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Leadership Lessons From Lord Shiva
Leadership Lessons From Lord Shiva
Leadership Lessons From Lord Shiva
Dr Shailesh Thaker
April 8, 2013
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Both Shiva and Indra are immortal deities. Shiva’s immortality is achieved by
tapasya; Kama, god of desire, is sacrificed during tapasya. Indra’s immortality
is achieved through yagna performed to satisfy bhoga, the fulfillment of
desire. As long as there is desire for bhoga, there will be yagna.
Yagna demands sacrifice, bali. But bali has consequences which Indra more
often than not cannot handle. Indra churns the ocean of milk for Amrita, nectar
of immortality; along with it comes Halahal, a poison that threatens to destroy
the whole world. Indra wants to consume Amrita but is unable to handle
Halahal. He does not know what to do with it? He offers it to Shiva who locks
it in his throat. With this one deed, Shiva becomes Mahadeva, God who is
greater than gods, while Indra remains Deva, god.
Every leader wants to generate Amrita that will give him immortality. He is
willing to perform a yagna and give a bali. But not every one is able to handle
Halahal. He cannot wish it away. Halahal is the husk of the grain, the garbage
of the household, the pollutant of the industry. Managing it is critical, else it will
return to haunt the Yajaman
Sati asked Shiva to show her his house. Shiva did not have any. “What
protects you from the heat in summer?” she inquired. Shiva took her down to
the valley full of Deodar trees. “What protects you from the rain?” she asked.
Shiva took her into a cave. “What protects you from the cold in winter?” Shiva
took her to the snowy peak of Mount Kailasa. “Where do you keep fire?” Shiva
took her to a crematorium where there was always a funeral pyre burning.
Sati declared Shiva to be Bhola, the simpleton, a guileless pure soul; she fell
in love. Sati’s father, Daksha, declared Shiva to be uncouth, uncivilised, a
destroyer of all things respected in culture. Shiva found Sati’s need for a
house incredible, an imagined unnecessary need. He found Daksha’s
opposition to him bizarre: in nature nothing is excluded; everything has its
place.
Value is imagination.
When an animal is hungry, it values food. When an animal is frightened, it
values shelter. It is this notion of value that enables in maximising revenue.
Value transforms a commodity into a brand and allows for the charging of a
premium. People do not buy products or services or ideas; they buy value.
Value mitigates imagined fears, satisfies the predator and comforts the prey
that lurks in every human being.
The gods had to defeat the buffalodemon, Mahisha, and were told to release
their inner power, Shakti, and merge it outside to create the goddess of
external power, Durga, who would kill the demon. Shakti is our inner strength.
Durga is the strength that we get from outside. Praise for example empowers
us because we get Durga from outside. Insults disempowers us, we feel
stripped of Durga by our critic. Thus Durga is a currency of exchange, just like
wealth or Lakshmi.
In all human interactions there is exchange of Durga. We have a vast supply
of Durga to give, but we rarely take advantage of it. Instead we are too busy
taking power.
Team empowerment:
Your team’s failure to respond as you want them to frustrates you. But your
treatment frustrates them. You are not providing Durga – worse, you are
taking Durga. No one feels empowered. A disempowered team is unable to
reach its goal. A motivational talk, or fake ‘great jobs’, as you call them, grants
power to people, makes them feel they can do it. Not everyone has Shakti,
most rely on Durga from external sources.
Management of desire
Humans can imagine a world where there is no hunger. Such a world is called
Kailasa. It is the mountainous abode of Shiva. Humans can also imagine a
world where every hunger is satisfied. Such a world is called Amravati, the
abode of the Devas. Kailasa is about yoga, outgrowing hunger pangs.
Amravati is about bhoga, indulging hunger pangs. Given a choice, humans
refer to Amravati as paradise, Swarga.
Vision statements about Kailasa or yoga are considered unrealistic and
spiritual, unfit for the business world, meant for hermits rather than
householders. Business exists to satisfy bhoga – of the consumer and the
businessman. It is the desire of bhoga that creates the bazaar, the market
place, where goods are exchanged.
Kama is the god of desire who induces hunger not only of the stomach but
also the senses. In Kailasa, Shiva burns him to ashes. But in the marketplace,
he is resurrected again, and again and again.
Should employee focus on SQ?
Shiva, the ascetic god, sits in Kailas located high up in the snow capped
Himalayan range as well as in Kashi located down in the plains, on the banks
of the river Ganges. Atop Kailas, Shiva sits in serene meditation as the
teacher, Adi Nath.
Down below in Kashi, Shiva is Vishwanath, lord of the world, involved in
activities of life and death, along with his consort Annapoorna, the goddess of
food. Which Shiva matters more?
There is Kailas and Kashi in the corporate world too – the boss sits in Kailas
while the customers, in Kashi. Who should one focus on? The boss upstream
or the customers downstream. Downstream is where performance happens
and value is created, but upstream is where appraisal is done, and promotions
granted.
