo) at one or two [Link] &rom ita on the issue o& relevant

thoughts &or today. (he &ollowing shloka &rom Gita, [Link] " is a case in .ointN In this shloka, /r-una raises a 7uestion which is very .ertinent to most o& us. :e have had several occasions in our .ersonal and .ro&essional li&e during which we would have internally as)ed the same 7uestion. Who is ehind all these ad or wrong things that people do! "lthough # am not interested it appears # am $orci ly involved into this. In &act you as) managers who have erred in their decisions or committed some blunder, you as) &athers who have made blunders o& scolding their children or ta)en wrong decisions about their daughter or son. (hey will always say something similar to this shloka. (here is this &eeling B I have become a victim o& a situation as though somebody is .ushing me to do wrong things. :e have gone through this &rame o& mind in our daily li&e. :e are going

through this &rame o& mind every now and then in *anagement. Krishna o&&ers some [Link] as to why this is ha..ening in the shlokas that &ollow. ita also o&&ers .[Link] on how to manage certain things in li&e, understand com.le8 things that we go through in [Link] terms 5-ust as the [Link] o& birth and death6. It also o&&ers direct ideas and sets us in a state o& [Link]. %ne [Link] will hel. drive this .oint. (he meaning o& the shloka is as &ollowsN "s long as the $ive senses are active in gathering the signals that come into contact with them% we will e&perience the world o$ dualities ' hot and cold% peace and sorrow etc. (ou cannot run away $rom the world o$ dualities as they happen continuously and are also impermanent. )earning to handle them is important. Stress management is a big issue today. *ost o& the )nowledge and hel. we get &rom the modern day thin)ing is to su..ress or divert our attention &rom the issue o& stress. (hey [Link] [Link] with an [Link] that stress will be inevitably generated and the solution lies in doing something about it once we are stressed. 2et us )ill it or run away &rom it by some means a&ter it ha..ens is the basis &or stress management. :e do not seem to address why one should get stressed in the &irst .lace. %n the other hand, this shloka addresses this issue and truly .rovides us an idea &or managing stress. It is all about signal .rocessing. :e have to di&&erentiate between signals and noise. (hat is the idea here. :e donAt do so because we donAt have the [Link] o& signal

.rocessing. (hat does not mean we can turn o&& the a..aratus and sto. receiving the signals. (hat ha..ens only when we are in a state o& coma. (hat is not what 2ord Krishna is saying. Gita never recommends running away &rom .roblems. %n the other hand it seems to suggest that understanding .roblems in the right .[Link] is )ey to managing them. (hat is the greatest management lesson that one can learn. (he idea o& managing the world o& duality has been one o& the )ey messages in the ita and it has been [Link] [Link]=ed

not only in [Link] #, but also in several other [Link]. (his could very well be the cornerstone o& [Link] [Link] sel&- and .[Link] management s)ills and leadershi. traits.

BA!%& A33R A&H T

* R$ %N G%TA

*anagement is all about doing wor), doing it e&&iciently and ensuring that results &ollow. 1iewed &rom this .[Link], Gita o&&ers counter-intuitive ideas on these issues 5see &igure &or a basic &ramewor) [Link] this6.

The [Link] of wor/ according to Bhagavad Gita

* R$ 4 %T! E))E&T%VENE!! A! THE & RE %&ten .[Link] comment that the central message in *hagavad Gita is about the notion o& karma yoga. %& relevance to management is the notion o& karma yogaand its essence in terms o& wor). It will be very use&ul to understand how this issue is laid out in the ita. >irst o& all 2ord Krishna establishes a .aradigm that there is nothing called the state o& inaction. 'e clearly says in [Link] " that there is nothing li)e akarma 5no action or inaction6 (here is nothing li)e a state o& inaction. :hy did he say thatH Because only then we will &ocus on the issue o& how to do wor) correctly. It is natural then &or us to as) how to do wor). 'e says en-oy [Link] degree o& &reedom, and total -oy while engaging in wor). (hat is the idea. :hile we are in the thic) o& wor) can we en-oyH ita [Link] [Link] in the a&&irmative.

