Leadership lessons from Bhagavad Gita

Some Impressionistic Take away from the Book of
Ace V Simpson
Leadership Lessons from Bhagavad Gita
Ramki
ramaddster@gmail.com

 Ace V. Simpson is a Reader in Human Resource
Management and Organizational Behavior at Brunel
Business School, Brunel University London, and an
Adjunct Fellow at UTS Business School, University of
Technology Sydney, Australia.
About the Author
 He researches positive organizational practices that promote employee
well-being, psychological safety, flourishing and thriving. His primary
research focus is on cultivating organizational compassion, and he has
worked with industry and public sector organizations to develop
organizational compassion capabilities as a positive approach to
addressing the persistent problem of workplace bullying.
 Ace’s research has been published in journals such as the Journal of
Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management Inquiry
and Management Learning. In addition to his love for research and
teaching, Ace also enjoys practicing yoga, exploring philosophy, travelling,
learning from history and supporting the performing arts.

 “Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita,’ wonderfully
combines the two worlds of management and spirituality.
 For professionals navigating negative corporate karmas,
Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita offers a way
forward for overcoming self-defeating habits and managing
the mind’s negative chatter that is often the main obstacle to
effective leadership.
 By promoting a leadership approach of caring for followers,
stakeholders and future generations, the book offers hope for
harmonious workplace relations and a protected
environment.
 Based on leadership by inspiration as opposed to leadership
by control, Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
provides an alternative to conventional leadership.
Prelude- 1/2

 Particularly, in the times we live, where there is a crisis of faith in
leadership, the insights from this book presents a vision of linked-
leadership—leaders who are linked through loving-connection or
bhakti-yoga with themselves (through self-knowledge), with other
beings, with nature and with the supreme source.
 As exemplified by Krishna taking over the reins of Arjuna’s chariot,
the crux of this book is leadership, not as a title or position, but as a
commitment to service, excellence and virtuous character that
motivates and inspires others to pursue the same.
 The unique insights from this book will help you make sense of
different personality types to motivate others according to their
natures and inclinations, which will support you in forming effective
teams and creating a harmonious and prosperous organizational
culture. In short, this book challenges and equips leaders to step
up and cultivate unity and diversity, and achieve sustainable
wellbeing and happiness in their organizations.
Prelude- 2/2

Part -1
First – 6 Chapters
Self-Leadership & Servant Leadership

Chapter -1
Leadership Values in Conflict

 A true leader is a spiritual leader who remains resolute under all
circumstances, there being no situation that justifies the leader
being remiss in striving to uphold high standards of virtue.
 Spiritual leadership is not dependent on external power and
conflict but on internal power, such as self-understanding, self-
discipline, self-satisfaction and selfless service.
 In upholding virtue, you will be called to make hard choices and
take actions that disrupt the status quo, which can evoke
conflict and enmity.
 The other type of conflict is internal, brought about when there
is a clash in your values. Arjuna’s confusion as to the right
course of action in the midst of a fratricidal war sets the scene
for Krishna to speak the Bhagavad Gita, his teachings being
relevant to all leaders seeking wisdom, even in this day and
age.
Chapter-1- Overview

Leadership Lessons -Chapter-1
 Leaders should know their strength & limitations and be open to taking
support from those who are experts in areas where they are challenged
or weak.
 Test as true leader is whether the leaders are committed to observing
Inner excellence principles in all contexts, there being no context in
which they show lack of diligence in striving to uphold virtue- Dharma.
 Comparative competitive assessment is an important leadership
practice, as it is critical for a leader to have a thorough understanding of
the field. Such analysis should not only consider material factors but
also account for alignment with spiritual principles.
 Care for family & friends should not lead you to compromise on dharma
and compel leaders to make a biased judgements that are unfair, unjust
and even illegal.

• Leadership values is not dependent on external powers and
conflicts but on internal powers- Self Understanding, Self-
Discipline, Self –satisfaction and Selfless –service.
• In living up to virtue as a leader in society, leaders will be called
upon to make hard choices & take actions that can evoke
conflict and enmity, even from those whom leaders respect and
love.
• Although conflict is undesirable, when leaders make sacrifices
to face uncomfortable situations with courage and
determination as righteous leadership duty, leaders will be
honored as hero.
• When leader’s values clash, it causes inner conflict and
confusion. The resolution lies in value prioritization, requiring a
more mature understanding of dharma which leaders can learn
from the lessons of Gita.

