Leadership:

"Leaders become great not because of their power but, because of their ability to empower

others" --John Maxwell.

The leader in the whole story of Mahabharata is undoubtedly Lord Krishna who guided

Pandavas all through their tough times and kept their spirits high by reminding them of their

duty and their objective of life. Though Krishna was the leader, it can be seen that he never

played any role in the battle. Instead he acted as a beacon to the Pandavas and stood to the

John Maxwell’s definition of a leader. Lord Krishna empowered five brothers of Pandavas

with proper guidance and support. He motivated them to develop all the skills required to

fight for themselves and the betterment of the world (for dharma). Without Krishna, the

Pandavas would have failed.

Like Pandavas, every organisation needs a leader with dexterity comparable to Krishna of

Mahabharata. Making the organisation achieve its mission is in the hands of a leader.

Organising, strategizing, and managing people efficiently is what is called for from a leader.

In the modern days, the credit of the success of companies like Apple, Infosys and Tata goes

to their respective leaders. They are the ones who made the company tread the path of

success in difficult times.

Team work:
Team work of Pandavas is one more thing that needs to be highly appreciated. The common

goal of establishing the rule of law in the Indian sub-continent was the one that kept them

working diligently. Everyone on the side of Pandavas was highly committed to their goal.

They were selfless and bound to their ultimate aim of dharma. Even in the times of difficulty

they motivated and stood by each other.

Thus, all the organisation need to build a good team spirit among its employees and care for

their employees. The success of HCL technologies by adopting the policy of Employees first

and Customers second stands as proof for the significance of valuing the employees. A welldefined

vision and mission with which employees connect is also equally important for the

success of the organisation.

Mahabharata is a story of challenges which makes it comparable to business situations. Every

chapter of Mahabharata has a lesson to offer which could help business executives to plan

their strategy and make a meaningful impact. Hence being Indians let us start looking at

Mahabharata and other mythological stories with business perspective and make maximum

out of them.

Allies
Kauravas: Centralized power system. The greatest empire of the time. But not many powerful allies,
except from old relations from far off places like Gandhara (Shakuni), Sindhu (Jayadrath) and
Kambodia (Camboja - Bhagadutt)

Pandavas: No wealth. No power of their own. But powerful alllies all over India.

• Panchala through Marriage with Darupadi.

• Dwarka throgh marriage with Arjuna and Subhadra.

• Magadh through marriage of Shadeva and Vijaya.

• Chedi through marriage of Nakula and Karenmayi.

• Kasi throgh marriage of Bhima and Balandhara.

• Kekaya throgh marriage of Yudhisthira and Devika.

• Matsya throgh marriage of Abhimanyu and Uttara.

• The Rakshasas through marriage of Bhima and Hidimba.

• The Nagas through marriage of Arjuna and Uloopi.

Empowerment of Women
Kauravas: Patriarchal structure. Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Dhratarashtra, Vidur, Shakuni, Duryodhana,
Karna, Duhsasana. No women in the decision-making process. Gandhari retreated to the Inner
Chambers. Nobody listened to her.

Pandavas: Matriarchal Structure.

• Kunti was the authority supreme for the Pandavas.

“Whatever my mother says is Dharma to me” - Yudhisthira.

• Draupadi was a companion in whatever the Pandavas did. She had a big role in all the decision-
making. Without her the Pandavas would have most probably retired to the forests.

• Even the younger Pandavas, Ghatotkach, Abhimanyu and Iravan were brought up by their
mothers. So the female influence was huge.

Management Lesson: Women = Better Half. Any team which doesn’t have women is unbalanced.

The Masculine traits of Aggression and Dominance should be balanced by the Feminine traits of

Harmony and Sustenance.

Notion of time

One of the pressing problems that modern organizations face arise out of their notion of time.
Modern organizations suffer from extreme levels of 'short termism.' Software companies in India
provide what is known as quarter-on-quarter guidance. In simple terms what it means is that they
inform the market players and their stakeholders what can be expected of them in the next quarter.
Invariably they project a positive outcome quarter after quarter and in order to meet these
guidelines they engage in a variety of activities that create stress, and a short term oriented
approach to managing business. This invariably brings negative results in the long run. For instance,
to cut costs and show impressive results, it is customary in several organizations to slash training
budgets and expenditure on Research and Development (R & D). Clearly, this will make the
organisation less equipped for the future. Unfortunately, a series of short I terms never makes a long
term for any organization. While some have understood this aspect they have not been able to
change the way they work and take decisions that are consistent with this requirement. In the
Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna's first lesson to Arjuna is to train his mind to the notion of time that is
essentially long term (Chapter 2, Slokas 11-13). A good understanding of this helps managers to feel
less pressurized of performance targets in the short run and instead develop some conviction to
engage in activities and decisions that seek to create a balance between short term and long term.
Change management becomes easier as they develop comfort in the fact that people come and go
and good principles and ideas must remain and drive choices in organisations. They will also begin to
realise (as it happened to Arjuna) that whenever they face complicated and apparently
insurmountable problems, one way to broad-base the problem and search for acceptable solutions
is to revisit the notion of time.