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Current Implications of Shloka 19, Chapter 3, of Shri Bhagvat Gita on Management & Leadership

Transliteration
Tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samachara; asakto hy acharan karma param apnoti parushah.

Literal Translation
Therefore always perform actions expected of you without attachment; For, by performing action without attachment, man attains the highest.

Discussion
As the assignment focuses on the impact of this verse on management and leadership philosophy, a detailed discussion of the meaning itself is being omitted, for brevitys sake. The relation between the above shloka and contemporary management and leadership shall hence be explored area-wise. Karma-Yoga (the Yoga of Action) & Nishkama Karma (Desire-less Action) shall be the chief areas from Shri Bhagvat Gita around which the discussions shall evolve. Beginning with the foremost element of management itself - Strategy Karma Yoga & Business Strategic Management Traditionally, strategy, despite its numerous definitions by as many scholars, has always included two vital components at least until recently. The first one of these is what s often termed as the organization- environment fit. And 2nd component points towards strategy being defined as an action directed towards a goal. However, this approach to understand strategy is generally irrelevant today. In the present dynamic business environment, which information overload and quickly changing variables, strategy as a long-term plan, which is formed by deliberation over desired future goal, is a fallacy in itself. This arises due to the sheer inability to predict any future event in the changing business world, and hence changing goals. Strategy, traditionally, is classified as intended, realized and emergent. This distinction itself warrants discussion on the traditional definition of strategy. Obviously, as the future is unknown, and therefore, unpredictable, it is impossible that the intended strategy remains the same as realized strategy. Even the realized strategy is guided by events and outcomes which were completely unexpected, and thus demanded a complete change in course of action - what we know as emergent strategy. Thus strategy has to move away from analysis and pre-planning to synthesis and creativity. Now the interesting linkage - if we are so convinced that strategies today are largely emergent in nature, what is the point of defining goals at all? Another way of looking at a goal-based approach would be, that while managerial behavior needs to be goal-directed, a need for continuous Page 2 of 6

redefinition of goals, and the related actions thereof, definitely arises. Thus not only the strategy but also the other two components of an organization - the structure and the systems need to evolve on a continuous basis. This school, however, seems too complex to follow and more like a force-fitting in the goal-directed approach. This leads to the need for a new way to look at these concepts. A more recent development which derives out of the work on the theory of complexity, has led to doubts over the basic idea behind traditional strategy organization and environment fit. What this leads to is the idea of having a symbiotic/synergetic co-evolution instead of a forced-fit. Now, this co-evolution, which results in a network between the organization and the environment, takes the organization away from the point of balance, or equilibrium however, this still stays within what may be termed as strange attractor essentially a bounded region within the parameter space. These parameter bound areas are emergent by the nature itself, and thus cannot be predicted easily which leads to the only constancy around us change, or flux as I prefer to name it. All beings, as well as organizations that not only survive but also thrive, do so by being in a state of flux - a condition characterized by being at the edge of chaos, but not chaos itself. The above discussion makes two things apparent. Firstly, it is not in our interest, in fact, even futile, to try to identify and reach the best organization environment fit via strategy. What we should rather, aim at, is the great balancing act, while dancing at the edge of chaos, in that perfect state we termed as flux. This would require continuous experimentation and evolution of all organizational attributes and components. The above tenet almost leads us to the second, and the more vital point as future events are unpredictable, it is pointless to set a long-term goal and act towards it. Thus strategy no longer remains a goal-directed action. Attempt to change this goaldirected mindset is not very easy especially as it is ingrained in the western way of living. As a famous journalist mentions about his talks with an American Jesuit (a consultant on ethical issues to MNCs; the latter concluded, If it is not the goal that is important, what else is?" But where is Karma Yoga in all this? Well, clearly, if we define strategy as not goal-directed, what we are moving towards, is a Karmic Strategy Paradigm- viewing strategy as a selfless that is to be performed irrespective of its perceived outcome. Karma Yoga, at a preliminary level, points to performance of action without bearing any expectation of reward in the mind. However, it actually goes much beyond this; Karma Yoga actually implies the performance of actions in concordance with the Yuga Dharma. Well, from a business perspective pointing to a flux-like behavior, looking for, and attaining combinations of resources which are always new, is Yuga Dharma. And not surprisingly, this is not far away from that coveted managerial quality of Intra-preneurship. This leads us to: Entrepreneurship and not bottom-line appreciation is the dharma of a manager the most important conclusion from above. This axiom can be reinforced by looking at the bedtime business stories of success for example, A look at the rise and fall of SONY, which once led the world, by its devotion to creation of newer and better products every day. The other side of this story is pleasant too incidentally, rewards and success invariably manage to identify and embrace the Karma Yogi! Page 3 of 6