Chapter -2
Self-Awareness in Leadership

 Self-awareness, an essential leadership quality, requires
understanding your eternal identity as a spiritual being, distinct from
the material bodies you have inhabited over many lifetimes.
 As an independent self-aware leader, your happiness will be drawn
from within, making you resilient to the winds of change.
 Your primary duty as a leader is to act as a steward of resources and
to protect your dependents and the vulnerable.
 Your concentrated focus on loving service (bhakti ) will enable you to
cut through the knots of action and reaction (karma), providing
freedom from birth and death.
 The notion of linked leadership is the main teaching on leadership in
the Bhagavad Gita. By connecting with the divine through devotional
service you can invite divine grace, making possible even that which
appears impossible.
 Rather than merely seeing separated material objects with your
senses, you should instead perceive, with the eye of knowledge, the
unity of all beings and things as parts of the one divine truth.
Chapter-2- Overview

 Compassion in a leader is virtuous; however, leader’s compassion
must be born of strength and supported by wisdom to provide far-
reaching benefits.
 As a leader constantly striving to learn, improve and grow, leaders
must be willing to recognize those with superior knowledge and be
humble before them.
 Self-awareness is the primary quality of becoming a leader, which
involves understanding yourself as an eternal spiritual being, distinct
from your temporary material body.
 Rather than assuming performance & stability as the norm, leaders
should recognize change & instability as being the norm, and seek
to flow with, rather than against the current of change.
 As opposed to making decisions on the basis of material hankering,
fears and lamentations associated with bodily identification, leaders
should draw upon spiritual wisdom to make decisions from a place
of security, stability and loving service.

 It is leader’s duty to protect dependents, followers and the
vulnerable.
 The sacrifices leaders make in the struggle for justice are glorious,
regardless of whether they bring victory or defeat.
 Leadership should be viewed as Stewardship, Guardianship,
Custodianship and this is healthier. Rather than viewing as
possession, domination and control.
 As an independent self-aware leader, Leaders will experience
happiness from within, and therefore be resilient to the winds of
change.
 Leaders must master (lead) their own senses before they can truly
provide leadership for others.

 As a leader, you should transcend the paradoxical tension
between the idle path of knowledge (jnana) and the active path of
work (karma) by wisely carrying out actions and offering them as
loving service (bhakti).
 To lead you must have knowledge of the qualities or attributes of
nature (gunas), that is, ignorance, goodness and passion (tamas,
sattva, rajas) which permeate all things, living and nonliving. By
cultivating goodness as an offering of service, you can transcend
these qualities, experiencing love itself as its own intrinsic reward.
 Leadership also requires recognizing your own occupational virtue
(dharma) strengths and the innate dharma strengths of others to
reach exceptional performance at individual and team levels.
 A true leader further teaches by example, practicing self-
leadership, with your higher self controlling your intellect, which
controls your mind, which in turn controls your senses.
Chapter-3- Overview

 Leader’s ability to transcend the paradoxical tension between action
(karma) and intelligence (jnana) through work yoga is a superior
leadership capability.
 Leader’s motivational drivers as a leader as well as their beliefs
about other’s motives will inform the patterns of their leadership
practices. While managers, psychologists and economists recognize
the desire for reward (karma) and fear of punishment (jnana) as the
primary drivers of human behavior, the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes
love (bhakti) as a third more powerful alternative motivational driver.
 By offering leadership as loving service, it is free of karmic reactions
and constitutes true leadership by example.
 When you approach your leadership as an offering of service to the
Supreme, it becomes its own intrinsic reward, providing a sense of
meaning, purpose and happiness that satisfies from within.
 If you can tap into and nurture the intrinsic service motivation of
those you lead, you will bring out their best talents, efforts and
performance.

 What you do as a leader will have a more significant influence
on your followers than what you say. Keeping this in mind, do
not flaunt your privileges and show that you are exempt from
rules; be mindful that those who look up to you will emulate
your behavior.
 To lead, you must know the terrain. Specifically, you must
understand the three qualities of nature—ignorance, passion
and goodness—as combinations of these qualities permeate
all of material nature. This knowledge is applied
organizationally through an awareness of how these attributes
influence individual habits and the work culture.
 The leader’s role is to steer the organization towards
goodness. Ultimately, even goodness must be transcended by
offering all that one does as loving service.

 The ideal leader is unbound by karma and the qualities of
nature, or is at least on the path to freedom, and therefore
able to support others in recognizing and manifesting their
spiritual potential.
 Learn to recognize the dharma strength archetypes of the
people you lead as educator, warrior, entrepreneur or laborer,
and accordingly support them in becoming the best versions of
themselves. You should further be able to bring these different
personalities together to form powerful and effective teams.
 Leadership begins with the self. Without having control over
yourself, particularly lust, you cannot provide leadership to
others. To slay lust, you must command your chariot, with your
soul controlling your intelligence, which should control your
mind, giving direction to your senses in traversing the proper
path.

