Eight core principles for conscious leadership by Gaurang Das Prabhu - World News Network

By Gauranga Das Prabhu
New Delhi [India], April 1 (ANI): In the current fast-paced world, leaders require a strong foundation of personal and professional principles and discipline to navigate their lives and careers effectively.
Gauranga Das Prabhu, an ISKCON leader, a graduate from IIT Mumbai, a scholar of the Bhagavat Gita, and visiting faculty at IIM Nagpur on an Indian Knowledge Systems-based course titled ‘Life Management Skills’, shares eight principles from the Srimad Bhagavat Gita that can help corporate and social sector professionals, business owners, politicians, parents, students, etc., become better leaders.
1. Purpose: Purpose provides direction and allows leaders to stay focused and resilient, even when facing uncertainty or challenges. Identify the purpose that is meaningful, authentic, credible, powerful, and compelling and that can provide satisfaction, peace, and love. Those who commit to nothing are distracted by everything. Even a go-getter needs to know where to go and what to get. Bhagavad Gita 3.18 also says naiva tasya krtenartho.
2. Habits: Habits are the memories of previous experiences of pleasure. Don’t compare yourself with others – compare yourself only with the person you were yesterday. Falling down doesn’t make us a failure; staying down does. The threat inside us is much bigger than the threat outside us. We can’t undo, but we can rebuild; don’t deny past mistakes, but don’t let them control the present. The source of misery is not frustration of desire but domination by desire. See temptation as an attack, not as a defeat or even as a precursor to defeat. Indiscriminate indulgence makes the impulsive compulsive. Discipline is the fusion of intention with action. Improve Habits through Association, Books, Contemplation and Diet (ABCD) and through practice and detachment as shared in Bhagavat Gita 6.35 abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena ca grhyate.
3. Focus: The world is a classroom, not a courtroom – focus on learning, not on accusing or defending. Focus means evolving from distraction to absorption. Absorption means aligning dreaming, thinking, feeling and willing. Learn to focus on contributing value, compassion, and custodianship, and not on results, i.e., profit, prestige, and power. The value of what we drive doesn’t matter as much as the values that drive us. Indiscriminate indulgence makes the impulsive compulsive. Just because a thought is persistent doesn’t make it pertinent – learn to peruse your thoughts. Worry is the interest we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken. Bhagavad Gita 2.41 also says ekeha kuru-nandana.
4. Relationships: Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognise and influence the emotions of those around you via Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness and Relationship management. This helps one to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflict effectively, and respond to co-workers with empathy. Unity comes not by blinding ourselves to differences but by seeing beyond differences. Fait means the willingness to relinquish control. Defamation of character is not as damaging as deformation of character – what others do to us can’t hurt us as much as what we do to ourselves. The threat inside us is much bigger than the threat outside us. When our vision changes from competition to contribution, life becomes a celebration. Bhagavad Gita 5.18 also says vidya vinaya sampanne …
5. Determination: Determination means to subordinate pleasure to purpose. Getting opportunities is providence; grabbing them is diligence. The difference between confidence and overconfidence is vigilance. Our choice has a louder voice than our voice – what we do speaks louder than what we say. Follow the examples of determined personalities like Arjuna, Hanuman, etc., learning how to build a supportive network and stay determined amidst challenges. Determination evolves through exposure to the right philosophy, people and practices. One begins with ‘I won’t do it’ and ‘I can’ do it’ and grows to ‘I want to do it’ and ‘How do I do it?’ and fructifies into ‘I will try to do it’ and ‘I can do it,’ ending with ‘I will do it with divine grace’ Bhagavad Gita 2.44 also says vyavasayatmika buddhih …
6. Discrimination: Discrimination means the ability to distinguish between favourable and unfavourable choices. Purity in intention and clarity in destination facilitate gravity in one’s meditation. Our past explains our inclinations, but it doesn’t excuse our actions. Before you put others in their place, put yourself in their place. Talk less about yourself; talk more to yourself. Being intelligent in relationships means knowing when to doubt others and when to give the benefit of the doubt. As the Bhagavat Gita says, BG 18.26 mukta sango anaham vaadi …
7. Humility: Humility means not letting our ego get in the way of our purpose. In the war of egos, the winner is the bigger loser. To relish satisfaction, replace expectation with appreciation. Bring out the best within, not the beast within. Dissatisfaction is more often caused by inner instability than by outer incompatibility. Leaders who set aside their egos can lead with flexibility, remain open to feedback, and create more inclusive, innovative spaces for enabling excellence. The Bhagavat Gita says in BG 13.9 amanitvam adambhitvam…
8. Tolerance: Tolerance means to call off our war with reality. Our calibre is seen not just when we give life our best but also when life gives us its worst. Life’s misfortunes are like thorns – pass through them, but don’t press on them. Resentment of reality often hurts more than reality. Events are not in our control, but our experiences are – we can choose how we see those events. Courage centres not on standing up to others but on staying true to ourselves. Every trial is a teacher – redirect your mental energy from resenting to learning. Understanding the challenges that come, especially for a leader, and learning to tolerate and overcome them will equip one to handle stress and maintain balance during turbulent times. As Krishna says in the Bhagavat Gita 2.14 matra sparshas tu kaunteya…
Mastering these eight principles can make people resilient to handle modern complexities in their personal and leadership roles. Don’t just read the Gita – heed the Gita. (ANI)

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