Krishna goes to the e8tent o& saying that with such a .[Link] to wor), we may reali=e that even when we do a lot o& wor), we do not &eel li)e indeed engaging in any wor)

(his is again in contrast with our understanding o& wor) and its e&&ects on us today. %ne o& the biggest .roblems that we are &acing in our daily li&e, .ro&essional wor) and .ersonal li&e is that we donAt seem to en-oy what we are doing. Swami ,anganathananda mentions that there was no word li)e boredom in the dictionary about E00 years B K00 years ago. (oday the children say I am bored. +oung .ro&essionals want to ado.t the western model o& wee)end getaway. :e need weekend getaways i& wor) is .erceived as drudgery and an avoidable [Link] o& our li&e. Such a .[Link] can never get the best &rom wor) .lace that modern business management is worried about. :hat is this boredomH :hy does it ha..enH Because we donAt en-oy what we are doing, we get bored. (he basic tenet o& Gita is antithesis to this idea that wor) could be drudgery. >irst understand there is nothing li)e state o& no wor). :e cannot run away &rom wor) as there is nothing called no wor). >urther i& you en-oy [Link] &reedom o& doing wor) result has to &ollow. (hat is the basic line o& argument that I see in Gita. 2ord Krishna says that it is .ossible that you can have [Link] degree o& &reedom and en-oy wor). (his is the basic thread o& argument I see in the te8t which I thin) is very relevant &or management. A5ioms of wor/ /s we have already seen, there is no [Link] &rom wor). (here&ore, let us understand how the a8ioms o& wor) have been .[Link] in Gita. (here are &our [Link] to this, which is very well brought out in this &amous shloka inGitaN

(ou have the right to work ut never to the $ruits o$ the action. +urther you do not have the right to the root cause o$ the $ruits o$ action. (ou also do not have the right to remain in the society without per$orming any work. /s we notice &rom the above translation, there are &our [Link] o& the a8iom o& wor) de&ined in ita. It is much easier to [Link] the rationale o& the last [Link]. :hen one is told that heOshe has to do the wor), heOshe does not as) &or results or bother about what causes these results, the normal tendency in some cases is to say, well in that case, I am not interested in doing the wor). (he last [Link] ta)es away that .ossibility. Since in ita,

the notion o& non-wor) or inaction is not a &easible alternative, the last [Link] ma)es sense. (he most di&&icult .art is the second and the third [Link]. 'ow can someone do the wor) and yet not have the right &or resultsH (his re7uires some more articulation and understanding o& the idea. &rom the management .[Link]. (he current day thin)ing and this are in loggerheads. :e are told that we need to wor) &or results. :hy is then 2ord Krishna advocating the antithesis o& thisH In order to get this clear, let us trace some side e&&ects o& wor)ing &or results. *any o& us with some wor) [Link] will be able to relate to these side e&&ectsN ,esult orientation can ma)e one wary o& &ailures, we may re&use to underta)e great activities 5modern ris) management issue comes into .lay6. +esterday I read in the .[Link] that an Lth standard student ended her li&e because she did not clear the e8am. :hat a tragedy and what a side e&&ect that we need to &aceH

:e have a tendency to e8cessively &ocus on ends instead o& means. (his is what most wor)ing in *ulti-Gational [Link] are busy doing. *odern day managers [Link] signi&icant time to manager .er&ormance [Link] rather than .er&ormance itsel&. In order to be good in managing the .er&ormance [Link], .rocess orientation must give way &or result orientation :hat are results at the end o& the dayH (hey are issues o& the &uture about which we [Link] our time in the .resent. (here&ore, we may tend to esca.e the dynamics o& .resent and go a&ter &uture (he a..arent con&usion that we have in understanding this shloka is that when we say you have no right to the results, it merely suggests that ta)e o&& your .[Link] with results and have a .rocess orientation. ,esults must &ollow automatically. Is it not what the total 6.alit2 management 7T8M9 .[Link] is also arguing aboutH >urther, you may as), why do we want to ta)e the &i8ation &rom results and instead concentrate on the wor) itsel&H (he [Link] answer to it is that by doing do it lets you literally get lost in wor). :hen one gets lost into wor), the traditional barriers o& e&&iciency and motivation are bro)en and the individual treads into e8traordinary .er&ormance born out o& [Link]. Perha.s, that is how a Gobel 2aureate or a great scientist or a visionary leader would have [Link] several years o& hisOher time. :e o&ten say when we do very interesting things in li&e, I never )new how time .assed (hat is a good indication o& our ability to .ractice. (his is neither an un)nown or [Link] idea to man)ind. Cvery day we all .ractice this when we have dee. slee.. :e rise &rom the dee.