Chapter -4
Timeless Leadership

To be a timeless leader is to be a saintly leader (rajarishi), guided by
eternal spiritual truths.
By approaching these truths with an open heart, you will learn that at
the end of every pathway stands the same impartial Supreme Source,
granting rewards according to your subjective definitions of success.
Your ultimate success is not found in fleeting temporary rewards,
however, but in eternal spiritual freedom.
Your leadership should therefore distinguish between work in three
categories: work performed with attachment that produces binding
reactions (karma), forbidden work that causes harm to yourself and
others (vikarma), and non-work performed without attachment and
offered as loving service (akarma).
Leaders who offer all of their work to the divine as workship are
comparable to priests performing ritual worship. You can learn these
timeless truths by humbly seeking out the company of leaders in
disciplic succession who live by these teachings.
Chapter-4- Overview

 To be a saintly leader (Rajarishi) you must be guided by timeless
spiritual truths as opposed to relative material truths which quickly
become untrue due to their transitory nature.
 You can learn the timeless yoga truths by approaching the
teachings with open-hearted qualities of friendship and devotion.
 Whether aspiring or accomplished as a saintly leader, you should
adopt the timeless principles taught by Krishna as your own creed.
Similarly, your leadership should be characterized by actions to
protect virtue, oppose injustice and establish righteousness.
 At the end of every pathway to success stands the same impartial
Supreme Source, granting rewards according to your subjective
definitions of attaining ‘the result’.
 Your ultimate success will not be found in shallow temporary
rewards but in eternal spiritual benefits that do not lose their
importance with the passage of time.

 Just as the Supreme is impartial in dealing with the living, so too
should your leadership be characterized by impartiality, reciprocating
with all those who depend on you equally, without unfair bias or
discrimination.
 Your leadership should distinguish between work in three categories:
 Work performed with attachment that produces reactions that
bind you to the world (karma),
 Non-work performed without attachment and offered as loving
service that does not produce binding reactions (Akarma), and
 Forbidden work that produces negative reactions, causing harm
to yourself and others (Vikarma).
 The leader who offers all work to the divine as workship is
comparable to the priest performing ritual worship. • You should
learn the timeless truths of the Bhagavad Gita by humbly seeking
out the company of leaders, in disciplic succession, who live by
these teachings.

Chapter -5
Leadership towards Freedom

 Leadership undertaken by linking with the Supreme in work yoga further
links you with all beings in service and compassion. By neither hankering
for anything nor hating any being, you will recognize all as part of the
Supreme.
 The linked leader, enlightened by such spiritual understanding, gives up
personal attachment and possessiveness towards the body and the fruits
of action, instead offering everything to the Supreme in loving service.
 Such a leader is unbound by the effects of work. Seeing all beings as
divine parts of the Supreme, the leader who views everyone equally
recognizes that all beings are connected and so feels a sense of
universal kinship with them all.
 In particular, the vulnerable, including animals weaker and less intelligent
than humans, are recipients of the leader’s kindness and compassion.
 By beholding Krishna as the Supreme Source who pervades all
existence, as the ultimate friend and well-wisher of all beings, and as the
objective of all offerings and sacrifices such as work yoga, the linked
leader experiences inner peace and happiness.
Chapter-5- Overview

 Leadership undertaken by linking with the Supreme in work yoga
will further connect you with all beings in service and compassion.
Neither longing for anything nor hating any being, you will
recognize all as being part of the Supreme.
 The linked leader, enlightened by Inner Excellence
understanding, gives up personal attachment and possessiveness
towards the body and the fruits of action, offering everything to the
Supreme in loving service. Such a leader is not bound by
the effects of work.
 The leader who views all people equally, seeing all beings as
divine parts of the Supreme, recognizes that all beings are
connected and so feels a sense of kinship with them.
 By beholding Krishna as the Supreme Source, who pervades all
existence, as the ultimate friend and well-wisher of all beings and
as the objective of all offerings and sacrifices such as work yoga,
the linked leader experiences inner peace and happiness.

Chapter -6
Meditation & Leadership

 Your leadership must be authentic by being rooted in
personal values, discipline, realization, experience and
competency.
 Your fickle mind must also be controlled and made a
powerful ally rather than a frightful self-sabotaging foe.
Leaders who take time to calm their minds receive tangible
physiological, psychological and spiritual rewards.
 Further, they become aware of the presence of the divine in
all beings and things.
 Such a vision implies an approach of leadership as
stewardship, treating everyone and everything with respect.
 While the path of meditational yoga practice is challenging
for leaders in our current times, if you invest in grounding
your leadership, particularly in bhakti yoga, it will be to your
eternal credit.
Chapter-6- Overview

Traditional Leadership Model Servant Leadership Model
Traditional Leadership Vs. Servant Leadership

A person’s behaviour reflects their inner character.
Selfishness is replaced by Selflessness leads to Sustainability.
Applied within the leadership context, acting as a servant
leader will facilitate more detached and objective decision-
making conducted in the best interests of the organization, as
opposed to personal gains.
Such a servant leader inverts the traditional organizational
hierarchical pyramid where the CEO is generally at the top,
and frontline customer-facing employees are at the base.
In the inverted pyramid of the servant leadership model, the
customers are at the top, and are served by frontline
managers, supervisors, department heads, divisional
managers and the CEO, in that order. The CEO, thus, is at the
bottom of the inverted pyramid.
Traditional Leadership Vs. Servant Leadership

 Your leadership as yoga must come from a place of authenticity, practiced
according to your level of realization and values, experience and
competency.
 What is critical is the attention to learning and excellence that comes with
the attitude of service.
 Managing your mind is as foundational to effective leadership as it is to
yoga. Tools for controlling and harnessing the power of your mind include
having clarity about your values, choosing your association (in terms of
food, literature, entertainment and company), maintaining a mental vision
of your goals, being conscious of your language and practicing meditation.
 Leaders who take time to focus and calm the mind are rewarded with
tangible physiological, neurological, emotional, psychological and spiritual
benefits. Leaders should support their meditation with a healthy lifestyle
involving work–life balance where they make time for recreation, proper
diet and sufficient sleep.
 For a leader who cultivates the mind as a sacred inner space through
meditation, the ups and downs of life are less daunting.