Karma Yoga & Transformational Leadership Of all leadership styles and theories, today Transformational Leadership is the considered as the basis of all competitive advantage for all managers. One of the basics of this style is to possess unsurpassed and unimaginable effect on the followers of the leader, and consequently, also on the associated social systems. However, this result is only possible, if the leader/manager has risen far above his/her personal interests and then leads the team, not for a self-directed goal, but because his duty calls. This is not different from the advise offered by Shri Krusna to Arjuna. Those who practice Nishkama Karma, are identified to be working towards self-actualization one of the highest levels in Abraham Maslows needs. These managers work because they have been entrusted with a responsibility, and for no other reason. Thus extrinsic motivators are not required for them; nor are performance reviews. This is reflected in the recent trends in the market where companies like Adobe, have removed all forms of performance appraisal systems from its workplace. Even the salaries of employees are not incentive based now; for most valuable employees, the salaries are being increasingly fixed, and not linked to some goals (unlike a decade ago). There is utter lack of egoism during carrying out of actions, and hence, these managers/leaders soon become role models for those around them. Hence, in most cases it has been observed that team members choose such an employee as their leader who is a Karma Yogi. To further elucidate the above point, this research on around 250 employees shows the following astonishing results:

Correlation of Leadership Characteristics with Karma Yoga

The above results elucidate the points mentioned above clearly all the vital characteristics of transformational leadership namely, Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation & Individualized consideration, possess a strong positive correlation to Karma Yoga. Thus this research successfully establishes the hypothesis that managers who practice Karma Yoga excel at Transformational Leadership and the other way round is as true too.

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Karma Yoga & Managerial Behavior However, an important caveat must be clarified immediately at this juncture goal-less work does not mean rejection of work itself. It means, to put simply, Work as Worship. Shri Bhagwat Gita also clarifies for thise who would assume contrarily, in the following verse; "Therefore, do you perform your allotted duty, for action is superior to inaction (III-8). However, this action is in the form of what we describe as Nishkama Karma. At this juncture, to understand better, it would make sense to as clearly distinguish Sakama Karma (Attached Involvement) from Nishkama Karma (Detached Involvement). Juxtaposing them in context of attitude towards work, the following differences may be pointed out:

Nishkama Karma, however, it must be clarified that, does not point towards either a negative attitude or indifference. It just points to not being result-oriented. Also, while Nishkama Karma is led by inspiration, Sakama Karma points towards extrinsic motivation all along. As a result, for example, the latter often leads to insurmountable work load/stress and workaholism as it looks towards success, in the course, causing many more instances of psychological as well as physiological burnouts. Nishkam Karma, on the contrary, points to a much more equilibrated approach and as now work metamorphoses into a search for pursuit of self-excellence via worship, it causes immense personal satisfaction. A fundamental tenet of Nishkama Karma Yoga is being mindful of the present. This behavior leads to equanimity of mind and detachment from results, and the ensuing rises and falls which are a part and parcel of any business cycle. The corporate world of today is but overruled by unforeseen levels of cut-throat competition it leads one to wonder if survival in present conditions is possible at all. Direct fallout this behavior is the fact that today the ends have become much more important than the means, when it comes to business. As a result, unethical practices and behaviors, frauds, stratagems, treasons etc are on the rise in count and intensity. It has developed an unhealthy ecosystem to live in, where survival requires breathing toxic fumes all day long. In this context, it appears that Karma Yoga provides an operational basis for constructive achievement more relevant today than in the Mahabharata times. Page 5 of 6

As Paramahamsa Sawmi Niranjanananda Saraswati puts it, the attributes of Karma Yoga may be listed as renunciation of limited desires, positive thinking and equanimity, absence of expectation, efficiency, egoless-ness and dharma. These are the desired competencies in a good manager. This may be better understood by trying to understand the duties and responsibilities of a manager. A manager assumes full responsibility for his operational unit, sets targets, and allocates manpower and assets in the most productive way to obtain desired results. This super-person, in the real world, does not exist. However, practicing Karma Yoga seems to be that perfect tool to follow and embrace in the workplace.

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