Mystique of Krishna: Leadership from the eyes of the Bhagwad Gita

Leadership is perhaps the most controversial and elusive of all concepts. Numerous pundits have offered countless theories, but there is no consensus on which one best defines this noble concept.

The most that experts can agree on is that men and women throughout history whose actions earned them respect and popular followings exhibited certain qualities that earned them the title of “leader.”

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Before we go any further, let’s answer the question: Why do we need leadership? The following information from United Technologies Corporation of Connecticut published in the Wall Street Journal should shed some light on this:

“Let’s get rid of management! People don’t want to be managed. They want to be led. Who’s heard of a world manager? World leaders, yes. Education leaders, yes. Political leaders, yes. Business leaders, yes. They lead. They don’t manage. The carrot always beats the stick. Ask your horse. You can lead your horse to water, but you can’t manage it to drink. If you want to manage others, manage yourself. Do this well, and you’ll be ready to stop managing. Then, start leading.”

Therefore, for any company, country or civilization to progress, it must have good leadership. But which leadership style is most effective? Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, General Douglas MacArthur, or… Lord Krishna?

God of dance!

Standing on one leg, the other crossed on his lap, a flute in his mouth, wisps of hair flowing and a mysterious look in his eyes, Krishna is far from the image of today’s dynamic corporate leaders, but he is a master communicator, a motivator and understands the importance of “smoothness”.

He knew how to boost morale in a frustrated Arjuna on the battlefield, how to get Yudhishthir to mislead Dronacharya, and how to deal with the extreme ideas of Duryodhana. Like a true general, he planned the entire Mahabharata war, from controlling Bhishma’s temper to Bhishma’s physical strength and lack of brains, he did it all with extraordinary grace.

Unveiling the mystery…

Surprisingly, although Westerners do not like or quote other works of Indian literature except the Bhagavad Gita, they seem to have a somewhat amusing impression of Krishna as a fun-loving god who likes to dance with women (gopis).

But Lord Krishna is no ordinary man, but the Supreme God himself, who descended to earth to play the role of the prince of the contemporary dynasty. In this role, he provides guidance to all in many forms: to those who see him as a youth, he is a son; to those who see him as a contemporary, he is a friend; to those who worship him, he is a god; to those who offer him love, he is a lover.

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While Lord Rama was an effective leader because he upheld values ​​like tradition, justice, and sacrifice, Krishna was an effective leader because he was diplomatic in dealing with all kinds of people. However, Krishna’s techniques were so subtle that despite his clever and sensible ideas, he never came across as “cunning.” This is how he was able to respond appropriately to his evil opponents while maintaining his own noble character.

With such “skills”, Krishna was indeed best placed to speak about leadership, as he did to his friend and devotee Arjuna some 50 centuries ago.

Bhagavad Gita – The Song of the Lord…

The Bhagavad Gita begins with a battle line between two hostile armies, with Lord Krishna becoming Arjuna’s charioteer, personally driving the legendary archer’s chariot. When Arjuna loses his fighting spirit upon seeing the elders in the enemy camp, Krishna delivers the historic sermon that forms the text of the Bhagavad Gita.

The most striking feature of leadership, the Bhagavad Gita explains, is that it takes into account the power of followers; a concept not mentioned in other modern leadership theories.

Followers are very important. Someone rightly said, “If you want to lead, you must first learn to follow.”

An anecdote often cited to illustrate the importance of followership is about a young woman who was applying for a management course. She was asked, “Are you a leader?” She wanted to be honest, so she answered, “No.” She later decided she had made a mistake and gave up any hope of being selected.

Surprisingly, she was selected and called in for an interview. When she inquired why they chose her despite the negative answer to the leadership question, the admissions committee told her that they had received thousands of applications and all of them had answered yes to the question; therefore, they decided that with so many leaders around, they needed at least one follower.

This wisdom contains a profound truth about leadership, which Lord Krishna understood well. He explained that people are divided into three categories: Tamas, Sattvas, and Rajas.

When the Tamas came to him hoping to get closer to God, Lord Krishna advised them to have blind faith in his existence and this blind faith would lead them to God. Hence, he called them Bhaktiyogis (believers).

When people of the other extreme, i.e. Satwas came to him, he advised them to deny the existence of God and go in search of the truth. This dream journey would help them to actually discover the existence of God. Hence, he called them Gyanyogis (visionaries).

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When the more ordinary Rajas approached him, he told them to keep working with piety to reach him. For them, work should be worship and he called them Karmayogis (work oriented ones).

By teaching these followers the principles, Lord Krishna was able to govern and lead them successfully.

Leadership True Love Theory

The Bhagavad Gita talks about four leadership styles, which Professor Arindam Choudhary explains brilliantly in his first best-selling book, adding a modern twist:

Those who show a lack of competence and responsibility at work need to be mentored (dand) to develop the right attitude. Those who need to become more mature need to be motivated. While Arindam calls it leading by seduction, I prefer to call it leading by attraction or charm (daam).

Those who have become more mature need association leadership (saam); they should be involved in the decision-making process. Trying to motivate this group to do everything may backfire because they are looking for approval.

The most mature people should be treated individually and given complete trust. Empowered leadership (bhed) {modern interpretation} works wonders for them.

Therefore, there is no one specific leadership style that is suitable for all categories of people in all situations, but rather depends on the maturity of the person and the situation.

Parents are often seen as excellent managers who use all of the above leadership styles, consciously or unconsciously, depending on the need of the moment. They love their children so much that they cannot give them anything but the best. That is why the best leadership theory is probably the “True Love Leadership Theory”.

This is one of the valuable teachings of the Bhagavad Gita that defines leadership and explains some of the mystique surrounding the awesome Krishna!

Sources: Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada – in its original form – and Counting Chickens Before They Hatch by Prof. Arindam Choudhary.

Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
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