 Considering that the divine is within all beings and all things, your role as a
leader is not to possess, dominate and control others; instead, it is a role of
stewardship, taking care of the resources and people placed in your charge.
 Comparing yourself with others to observe your spiritual equality is critical for
cultivating empathy and compassion, which are important leadership
capabilities.
 Equality is not a physical principle based on objective analysis of matter but a
metaphysical principle that relates to the spirit soul. The wisdom of the
Bhagavad Gita, which provides so much information about the spiritual
dimension, is therefore for training extraordinary leaders capable of observing
the spiritual equality of all beings.
 The leader who invests in cultivating bhakti yoga has nothing to fear
concerning loss. Even if you make mistakes or become distracted from the
path, your progress ledger will be maintained and picked up from where you
left off, at a later time.
 By practicing your leadership as an offering of bhakti, you will quickly
experience the deeper happiness, satisfaction and peace, which will have a
positive effect on your followers and the organization you lead.

Part -2
Second – 6 Chapters
Higher Purpose

Chapter -7
Leadership as the Yoga of Love

 Let your leadership be informed by faith in the words of the
Supreme. Among other things you will learn to distinguish between
the material energy (prakriti), the eternal souls (jiva) and the
Supreme (Īśvara), as three related but distinct ontological
categories.
 You will thereby recognize that your power is limited to influencing
minute quantities of material energy and other individual souls who
submit to your authority, but that you are always dependent upon
and subservient to the higher authority of the Supreme Source.
 As you cultivate spiritual vision, you will perceive divine presence
everywhere. By understanding the dominant quality of nature
(goodness, passion and ignorance) informing the material
conditioning of those you lead, you will learn to accordingly adapt
your leadership approaches.
 Thus, you will be unbiased in fulfilling the needs of the people you
lead, driven not by desire or hate but by love.
Chapter-7- Overview

 To be a good leader you must be a good listener. Amongst those
leaders seeking the Supreme, success can only be achieved by
cultivating faith in his divine words.
 Apply leadership with wisdom by distinguishing between the
material energy (prakriti), the souls (jiva) and the Supreme (Īśvara),
as three related but distinct ontological categories.
 Further recognize that your power is limited to influencing only
insignificant parts of both material energy and other individual souls
who submit to your authority, but that you are always dependent
upon and subservient to the higher authority of the Supreme
Source.
 As a leader with spiritual vision, you will perceive divine presence
everywhere, treating all things and beings with respect; humbly
seeing your role as that of a steward, custodian or servant; and
constantly feeling connected to and never separated from the
divine.

 Be discerning in your approach to leadership by reading the dominant
quality of nature (goodness, passion and ignorance) informing the
conditioning of those you lead. There is no one single approach to
leadership that is appropriate to all people in all situations.
 Seek out leadership guidance from those who are at a more advanced
stage on their spiritual journey, and who are also humble enough to
seek spiritual insights and learning from the natural environment.
 It is dangerous to bring those who disdain higher authority and
disregard virtue and spirituality into your intimate leadership circle and
give them leadership positions that carry great power and
responsibility.
 Be unbiased in fulfilling the needs of the people you lead, as Krishna
himself, without bias, facilitates the fulfilment of whatever it is that
living beings desire and karmically deserve.
 Your leadership should transcend the material dualities of desire and
hate and be driven only by love.

Chapter -8
Leadership & Supreme Position

 The quality of the questions you ask as a leader will focus the
mind of the respondent and influence the quality of the answers
you receive, affecting the quality of your decisions.
 Quality questions are framed in the positive and concern topics
that promote reflection on higher purpose and attainment.
 By cultivating spiritual consciousness, leaders can show, by
example, how one faces the most difficult of challenges with
dignity and without fear.
 The way you live will inform how you will be remembered long
after your departure from this world, as well as who you will
become in your next birth.
 Leadership should be performed as a regular devotional practice
that prepares the leader for an auspicious final departure.
 Leaders who consciously cultivate the practice of remembering
Krishna are certain to be linked with him in devotion and end the
cycle of birth and death, eventually attaining his spiritual abode.
Chapter-8- Overview

 The quality questions you ask as a leader will influence the quality
of the answers you receive, bearing an effect on the quality of your
decisions.
 Quality questions are framed in the positive and concern topics that
promote reflection on higher purpose and attainment.
 Although most people fear death and so pretend it does not exist,
focusing only on the here to maximize profits and material
enjoyment, inspirational leaders are conscious of death and plan
for the hereafter of their organization’s legacy, achieving
immortality through exemplary conduct and contributions.
 Linked leaders further show how, with the dignity of divine
consciousness, life’s greatest challenges can be faced fearlessly.
 Achieving a high level of spiritual consciousness does not imply
renouncing your leadership role in society: Krishna has not advised
Arjuna to stop fighting.