slee. and remar) that we had a sound slee.. By that what it means is no matter what sound others made in the vicinity I continued to slee.. (ry to slee. with an ob-ective o& having a K hour sound slee. and wor) &or the result, you will not get sound slee.. +our mind will wor) very hard to &ind out how to ensure K hours o& dee. slee. and in the .rocess you will get tired. *aybe a&ter some time when the analytical and result-oriented mind gets &atigued, you will sli. into dee. slee.. (he ancient Indian te8ts such as *hagavad Gita are .ro&ound and are meant to [Link] u. the hori=on in the minds o& the .[Link]. (here&ore it is hardly [Link] that we can draw such alternative ideas and thoughts &rom such te8ts. 'owever, in order to bene&it &rom this immensely, in the domain o& management, we need to ste. out o& the world o& rationality and tread into un)nown areas. Perha.s a nearest re&erence to this idea in modern day is out o& the bo8 thin)ing or thin)ing without the bo8. (his in itsel& is a .aradigm shi&t in .[Link] that we need to ma)e in our own mind. (here are several other use&ul ideas in ita &or management. (here are [Link]&ic ideas &or

management that address issues .ertaining to sel&, sel&-mastery and sel&-assessment. (here are also [Link]&ic suggestions on the leadershi. traits. *hagavad Gita and &or that matter in several other ancient Indian te8ts o&&er a uni7ue value .[Link]. :e can have [Link] .rogress, we can have material .rogress too in a very balanced way. *e can have ha00iness: not onl2 [Link] . (his could be one o& the good reasons &or us to loo) at some o& these and ma)e our own notes. (here is a greater .romise

and .otential &or much larger .[Link] in ancient Indian wisdom and much greater .[Link] to draw out o& it and a..ly in a variety o& situations.

THE THREE !TATE!

) TH%N$%NG; AN %N!%GHT )R M BHAGAVA( G%TA

The Bhagavad Gita, wherein %sho has tried [Link] the conversations between the reluctant /r-una and his enlightened master Krishna. (hrough the conversation and the [Link] that &ollow them, %sho has elucidated the root cause o& .ain and anguish o& the [Link] *an. (he blog elucidates on the three states o& thin)ingN [Link]: Thin/ing state and No [Link]. [Link] (his is basically an animalistic way o& thin)ing, where an individual is unable to -udge between the right and the wrong. 'e is blinded by his burning desires and something that we re&er to as the dar)er side- ego, arrogance, lust and vengeance. 'e loses his .ower to thin). Instead o& being thought-oriented, he is [Link] driven by his instincts. (he actions ta)en by such individuals are generally dissimilar &rom the usual thought .rocess, which is o&ten [Link] by normal individuals. / notable .oint here is that, though de&initely a state re&lecting animalistic thin)ing, thoughtlessness is a state o& .eace, since individuals do not go through the usual trauma o& thin)ing and analy=ing, it is devoid o& customary an8ieties and anguish which thin)ing brings. In the *ahabharata, the character o& 0uryodhana is a classic [Link] o& a thoughtless .erson driven by a dee. desire to destroy the Pandavas. Thin/ing stateN (his state lies between the state o& animalistic thoughtlessness and the divine state o& no thought. *oreover, this is not a stateI it is rather a bridge between these

