JAI HO ! Spiritual Management

This immense world now seems much smaller owing to the spate of technological developments. USA or U.K., Poland or France, Manchester or Perth, live news of each and every place, each and every movement is available so easily at one single click. You could say that it might take more time to blink but lesser to get 24 x 7 details of this hi-tech world.

The effects of this rapidly changing world and the accordingly transforming lifestyles of its citizens have become quite visible in small towns and villages too. Gigantic multinational and national companies and corporate houses seem eager to make strong inroads in to the society. Though this trend is not very old in India, it has spread much more speedily in the past two decades. Developed nations underwent these changes long back and after all observing its effects on the societies there, they have endeavoured to make them more disciplined, more responsible and more welfare–oriented.

   Actually speaking, the need for these corrective actions was felt     because recent times have witnessed a global downtrend. This has   shaken big and famous corporate houses and companies  to the    core. Suffering from its negative effects, companies have had to lay  off employees, and reduce their expenditures. So much so that    even the crises management plans made to handle such  circumstances too failed to bring any substantial uptrend in the  circumstances. Thus  started the attempts to sow seeds of such  timeless values among corporate management teams that lead to a  harvest of healthy and happy thoughts, lay the groundwork for co-  operation and harmony and irrigate it with nectar of enthusiasm and zeal. Be it on an individual level or a collective one, if there’s one power able to usher in these fundamental changes, it is in the power of spirituality. This power actually brings to light our inherent spiritual strengths and also makes them flourish and thrive. The education of the same management  ability,named ‘spiritual management’, is fully capable of taking us far above the effects of any type of downtrend.

India,our nation,has always been the home of idealistic principles such as ‘Vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the entire earth is one family) and ‘Sarvebhavantu sukhinah’ (may all be happy). And that’s the reason that it can assay the role of a guide, or better still, the role of a spiritual guru, to the entire world in an effective way. It’s a matter of immense satisfaction that sound indications of the same have started emergent strongly at a global level.

India has a seemingly endless treasure of knowledge. Tremendous work has been done here in streams of spirituality, literature,philosophy and psychology. Though management appears to be quite a recent branch of knowledge,one that logically analyses and researches,and is coming up rapidly in these modern times,yet observing closely,we discover that in any thriving civilization, the hand of able management appears above everything else. Be it ancient Egyptians or Mesopotamian civilizations or India’s own Indus valley or vaidic or post vaidic civilization or the developed or developing modern civilization. We can rephrase this points in these words also that if a civilization is progressing at all fronts then undoubtedly there is no reason to disbelieve that it is being managed with high ability. The quest of Indian knowledge has magnified speedily among developing as well as developed nations. All other nations seem to be standing with cupped palms to benefit from long standing Indian traditions.

There is nothing astonishing in this. It has been happening from time to time in the past too that the world has gained from our wisdom. But it is due to the globalization, technological revolution and India’s increasing prestige in the world that this trend has become as clear as board writing on bare walls. Beginning with the 70’s and the 80’s,when Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Aacharya Rajneesh and Aacharya Ram etc.presented in foreign lands,a new and contemporary version of ancient  Indian culture,it forced powerful nations of the world to alter their perceptions regarding Indian wisdom. Deepak Chopra who was selected as ‘The Messiah of alternative medicine’ among 20^th centuries ‘100 icons and heroes’ by the Time Magazine in 1999,as carried the flag of Indian Ayurveda into foreign lands. And now Baba Ramdev, a modern Patanjali of Yoga and Ayurveda, has gained much praise by advocating fearlessly in India and abroad, the need to adopt Yoga as the basis of a healthy life irrespective of cast, creed, color and nationality.

Similarly,under the guardianship of Sri Ravishankar,the Art of Living course is introducing a new philosophy of life to western lifestyles, a philosophy that innately based on Indian values only.

Today management classes,workshops,conferences and seminars all over the world are considered incomplete if devoid of discussions about Indian philosophy,spirituality and psychology. A discussion on these is considered in tune with contemporary times. Talking of what’s occurring inside our own country,those who nurtured the related books,ideas and philosophy,and whose wisdom was downplayed as ‘belonging to a section only’ out of politics,are now touted in foreign nations. As a popular saying goes in Hindi,’Ghar ka jogi jogana, aan gaon ka siddh’,i.e.deemed a lunatic in one’s own village,and a sage in next one. Thankfully now people have become more aware over here to. Topics such as time management,leadership,motivation,mind control,stress management and human relationships etc. are all linked to management and people entering these streams are given not just detailed explanation but relevant training as well. With the objective of awakening and fine tuning all the hidden positivism inside humans, modern management gurus and corporate managers seem committed to take help from spirituality in order to gain better results results in this direction.

One might wonder on the relevance of spirituality in management of business! This thought has no con temporariness any longer. In fact, to even think like this is deemed reflective of being narrow minded and outdated.There are three points of view in management. The first is the analysis of the situation, a state of brain. The second state linked to the heart is of individual reactions upon receiving a news or information. The third is the philosophical one, on which work has begun in earnest now. Management courses make analysis their main basis. But it is coming into belief that the future managers will have to leave the stamp of creative thinking, stress management and balanced reactions in their day to day business activities. Only then it will bring about welfare for all and everyone will be able to achieve holistic mental growth which will yield the courage to say good riddance to stresses born out of the rush of this busy and hasty life. With this shall awaken the resolve, the stability and the habit of staying cool in circumstances of all kinds. Attainment of transparency and uniformity in personality as well as behavior shall lead to building better brand image, not just of self but also of the organization.

Talking of today’s environment, IIM-Bangalore has assimilated the topic of ‘Spirituality for the Global Leaders’ as an alternative subject. Doors of other Institution too have opened to holdings discussions and debates on topics similar to these. Workshops grounded in philosophy and spirituality are becoming prevalent.Examples are being quoted from tales of Ramayan and Mahabharat. Bhagwad Gita and Krishna have become top voices in the field of management and have found permanent places among the words of all management gurus. Lord Krishna has been revered by devotees for long but now even managers do not deem him less reverential than any topmost CEO.

On the other hand, Lord Ram is the personification of Dharma. He is a born leader and an extremely capable corporate head. He has a unique and positive approach towards tackling adverse circumstances. Now this is being necessarily highlighted as a basic facts in management classes. It is coming into belief that the management tips imparted by Maharshi Vyas to the society thousands of years ago, long before Peter Drucker, C.K.Prahlad, Arindam Chaudhry and Stephen Covey, are still valid. The Sunderkaand of Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas has become the Bible of management that presents and details Hanuman’s brilliant and faithful character as that of an able, talented and responsible executive. Similar streams of thoughts have been endorsed by best sellers such as Spencer Johnson’s ‘who moved my cheese’ and Bill Gates ‘Business @ speed of thought’. In the same context is available in markets another interesting books titled ‘Bhishma @ Management and Governance’ that teaches management credos by focusing on Bhishma, the ascetic super warrior of Mahabharat.

Summing all that has been said here that what the present day management gurus recommended as ‘working without expectations and with detachments’ via ‘the theory of motivation’ and ‘the theory of inspiration’, is actually a part of spiritual management only. That’s why for most CEO's,the last shloka of Gita is the golden touch that brings fundamental and thorough changes in life. This  shloka says that wherever Yogeshvara Krishna is present in the form of the most supreme wisdom, and influenced by that wisdom, Arjun is ready to carried out his karma in a contemporary manner, there shall certainly be victories and achievements. It seems decided that spiritual management shall attain the numero uno status in the management strategy of future.

Jai Ho! Spiritual Management.