 Rather, Krishna tells Arjuna to remember him while fighting.
Thinking of Krishna while performing your regular duties is an
essential principle of linked leadership, enabling you to
effectively contribute in the here and achieve the ultimate
outcome in the hereafter.
 At the individual level, the leader should plan to become free of
material existence. By leading your organization as an offering
of service to Krishna and thereby rekindling your eternal spiritual
consciousness, you can be released entirely from the endless
creation and destruction of the cycle of birth and death.
 Leaders are conscious of the power of timing; however, there is
no consideration of timing in direct devotional practices. Leaders
who consciously keep Krishna in their minds every day will
definitely be united with him in devotion and attain his abode at
the time of demise.

Chapter -9
Confidential Knowledge

 As you open your heart, you will receive abundant confidential
knowledge.
 Despite being aware of the secret satisfaction in carrying out loving
service, externally your leadership may appear like that of others.
 There will be a perceptible difference, however, in your outer glow,
reflecting an inner satisfaction and peace. Internally, you will hold a
paradoxical mindset identifying all resources and people as
simultaneously one with and different from the divine, whom you will
experience in three different ways:
 As all-pervasive oneness,
 As a localized presence in the multifaceted diversity, and
 As the independent Supreme Personality.
 Thus, you will remain ever linked, making you a great leader, helping
you to manifest divine wisdom, beauty and compassion in the world.
By committing to this path of devotion, you will experience a tangible
deepening of your personal relationship with the divine and a sense of
feeling supported in all of your endeavors.
Chapter-9- Overview

 Leaders receive confidential information on the basis of trust. As
you open up your heart to others, you will be trusted with more
confidential knowledge.
 Externally, Leaders who know the secret satisfaction of loving
service ( Bhakti) may appear to be engaged in mundane work
just like other people. Others will perceive a critical difference,
however, in the leader’s outer glow reflecting a deep sense of
contentment.
 Your leadership will be enhanced by cultivating a paradoxical
mindset. All of the resources and people that you engage with
are to be seen as simultaneously one with & different from the
divine.
 You must respect the will of your followers, and never forcibly
impose your will upon unwilling subject. This does not mean
you cannot inform others of their options & enforce the
consequences of the choices they make.

 Divine love will make you a great leader. By linking with the
Supreme Soul in love, you will be a great soul, helping to
manifest divine wisdom, beauty, strength, fame &
compassion in with world.
 By learning to experience the Supreme in three different ways-
as-all- pervasive oneness, as a localized presence in the
multifaceted diversity and as separate Supreme personality- you
will forever be linked in a spiritual state of being, despite
providing active leadership in the world.
 By offering all you do as a leader in loving service, you will
experience a deepening of your relationship with Krishna and
you feel his presence in all of your endeavors.

Chapter -10
Leadership & Infinite Divinity

 Knowledge provides freedom. The leader who learns to see
all experiences as gifts from the divine naturally engages in
Bhakti yoga and is free.
 Wise leaders are therefore eager to seek out knowledge
concerning the divine’s opulence's and that of Bhkthi yoga.
 Through Bhakti, you will receive special support from within
the heart, providing you with spiritual bliss and insight that
affords you greater strength.
 Arjuna, the first student of the Bhagavad Gita provides linked
leaders with the best examples of how to comprehend this
sacred text.
 Fully accepting the teachings to be literally true, rather than
merely a metaphor. By realizing these teachings, you will see
Krishna in all his glory and appreciate the beauty in the
worlds as a catalyst for awakening divine love.
Chapter-10- Overview

 Leaders get freedom from Knowledge
 By learning to see all of your experiences as gifts of the divine, you will
naturally engage in bhakti yoga and be free.
 Wise leaders, therefore, are eager to seek out knowledge of divine
opulence and of bhakti yoga.
 Linked leaders receive compassionate support from within the heart,
providing spiritual bliss, insight and strength, all of which enables them
to provide compassionate care and strength to others.
 Following the example of its first student Arjuna, linked leaders accept
the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita as literally true, rather than as
metaphors.
 Through awareness and appreciation of the standards of excellence,
the leader can constantly strive to emulate and replicate it as their
offering of service.
 Linked leaders see Krishna in his glorious creation and fall in love with
him.

Chapter -11
Seeing the Integrated Whole

 On gaining insights from higher sources, your leadership will be
informed by a broader holistic perspective, beyond what is
commonly perceptible.
 Seeing through divine eyes will inspire you with faith and a
determination to perceive the divine in every aspect of life.
 Even if you are a heroic leader, you may sometimes be overcome
by fear in the face of overwhelming power.
 The right response in such situations is to pose pertinent
questions with courage.
 If you are a leader who seeks to be an instrument of divine
purpose, you will not fear the power of time but rather live with
detachment and compassion, acting as an agent of time.
 Recognizing that love is more powerful than fear, you should
further be conscious about cultivating personal relationships with
your followers, rather than appearing to operate as a faceless
figure of formidable power.