two. >rom this state o& thin)ing, man can either &all down into the chasm o& thoughtlessness or he can move u. the ladder o& no thought. (his is a state o& an8iety and restlessness, because, &rom here man does not want to go bac) to the state o& beastliness, but he is also unable to transcend the given state and con7uer the state o& thoughtlessness. (his state, which is somehow a state o& dilemma, is very much rooted in a manAs ego. (hough it may not be state o& egomania, a thin)ing manAs state o& mind revolves around his ego and he tries to [Link] every situation or every act in relation to himsel&. (he reluctant /r-una be&ore the battle is a .er&ect [Link] o& a thin)ing man. No [Link] %n the gradient o& thin)ing, this is the ultimate state, a state o& .ure consciousness. In this state the individual transcends the state o& normal human thin)ing and goes beyond the chimera o& sel&. <nli)e the thoughtless state, in this state the absence o& redundant thin)ing does not arise out o& some ignorance or illusion, but out o& the sel& consciousness and enlightenment. Such state is guided by [Link] actions, without the .rying o& mind. 'ere, in this case, lac) o& thin)ing means [Link] &reedom. %&ten our thin)ing is not &ree and is in&luenced by n number o& &actors such as habitual .artiality, surrounding, [Link], mood etcI but in the godly state o& Go thought, it is -ust an outcome o& .ure consciousness. Gothing else has an in&luence. (hough every individual has .otential to get into the shoe o& no thought, it is very tough to attain. It re7uires a lot o& deliberation, meditation and .ractice. Krishna, the incarnation o& the [Link] .ower himsel& is an symbol o& Go thought.

%ne [Link] .oint to be noted over here is that that every day as individuals we .ass through all the three stages o& thin)ing. (here are times when we are .ure beast and instinct driven thoughtless creature, whereas at times we struggle with our individuality, with our angst, an8ieties and &rustrations and, there are times when li&e moves as e&&ortlessly as .ure consciousness.

Gow in the &ollowing .art the author will be .lacing various characters &rom the [Link] *ahabharata across the various .arameters o& thin)ing. >or better understanding a gra.h had also been .lotted belowN-

(.r2odhanaN King 0uryodhana is a .er&ect [Link] o& a thoughtless individual. / symbol o& sightless ambitions, 0uryodhana was so obsessed with his hatred towards the Pandavas that he -ust wanted to obliterate them. Cven when lord Krishna o&&ered him the .[Link] o& o&&ering &ive villages to the Pandavas, instead o& having a war, he re-ected. In [Link] being a )ing, he hardly ever gave a thought to the large scale o& imminent destruction, which the war could have brought. 'ence he had been .ut at the lowest .osition o& thoughtlessness. BheemaN Bheema was the [Link] o& 0uryodhana. / man )nown &or having strengths o& many [Link], he was a .ure brute &orce. 2i)e the thoughtless 0uryodhana, he had ta)en

the oath o& )illing all the hundred Kauravas. >or Bheema war was a .assion, where he could have .roved himsel&. (he thoughtlessness o& 0uryodhana and Bheema gets re&lected &rom their .redilection &or war. :ar always brings a large deal o& bloodshed and destruction and ends into myriad individual tragedies. %nly thoughtless individuals, devoid o& the ability to [Link] such destructions, &ind them engaging. $arnaN (he symbol o& .hilanthro.y, Karna was without doubt one o& the greatest characters o& *ahabharata. But the reason o& .lacing him ne8t to 0uryodhana and Bheema was his vengeance and dee. desire o& ta)ing revenge &rom /r-una. Sometimes as individuals, we are so obsessed with our hatred towards that one single .erson, that our .ower o& -udgment is lost. (he same ha..ened with Karna. 'e wanted to .rove his [Link] over /r-una at any .rice and in order to &ul&ill this, he didnAt thin) o& the cosmic destruction that the war would incur. Ar<.naN (he great archer /r-una is .er&ect [Link] o& a thin)ing man. / man &illed with an8ieties and anguish arising out o& his attachments to the materialistic world. /r-unaAs an8ieties be&ore the war were 7uite natural, given the &act he was going to engage in a war against his own relatives. (he war o& *ahabharata seemed to be a .art o& the divine will and sto..ing it was beyond /r-unaAs [Link], but as an individual he had the &reedom to resent, &reedom to show his reluctance and this was the source o& an8ieties in him. 2i)e the other three characters mentioned above, /r-una was insulated &rom any )ind o& dee. .re-udice or blind thoughts and hence as a normal individual, the entire war seemed merciless, brutal and bloody. 'e was &oreseeing the massive tragedies that would &ollow a&ter the war.

