Spiritual Guidelines for a Values-Based Manager
Morality and good conduct are of primary importance in business. When people
possess these qualities, anything can be achieved in society. These qualities
will make your superiors develop confidence in you and your competence. When
they gain such confidence in you, they would be ready to offer greater
responsibilities to you. Therefore, first make people develop trust in you. For
example, an affluent person has a cook in the house. When the cook serves the
master faithfully, the master in course of time is likely to hand over the
house keys to him. Even when he goes out of the house for some work, he would
leave the key and other household responsibilities to the cook.[i]
Similarly, believing that 'Duty is God', if you discharge your duties
diligently, your superior will be ready to give you greater responsibilities.
Faith is essential if you wish to prosper in life - faith in yourself and faith
in God. This is the secret for achieving excellence. We must inculcate these
two. They are the primary chapters to be mastered in one's education. You may
have learnt very little. But make sure to put into practice what you have
learnt. It is of no use to learn a lot and put very little into practice.
Spiritual Qualities of a Values-Based Leader-Manager
SPIRITUAL QUALITIES OF A LEADER-MANAGER
1. Fundamental Discrimination
Voice of conscience signifies the inner path of spirituality - the Nivritti
Marga. Thoughts signify the outward path - Pravritti Marga. The mind receives
everything through the senses from this phenomenal world. For example: the eyes
witness and the mouth speaks. In this way, the external world-of-objects
attracts the mind. This is the fundamental nature of material things.
Conscience is related to the intellect and is associated with awareness (Chit).
Everything that is perceived by the senses is first analysed by the conscience
- 'Is it good or bad, right or wrong?' It rejects that which does not conform
to its norms or standards. The voice of the conscience possesses the power of
discrimination. We should not pursue the thoughts. It is often said, 'Follow
the Master'. Your conscience is to be inferred as the master here.
Thoughts accept blindly whatever comes their way. But conscience which has the
power to discriminate, takes time to discriminate and then decide. Hence,
whenever you are in a predicament or dilemma, do not react instantly. Do not
blindly follow your thoughts. They come and go in a jumbled manner. They are
like the passing clouds, a characteristic of the materialistic way of living.
But the conscience follows the inward path. This path can show us the right
direction to the truth. Hence, always follow the voice of the conscience. If
you choose to follow your thoughts, you will only be degrading yourself to
lower levels of existence. Take care to see that the conscience examines every
thought on the basis of it being good or bad. After the conscience decides the
appropriateness of the intention, one must put the good thought into action.
2. Love of God
'Love is God' and is present in everybody. However, each person makes use of
love for different purposes. You have to always love everybody. You may
hesitate to love everybody as you may not perceive any benefit in that. To this
enquiry the answer would be in the form of another question: Why do you want to
hate? What is the reason for this hatred? Hence, if you ask what you gain by
loving, the answer for this lies in another query: what do you gain by hating?
Therefore, in order to do away with the flaw that arises on account of hatred,
we must foster love. There is nothing that one would lose by loving everybody.
More so 'Love is God' and the human heart symbolizes love. Hatred is a
manifestation of the mind. Similarly, envy and ostentation are also
manifestations of the mind. Truth, compassion, sympathy, empathy, genuine
concern and sacrifice are all manifestations of the heart. Since you are human,
you must accept and follow only that which springs from the heart. When you
love all, peace of mind reigns. If you nurture hatred in yourself, 'peace' is
torn into 'pieces'. When the creations of the mind are all akin to passing
clouds, why do you rely on them? Love, sacrifice, truth and the like are
permanent. They confer immortality on mankind. Elimination of immorality is the
only way to immortality.
To be Continued...
Notes:
i. Baba here refers to wealthy joint family households in ancient India who
used to employ cooks to look after the cuisine requirements of the entire
family living under one roof. The family comprised 2 - 3 generations of people
along with their off springs, which was administered by the family head known
as 'Karta'. The head cook was assisted by a few people in the family who
together used to manage the entire responsibility of the kitchen besides
cooking i.e. purchases of supplies for kitchen from time to time, menu
management, social feeding, etc. He was aware of the tastes and preferences of
each and every family member and used to move in the family more like a family
member.
Source: Guidelines for a Values-Based Manager: Spiritual, Personal and
Business, Chapter 11, Man Management: A Values-Based Management Perspectiv
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