 Linked leaders, receiving revelations from higher authorities, see the
bigger picture, beyond what is commonly perceptible to human beings.
 Leaders who see through the divine eyes of spiritual revelation are
inspired with faith and a determination to perceive the divine in every
aspect of organizational life.
 Even heroic leaders can be overcome by fear in the face of awe-
inspiring power. the right response in such situations is to
courageously ask pertinent questions.
 Wise leaders do not resist time but rather deal with it respectfully and
beautiful, carrying out their responsibilities as leaders and agents of
time. some such leaders achieve credit for manifesting a particular
idea, technology or other innovation, whose time had come as part of
the world’s collective destiny.
 Linked leaders know that Love is more powerful than fear &
accordingly recognize the importance of cultivating personal
relationships with their followers rather than operating as a faceless
figure of power.

Chapter -12
Devotional Leadership

 When you receive support from Krishna above, by offering
your leadership in loving devotion, you will be in a better
position to support your dependent who look up to you.
 On your spiritual journey as a devoted leader, it is important
to recognize that your development and growth will not likely
be all at once.
 What is pivotal is that you make progress; it doesn’t matter if
this is swift or gradual.
 With such recognition, you will be better positioned to
compassionately encourage and support others according to
their individual levels of ability, commitment and realization.
 Further, your compassion and equipoise will enable you to
make better decisions in the face of change, providing
greater long-term benefit to a wider community of
stakeholders. .

 Devotional leaders receive support from Krishna and are thus
better positioned to support others who look up to them for
strength and guidance.
 Devotional leaders further recognize the importance of
progressive development in their own spiritual journey, rather
than insisting on immediate perfection.
 Recognition of the relevance of progressive development
also enables the devotional leader to compassionately
encourage and support followers as per their individual levels
of commitment, ability and realization.
 The devotional leader’s compassion and equipoise in the
face of change enables them to make better decisions that
provide greater long-term value to the stakeholders.

Part -3
Third – 6 Chapters
Holistic Systems

Chapter -13
The Leaders as the knower of the Field

 Linked leaders are capable of distinguishing between the field
(prakriti), that is, material nature, including the organizational
context, and the knowers of the field, comprising both the soul
(jiva), including those of all organizational stakeholders, and the
Supreme Soul (Īśvara).
 Your ability to discern these differences will reflect in your natural
development of 20 qualities of character. You will also become
adept in recognizing your followers’ character strengths and
engaging them in work activities in ways that leverage those
strengths.
 You will not be distracted in devouring the fruits from the tree of
material existence (as well as organizational life) to the extent that
you forget your dearest friend, the Supreme Soul.
 Further, you will view the one Brahman from multiple perspectives:
as Krishna’s subordinate, as the Supreme Soul localized in the
hearts of all beings (including your

 Linked leaders distinguish the field from the knower of the field.
 In particular, you should be able to analyse the three ontological
categories of material nature (prakriti), the soul (jiva) and the
Supreme Soul (Īśvara).
 The leader’s knowledge is reflected in the cultivation of 20 inner
qualities of character. You will likely notice that you are strong in
some qualities and weak in others. As your devotion grows, you will
gradually also develop the qualities that are currently areas of
weakness.
 Linked leaders are adept in recognizing their followers’ qualities and
draw upon this knowledge to allocate appropriate tasks in a way that
leverages the followers’ strengths.
 You can also use this knowledge to help your followers draw upon
their strengths to resolve their own problems and overcome
challenges. Ultimately, the best way to help your dependents
cultivate these qualities is by supporting them in developing devotion.

 Wise leaders see unity in diversity, viewing the one Brahman from
multiple perspectives: as Krishna’s subordinate, as the Supreme
Soul localized in the hearts of all living beings, as all-pervasive
spiritual energy, as the individual souls and as material nature with
its three qualities.
 The leader who understands Brahman in its unity and diversity
deals with everything and everyone in the organization respectfully,
while at the same time recognizing their appropriate functions,
positions and relationships.
 The fruits of the tree of conditioned life do not distract the wise
leader from forgetting their dearest friend, the Supreme Soul. • By
devoting yourself to meditation, philosophical analysis, yoga
practice and being receptive to what the higher authorities have to
say, you will become a wise leader and understand the field from
the field-knower, which will ultimately free you from material
existence.

Chapter -14
Transcendent Leadership

 Leaders who are aware of how nature’s qualities of goodness,
passion and ignorance bind living beings recognize the cause-
and-effect patterns indicating which of nature’s three qualities is
dominating the individual, team and overall culture within the
organization.
 You can leverage this knowledge by cultivating a desirable
organizational culture characterized by goodness.
 The quality of goodness is also a platform for transcending the
influences of the qualities of nature by detaching from your
experiences with calm observation, composure and acceptance
of the experience as it is, rather than egotistically judging and
labelling it as good or bad, positive or negative.
 Ultimate freedom from nature’s qualities will be realized,
however, by linking with Krishna through loving devotion.
Practice of devotional bhakti yoga will elevate you and your
team to the spiritual platform.