BheesmaN 'aving divine origin, Bheesma was one o& the characters close to the no thought state. Bheesma was also not in &avor o& the war, as it was )nown to him, that it will create a lot o& bloodshed. *oreover since he was very attached to his &amily, seeing his own &amily members &ighting with each other would have given him great trouble. But at the same time, he )new that the war was evident and cannot be sto..ed. 'ence, he [Link] it as a .art o& the divine will and agreed to &ight the war on his conditions. 'e was somehow detached to the &inal outcome o& the war and was -ust &ighting it as a call o& duty. $rishnaN Krishna is the .er&ect symbol o& divine consciousness. In contrast to other individuals discussed above, Krishna had gone beyond the state o& thin)ing and re&lection. Being a .erson o& .ure divine essence, he e8isted as a [Link] detached and egoless individual, understood the &utility o& thin)ing and hence, believed [Link] in .ure action without being involved in meaningless thin)ing and re&lection. KrishnaAs actions were never a reaction, In &act, in a no thought state, one never .re&ers reacting, because reaction arises out o& attachment. :hen someone is hit hard at his .oint o& attachment, he reacts bac). But &or someone li)e Krishna, having the understanding o& the whole universe, reaction can never ha..en. Such .[Link] -ust .re&er [Link] to di&&erent situation, without getting attached to them. >or Krishna, the war o& *ahabharata was not a war &or &ul&illing some inner desire, nor was he worried o& the outcome. >or him it was -ust a normal activity, where he was su..ose to deliver his duties.

(,<('S IG / GC: 4%G(CP( (he *hagavad Gita , written thousands o& years ago, enlightens us on all managerial techni7ues leading us towards a harmonious and bliss&ul state o& a&&airs in .lace o& the con&lict, tensions, .oor .roductivity, absence o& motivation and so on, common in most o& Indian [Link] today - and .robably in [Link] in many other countries. (he modern 5:estern6 management [Link] o& vision, leadershi., motivation, e8cellence in wor), achieving goals, giving wor) meaning, decision ma)ing and .lanning, are all discussed in the*hagavad Gita . (here is one ma-or di&&erence. :hile :estern management thought too o&ten deals with .roblems at material, e8ternal and .[Link] levels, the *hagavad Gita tac)les the issues &rom the grass roots level o& human thin)ing. %nce the basic thin)ing o& man is [Link], it will automatically enhance the 7uality o& his actions and their results. (he management .[Link] emanating &rom the :est, is based on the lure o& materialism and on a .erennial thirst &or .ro&it , [Link] o& the 7uality o& the means [Link] to achieve that goal. (his .henomenon has its source in the abundant wealth o& the :est and so 9management by materialism9 has caught the &ancy o& all the countries the world over, India being no [Link] to this trend. *y country, India, has been in the &ore&ront in [Link] these ideas mainly because o& its centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers, which has inculcated in us a &eeling that anything :estern is good and anything Indian is in&erior. (he result is that, while huge &unds have been invested in building [Link] o& modem

management education, no .[Link] changes are visible in the [Link] o& the general 7uality o& li&e - although the standards o& living o& a &ew has gone u.. (he same old struggles in almost all sectors o& the economy, criminalisation o& institutions, social violence, [Link] and other vices are seen dee. in the body .olitic. (he source o& the .roblem (he reasons &or this sorry state o& a&&airs are not &ar to see). (he :estern idea o& management centres on ma)ing the wor)er 5and the manager6 more e&&icient and more .roductive. [Link] o&&er wor)ers more to wor) more , .roduce more, sell more and to stic) to the organisation without loo)ing &or alternatives. (he sole aim o& e8tracting better and more wor) &rom the wor)er is to [Link] the bottom-line o& the [Link]. (he wor)er has become a hireable commodity, which can be used, [Link] and discarded at will. (hus, wor)ers have been reduced to the state o& a mercantile .roduct . In such a state, it should come as no [Link] to us that wor)ers start using stri)es 5 gheraos 6 sit-ins, 5 dharnas 6 go-slows, wor)to-rule etc. to get ma8imum bene&it &or themselves &rom the organisations. Society-at-large is damaged. (hus we reach a situation in which management and wor)ers become [Link] and contradictory entities with con&licting interests. (here is no common goal or understanding. (his, .redictably, leads to [Link], &riction, disillusion and mistrust, with managers and wor)ers at cross .[Link]. (he absence o& human values and erosion o& human touch in the organisational structure has resulted in a crisis o& con&idence. :estern management .[Link] may have created .[Link] - &or some .[Link] some o& the time at least - but it