This is the irony of the corporate world. Despite all efforts to create an
objective foolproof appraisal system, it relies heavily on the subjectivity of
those upstream while the real value is generated with customers way
downstream.
Office culture:
Chandra, the moon-god, disobeyed his father-in-law, Daksha Prajapati. An
angry Daksha cursed Chandra that he would suffer from the wasting disease.
Being a Deva, a sky-god, Chandra turned to Indra. “The only person you can
turn to is Shiva,” said Indra.
Chandra sat before Shiva, trembling, afraid and desperate for help. Shiva
opened his eyes, looked at the miserable moon-god. Without speaking a
word, Shiva picked Chandra up and gently placed him on his forehead.
Instantly, the moon began to wax once again.
Offices are filled with Daksha Prajapatis and Shivas. Daksha Prajapatis are
colleagues who cause us to wane. Shivas on the other hand have a calming
effect. Without doing too much, just by their mere presence, they can energize
and bring back enthusiasm in the most depressed of colleagues.
- See more at: http://www.drshaileshthaker.co.in/blog/leadership-lessons-from-lord-
shiva.html#sthash.PPIoluQs.dpuf
9 Important Lessons To Learn
From Lord Shiva
LIFE SKILLS JUNE 10, 2015
5. Life Is Ephemeral
The ash smeared on Lord Shiva’s body signifies that
everything is temporary in this Universe. Life is ephemeral
and we all are mortal beings. People are becoming selfish,
self obsessed with their beauty and intellect. But all these
things and your materialistic outlook too will be converted to
ash one day. You did not bring anything with you when you
were born and you will take nothing when you go from here.
Only your soul is immortal. Keep your soul clean by living life
with content and happiness while keeping others happy too.
In every entrepreneur’s life at one point in time, they would play the role of Lord Shiva.
Especially in the current context where the startup eco system is booming every
entrepreneur must observe and inculcate certain qualities from the ‘Supreme God’.
Unlike being a ‘Shiva entrepreneur’ who moves on to start something new after realizing
that his startup is not profitable. Here are few lessons that an entrepreneur must learn
from Lord Shiva along with few quotes from few Vedic literatures, apart from always
chanting ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
It is true and undeniable that an entrepreneur must have good multitasking skills. He
must know how to maintain a proper balance with the personal and the professional life.
Though Lord Shiva is known to be a ‘Maha Yogi’ an ascetic sage who meditates and prays
for the well being of the entire creation, and though he secludes himself from
materialistic world; Shiva, also has a family that consists of his wife Parvati and his
children Ganesha and Skandha.
Amidst great responsibilities that include saving the world from evils, he also makes time
for his family. When a person gets smitten by an entrepreneur bug the zeal and
enthusiasm would increase dramatically which would end up in him having a broken
personal life. An entrepreneur must have a balanced life and must know how to tackle
and navigate between his career and family to ensure both have fruitful results.
Ardhanarishvara
“One must have respect for one’s goal; one must have respect for one’s
path.”
One of key ways to gain quick success is by treating every individual equally. It is quite
surprising to know that women in our country are still not given the right respect and
status. Biased thoughts still exist in our society and it is still believed that only a man can
run a business successfully. This notion is total junk because if we look back at the past
our very own Gods have believed in the concept of giving a partner the right respect and
status and ‘Ardhanarishvar’, a composite androgynous form of Lord Shiva and his better
half Parvati, is still an example that stands tall.
It is always recommended not to get your business to the bed room but if an
entrepreneur has an educated partner then taking his or her assistance can reduce a little
stress. Also with this concept one can understand that an entrepreneur must not have a
biased mind set and must willingly treat everybody that includes all his employees
equally. When an employee is treated with great respect his morale increases which in
turn increases well being of the business.
An artistic creator
“One must have reverence for the guru.”
It is widely seen and heard that Lord Shiva smokes marijuana. This is a talk that has
been there for sometime but gained quick publicity in the modern times. Though there
are many clarifications on that part it is also said that Lord Shiva is the creator of ‘weed’
and this happened while the Devas and Rakshasas were churning the ocean of milk. It is
stated in the Vedas that Shiva, the supreme creator created cannabis from his body to
purify the elixir.
HariHara Avatara
Patience and then destruction
This incarnation of Lord Shiva is a combination of two Gods, Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva
(Hara). Vishnu is considered to be a calm and quiet God who sustains life on earth and
Shiva is infamously known to be the destroyer. HariHara avatar is combination of these
traits. While one looks at sustaining life on the planet the other focuses on cleaning up
the unwanted and beasty to start up something new.
An entrepreneur must adopt these lessons from Lord Shiva because at any point if there
is a crisis an entrepreneur must not kill his company but face and deal with all the
consequences and ensure that his startup or company is still safe. However, when things
go beyond control he must not flinch and step back but must have the courage to kill his
startup and begin with a new one to continue the cycle.
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