 Wise leaders acting on the knowledge of their origin from Krishna as
their father, and material nature as their mother, are careful to protect
and respect all living beings and the natural environment.
 Leaders who are aware of how nature’s qualities of goodness, passion
and ignorance bind living being recognize the cause and-effect
patterns indicating which of nature’s three qualities is dominating the
individuals, teams and culture of the organization or the community
they lead.
 Leaders seek freedom from subjugation by nature’s qualities, by
removing themselves from the centre of the situation rather than
judging and labelling the experience in binary terms.
 Wise leaders achieve ultimate freedom from nature’s qualities by
linking with Krishna through bhakti yoga which elevates them to the
spiritual platform.

Chapter -15
Leadership as Higher Consciousness

 The inverted universal material tree is the illusory watery
reflection of a higher spiritual reality. A reflection is an unstable
foundation to develop an organization on.
 Accordingly, a true leader cuts through the illusion to situate the
organization on the solid foundation of true form, expressed as
self-luminous eternal spiritual principles.
 In preparing to enter this spiritual realm, recognize that although
you may currently act within the confines of material nature, you
and all those who look up to you are actually of the spiritual
nature.
 Further, consciousness influences matter, therefore cultivate
higher consciousness to inform higher level processes in your
life and within the organizations you lead.
 Super consciousness is achieved by linking with the Supreme
Soul, the interface connecting every living being and the totality
of matter.

 In contrast to common people trying to enjoy the illusory
reflection only to experience dissatisfaction, true leaders cut
through the delusion to experience the original true form.
 Spiritual leaders live for the self-luminous spiritual world,
knowing that although they act within the darkness of
material nature, they, and all those who look up to them, are
actually of a spiritual nature.
 Linked leaders, recognizing that consciousness influences
matter, are careful to cultivate higher consciousness to
inform higher level processes in their lives and within the
organizations they lead.
 Linked leaders cultivate super consciousness by linking with
the Supreme Soul, the interface connecting every living
being and the totality of matter.

Chapter -16
Divine & Demoniac Dispositions

 As a leader, it is critical to evaluate if your leadership is
characterized more by goodness, passion or ignorance, and to
see what you can do to promote goodness to provide benefits
to yourself and to the organization as a whole.
 One external indicator of your inclination, in terms of nature’s
three qualities, is your personal food choices, as well as the
food choices offered and promoted within the organization you
lead.
 Other important criteria for evaluating the quality of your
leadership in terms of nature’s three attributes include your
motivation as a leader; how you regulate your body, mind and
words; and your intentions when giving to charity.
 Ultimately, you should transcend nature’s qualities, including
goodness, by invoking divine presence through sacred mantra
chanting and offer all of your acts as divine service.

 Leaders should cultivate godly qualities and avoid demoniac
instincts, both at personal and professional levels.
 A commitment to higher values must be supported by a
company policy of recruiting staff with good character,
maintaining a sustainable supply chain and integrating these
godly virtues into the company’s leadership promotion criteria.
 The demoniac disposition is a destructive disease that can
infect the leader, causing the destructive and delusional denial
of all that is virtuous and good.
 Demoniac leaders are a dangerous damaging force that must
be avoided, as they lead their followers on the path of
destruction.
 Virtuous leaders avoid the three gates of darkness: lust, anger
and greed.

3 Gates to lower Regions –Lust, Greed & Anger

Chapter -17
Three Leadership Styles

 As a leader, it is critical to evaluate if your leadership is
characterized more by goodness, passion or ignorance, and to
see what you can do to promote goodness to provide benefits
to yourself and to the organization as a whole.
 One external indicator of your inclination, in terms of nature’s
three qualities, is your personal food choices, as well as the
food choices offered and promoted within the organization you
lead.
 Other important criteria for evaluating the quality of your
leadership in terms of nature’s three attributes include your
motivation as a leader; how you regulate your body, mind and
words; and your intentions when giving to charity.
 Ultimately, you should transcend nature’s qualities, including
goodness, by invoking divine presence through sacred mantra
chanting and offer all of your acts as divine service.

 Effective leaders recognize there are distinctions between three
different types of leadership, according to nature’s three qualities. It is
therefore important to evaluate if your leadership is characterized more
by goodness, passion or ignorance, and to see what you can do to be
in harmony with goodness.
 Leaders can be understood by their choice of food for themselves as
well as what they provide at the organization. Food is a basic indicator
of lifestyle choices according to the classification of nature’s three
qualities.
 Motivation is the criteria for evaluating the quality of leadership.
Leadership in goodness will be performed with a sense of duty, in
accordance with principles of virtue and for its own sake.
 Leadership in passion will be motivated by a desire for gaining honour,
prestige and perceived success.
 Finally, leadership motivated by ignorance will be lacking in any sense
of commitment to principle or virtue and without trust or faith even in
oneself, what to speak of trusting in others.