has &ailed in the aim o& ensuring betterment o& individual li&e and social wel&are. It has remained by and large a soulless edi&ice and an oasis o& .lenty &or a &ew in the midst o& .oor 7uality o& li&e &or many. 'ence, there is an urgent need to re-e8amine .revailing management [Link] - their ob-ectives, sco.e and content. *anagement should be rede&ined to underline the [Link] o& the wor)er as a .erson, as a human being, and not as a mere wage-earner. :ith this changed .[Link], management can become an instrument in the .rocess o& social, and indeed national, [Link]. Gow let us re-e8amine some o& the modern management [Link] in the light o& the *hagavad Gita which is a .rimer o& management-by-values. <tilisation o& available resources (he &irst lesson o& management science is to choose wisely and utilise scarce resources [Link]. 0uring the curtain raiser be&ore the *ahabharata :ar, 0uryodhana chose Sri Krishna9s large army &or his hel. while /r-una selected Sri Krishna9s wisdom &or his su..ort. (his [Link] gives us a clue as to the nature o& the e&&ective manager - the &ormer chose numbers, the latter, wisdom. :or) commitment / .[Link] verse o& the Gita advises 3detachment3 &rom the &ruits or results o& actions .er&ormed in the course o& one9s duty. Being dedicated wor) has to mean 3wor)ing &or the sa)e o& wor), generating e8cellence &or its own sa)e.3 I& we are always calculating the date o& .romotion or the rate o& commission be&ore .utting in our e&&orts, then such wor) is not

detached. It is not 3generating e8cellence &or its own sa)e3 but wor)ing only &or the e8trinsic reward that may 5or may not6 result . :or)ing only with an eye to the [Link] bene&its, means that the 7uality o& .er&ormance o& the current -ob or duty su&&ers - through mental agitation o& an8iety &or the &uture. In &act, the way the world wor)s means that events do not always [Link] .ositively to our calculations and hence [Link] &ruits may not always be &orthcoming. So, the Gita tells us not to mortgage .resent commitment to an uncertain &uture. Some .[Link] might argue that not see)ing the business result o& wor) and actions, ma)es one unaccountable. In &act, the *hagavad Gita is &ull o& advice on the theory o& cause and e&&ect, ma)ing the doer [Link] &or the conse7uences o& his deeds. :hile advising detachment &rom the avarice o& sel&ish gains in discharging one9s [Link] duty, the ita does not absolve anybody o& the conse7uences arising &rom discharge o& his or her [Link]. (hus the best means o& e&&ective .er&ormance management is the wor) itsel& . /ttaining this state o& mind 5called 3 nishkama karma 36 is the right attitude to wor) because it .revents the ego , the mind, &rom [Link] o& attention through [Link] on &uture gains or losses. *otivation - sel& and sel&-transcendence It has been .resumed &or many years that satis&ying lower order needs o& wor)ers - ade7uate &ood, clothing and shelter, etc. are )ey &actors in motivation. 'owever, it is a common [Link] that the dissatis&action o& the cler) and o& the 0irector is identical - only their scales and [Link] vary. It should be true that once the lower-order needs are more than satis&ied, the 0irector should have little .roblem in [Link] his contribution to the organisation and society. But more o&ten than not, it does not ha..en li)e that. 53 ,he eagle

soars high ut keeps its eyes $irmly $i&ed on the dead animal elow. 36 %n the contrary, a lowly .aid schoolteacher, or a sel&-[Link] artisan, may well demonstrate higher levels o& sel&-actualisation [Link] .oorer satis&action o& their lower-order needs. (his situation is [Link] by the theory o& sel&-transcendence .[Link] in the Gita . Sel&-transcendence involves renouncing egoism, .utting others be&ore onesel&, [Link] team wor), dignity, [Link], harmony and trust - and, indeed .otentially sacri&icing lower needs &or higher goals, the o..osite o& *aslow . 3 Work must e done with detachment .3 It is the ego that [Link] wor) and the ego is the [Link] o& most theories o& motivation. :e need not merely a theory o& motivation but a theory o& [Link]. (he reat Indian .oet, ,abindranath

(agore 5JLKJ-JQEJ, )nown as 3 urudev36 says wor)ing &or love is &reedom in action. / conce.t which is described as 3disinterested wor)3 in the Gita where Sri Krishna says, "-e who shares the wealth generated only a$ter serving the people% through work done as a sacri$ice $or them% is $reed $rom all sins. .n the contrary those who earn wealth only $or themselves% eat sins that lead to $rustration and $ailure." 0isinterested wor) &inds [Link] in devotion, surrender and [Link]. (he &ormer two are .sychological while the third is determination to )ee. the mind &ree o& the dualistic 5usually ta)en to mean 3materialistic36 .ulls o& daily [Link]. 0etached involvement in wor) is the )ey to mental e7uanimity or the state o& 3 nirdwanda .3 (his attitude leads to a stage where the wor)er begins to &eel the .resence o& the [Link] Intelligence guiding the embodied individual intelligence. Such [Link]&ied intelligence is best suited &or those who sincerely believe in

the [Link] o& organisational goals as [Link] to narrow .ersonal success and achievement. :or) culture /n e&&ective wor) culture is about vigorous and arduous e&&orts in .ursuit o& given or chosen tas)s. Sri Krishna elaborates on two [Link] o& wor) culture - 3 daivi sampat 3 or divine wor) culture and 3 asuri sampat 3 or demonic wor) culture. R 0aivi wor) culture - involves &earlessness, .urity, sel&-control, sacri&ice, straight&orwardness, sel&-denial, calmness, absence o& &ault-&inding, absence o& greed, gentleness, modesty, absence o& envy and .ride. R /suri wor) culture - involves egoism, delusion, .ersonal desires, [Link] .er&ormance, wor) not oriented towards service. /ere work ethic is not enough. ,he hardened criminal e&hi its an e&cellent work ethic. What is needed is a work ethic conditioned y ethics in work. It is in this light that the counsel, 3 yogah karmasu kausalam 3 should be understood. 30ausalam 3 means s)ill or techni7ue o& wor) which is an [Link] [Link] o& a wor) ethic. 3 (ogah 3 is de&ined in the Gita itsel& as 3 samatvam yogah uchyate 3 meaning an unchanging [Link] o& mind 5detachment.6 (ila) tells us that acting with an e7uable mind is +oga. 5Bal angadhar (ila), JLMK-JQ#0, the .recursor o& andhi-i, hailed by the .[Link] o&

India as 3 )okmanya ,3 .robably the most learned among the country9s .olitical leaders. >or a [Link] o& the meanings o& the word 3+oga3, see &oot o& this .age.6 By ma)ing the e7uable mind the bed-roc) o& all actions, the Gita evolved the goal o& uni&ication o& wor) ethic with ethics in wor), &or without ethical .rocess no mind can attain an [Link]. (he guru,

/di San)ara 5born circa L00 /06, says that the s)ill necessary in the .er&ormance o& one9s duty is that o& maintaining an evenness o& mind in &ace o& success and &ailure. (he calm mind in the &ace o& &ailure will lead to [Link] [Link] and see clearly where the .rocess went wrong so that corrective ste.s could be ta)en to avoid shortcomings in &uture. (he .[Link] o& reducing our attachment to .ersonal gains &rom the wor) done is the [Link] &or attaining e7uanimity. It has been held that this .[Link] leads to lac) o& incentive &or e&&ort, stri)ing at the very root o& wor) ethic. (o the contrary, concentration on the tas) &or its own sa)e leads to the achievement o& e8cellence - and indeed to the true mental ha..iness o& the wor)er. (hus, while [Link] theories o& motivation may be said to lead us to the bondage or e8trinsic rewards, the Gita1s .[Link] leads us to the intrinsic rewards o& mental, and indeed moral, satis&action. *anagement needs those who .ractise what they .reach 3:hatever the e8cellent and best ones do, the commoners &ollow,3 says Sri Krishna in the Gita . (he visionary leader must be a missionary, e8tremely .ractical, intensively dynamic and [Link] o& translating dreams into reality. (his dynamism and strength o& a true leader &lows &rom an [Link] and [Link] motivation to hel. others. 3I am the strength o& those who are devoid o& .ersonal desire and attachment. % /r-una, I am the legitimate desire in those, who are not o..osed to righteousness,3 says Sri Krishna in the J0th [Link] o& the Gita .