 Effective leaders practice penance in goodness by regulating the
body, words and mind in a manner that benefits the leader and all
those with whom they interact.
 When leaders are charitable and compassionate towards others
who suffer, they promote positivity around them. The leader’s
intention is important, however, as the positive effects of
compassion manifest most profoundly when the intent is in
goodness, concerned with a sense of duty or care towards the
receiver, without any expectations whatsoever. Charity in passion is
less effective, while charity in ignorance can be destructive.
 Leaders transcend nature’s qualities by invoking divine presence
through sacred mantra chanting and offering all of their acts as
divine service.

Chapter -18
Concluding Leadership Lessons

 As a spiritual leader do not renounce work, but rather renounce
proprietorship over the fruits of your work, as your role in any
activity is just one of five factors of action.
 Consideration of all of these five factors of action could be
helpful for strategic planning and issue analyses.
 Leadership should be supported by knowledge, work and
workers situated in nature’s quality of goodness, emphasizing
unity and diversity, objectivity over egoism and determination in
success and failure.
 By cultivating goodness in other areas such as your diet, work,
resolve and happiness, you become more inherently inclined to
reason in goodness, making better decisions.
Chapter-18- Overview -1/2

 The formula for stable leadership is to recognize people’s
natural occupational dharma strength inclinations and
cultivate the best qualities associated with those traits as an
offering of workship to the Supreme.
 By surrendering all that you do as an offering of love, you
can be released from any taint associated with your own or
your organization’s activities.
 Implementing these teachings from Krishna and Arjuna’s
dialogue assures fortune, victory, power and virtue.
 Even where material calculations would suggest you cannot
win, spiritual calculations would conclude differently.
Chapter-18- Overview -2/2

 Spiritual leaders do not renounce work, but rather renounce
proprietorship over the fruits of work.
 Linked leaders are aware that their role in the successful completion
of any activity is just one of five factors of action comprising the
following: the place-field (the body, organizational space or
industry), the agent (individual, team or organizational entity), the
means (tools, equipment and resources), the effort (including
processes, skills and strategies) and providence (divine sanction,
serendipity, luck, acts of nature).
 The Bhagavad Gita’s five-factor model can be used as a tool for
planning, researching or analyzing any activity at individual or
organizational levels.
 Wise leaders are supported by knowledge, work and workers
situated in goodness that emphasize unity and diversity, objectivity
rather than egoism and determination in success and failure with a
clear sense of desired objectives.

 By cultivating goodness in areas such as diet, faith, knowledge,
work, resolve and happiness, leaders become more inherently
inclined to reason in goodness.
 Leaders can strengthen their own resolve and that of the people
they lead by promoting work as service, emphasizing the utility and
benefits of its products or services to greater society.
 Wise leaders seek sustainable happiness in goodness, as opposed
to temporary happiness of passion or the self-sabotaging effects of
ignorance.
 The formula for stability, satisfaction and spiritual perfection in the
leader’s own life and in the organization they lead is to recognize
personal natural dharma strength inclinations and cultivate the best
qualities associated with that occupation as an offering of workship
to the Supreme.

 Leaders who engage their occupational strengths in service while
renouncing their sense of proprietorship and attachment to the
results can achieve Brahman consciousness where they recognize
the divine in all beings and things, and so see them equally.
 Learned leaders are released from all evil, through complete
surrender of all that they do as an offering of love.
 Leaders, even those with the best of intentions, should be careful
about imposing their will upon those who are unwilling. The
relationship between a true leader and the followers is voluntary,
based on inspiration rather than control.
 Spiritual leaders are assured of victory, both personally and
professionally. Even in situations where material calculations would
suggest success will not be possible, spiritual calculations conclude
that the presence of Krishna and Arjuna will bring fortune, victory,
power and virtue.

Bhagavad
Gita Linked
Leadership
Model
Self –
Leadership
Higher
Purpose
Holistic
Systems
Servant–
Leadership
Philosophical
Self
Others
Practical
Change
Culture Innovation
Sustainable Strategy
Spiritually aware
Service
Oriented
Virtuous
Authentic
Mentally Disciplined
Divine Grace
Loving Service Stakeholder Orientation
Equality
Personality
Profile
Strength
Team Composition
The Linked Leadership Model

Dedication
Divinity
Super Person
Characters
Field
Devotion
Supervision
Glimpses
Secret
Ultimate
Wisdom
Self Control
Detachment
Knowledge
Work
Light
Grief
Liberation
Free
-Offering
-Depressed
-Bright
-Contributing
-Intelligent
-Unbiased
-Stable
-Insights
-Connected
-Responsibility
-Admiring
-Inspired
-Committed
-Charged
-Transcending
-ParExcellent
-Total+ve
Turn Around & Turn Up
Grief to Liberation-Essence of Gita

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Leadership lessons from Bhagavad Gita

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