New Horizons in Transformational Leadership: A Vedāntic Perspective on Values-Based Leadership

Abstract

This chapter explores the values-based, Vedāntic perspective on transformational leadership. Drawing upon various key Vedāntic texts, it explains why Self-knowledge is so crucial to transformational leaders. As a system of Self-knowledge, Advaita Vedānta is free from sectarian bias or dogma. Its tenets are rational, universalistic, and scientific in spirit. After briefly reviewing some variants of transformation leadership (such as authentic leadership, responsible leadership, and servant leadership), this chapter presents the values-based leadership examples of two stalwarts of modern India—Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi. Finally, it discusses the leadership style of Dr. E. Sreedharan, widely known as the Metro Man of India, as a case in point of a values-driven leader.

Advaita Vedānta teaches that the phenomenal world, though real at the relative level, is merely a manifestation of an underlying Absolute Reality, known as Brahman. The philosophy of Vedānta advocates Oneness of the Universe. This understanding fosters equality in ethical conduct stemming from realizing the divinity of all beings and serving them with altruistic motive. Vedānta teaches respect, tolerance, and understanding of the other faiths and, thus, nurtures humanity and solidarity in the contemporary fragmented world. As different beings are just the expressions of one universal consciousness, hurting the other means hurting oneself. This realization is the source and foundation of all philanthropy, ethical conduct, and social contract. The teachings of Vedānta have profound relevance in context of transformational leadership and values-based leadership.

Introduction

This chapter explores the values-based, Vedāntic perspective on transformational leadership. Drawing upon various Vedāntic texts, it explains why Self-knowledge is so crucial to transformational leaders. As a system of Self-knowledge, Advaita Vedānta¹ is free from sectarian dogma. Its tenets are rational, universalistic, and scientific in spirit. After briefly reviewing some variants of transformation leadership (such as authentic leadership, responsible leadership, and servant leadership), this chapter presents the values-based leadership examples of two stalwarts of modern India—Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi. Finally, it discusses the leadership style of Dr. E. Sreedharan, widely known as the Metro Man of India, as a case in point of a values-driven leader.

Advaita Vedānta teaches that the phenomenal world, though real at the relative level, is merely a manifestation of an underlying Absolute Reality, known as Brahman. The philosophy of Vedānta advocates Oneness of the Universe. This understanding fosters equality in ethical conduct stemming from realizing the divinity of all beings and serving them with altruistic motive. Vedānta teaches respect, tolerance, and understanding of the other faiths and, thus, nurtures humanity and solidarity in the contemporary fragmented world. As different beings are just the expressions of one universal consciousness, hurting the other means hurting oneself. This realization is the source and foundation of all philanthropy, ethical conduct, and social contract. The teachings of Vedānta have profound relevance in context of transformational leadership and values-based leadership.

Four Universal Goals of Life

Vedānta is regarded as the culmination of Indian philosophy. According to Vedānta, man is not confined to body–mind mechanism that is temporary and transitory with its own phases of birth, growth, decay, and death. In Indian philosophy, Dharma —righteousness, Artha —acquisition of wealth for security purposes, Kama —gratification of physical and material needs, and Moksha —liberation of oneself have been regarded as four purusharthas —sacred goals of human life. Indian philosophy says that all these are legitimate ends of life. However, the mere acquisition of wealth and gratification of desires cannot be the ultimate goals of life. These are to be pursued with awareness and in a righteous way.

As spiritual freedom (Moksha) is the ultimate goal of life, these purusharthas are the means to this end. Therefore, Vedānta lays greater emphasis on ethical and spiritual values in daily living and seeks work through righteous means as medium of worship. Put differently, the first three pursuits are seen as the material goals, while the last pursuit, moksha, is considered the spiritual goal culminating in liberation through Self-knowledge. It is important to note that dharma underpins and regulates the other three pursuits to ensure their propriety; therefore, according to Hindu scriptures, the right order of these pursuits should be dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. The ancient seers were very keen to ensure that our pursuit of pleasure and security should be guided by the spirit of righteousness and conscientiousness.

Evaluation of Experience Regarding Four Pursuits

Indian philosophy recommends that we should carefully look at the desirability of all the pursuits and determine what one really needs to do to attain the invariable condition of fulfillment. Here is an important Vedāntic verse that captures the fundamental human predicament and also suggests a way out:

Parīkṣya lokān karmancitān brāhmaṇo nirvedam āyān nasty akṛtah kṛtena, tad vijnānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchetsamit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyam brahma-niṣṭham (Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12).

After having properly examined the transient nature of all things in the world that are attained through actions, a wise person should acquire a sense of dispassion: That which is not the product of any action cannot be produced by actions—nothing that is eternal can be produced by what is not eternal. In order to understand that Eternal, one should humbly approach a great teacher who is well versed in the Vedas and ever absorbed in Absolute.

The Bṛhadāraṇyaka (4.4.9) and Kaṭha (II.iii.14) Upaniṣhads confirm:Verse

Verse Yadā sarve pramucyante, kāmā ye ‘sya hrḍiśritāḥ; Atha martyo ‘mrṭo bhavaty, atra brahma samaśnute.

When a person completely gives up all the obsessive compulsive cravings he is harboring in his heart, he moves from the mortal realm to that of the imperishable and enjoys real joy and fulfillment in the Absolute Truth.

Revolutionary Teachings of Vedānta: Ontology and Epistemology

Advaita Vedānta teaches that the phenomenal world, though real at the relative level, is merely a manifestation of an underlying Absolute Reality, known as Brahman. At the individual level, this reality is experienced as pure awareness or consciousness. The Self (ātman) is essentially an expression of Brahman itself (the Absolute). There is one limitless Consciousness which is the substratum of all and everything. This vision of the essential oneness of Reality (ātman) and the reality of the world (Brahman) provide a foundation and raison d’être for acting for the good of others. Once understood clearly, it becomes a lived experience, a living reality, serving as both the path and the goal for the quest for fulfilment in the form of self-knowledge and selfless service.

The basic truth of the Vedānta is that the nature of the Self is essentially pure Consciousness. This truth is self-existent and self-evident: we know that we exist and we are conscious of our existence. No further proof is required to show that we exist. In addition, the existence of the Self, once experienced as It is, can never be denied. Representing the culmination of sacred knowledge, Vedānta has been called the philosophia perennis , the perennial philosophy, whose truth is found in many different traditions of the world that emphasize the essential “oneness of being.”² As Swami Nikhilananda notes, “The existence of the Self, or Consciousness, cannot finally be doubted, because the doubter himself is the Self, or Conscious Entity. It cannot be denied, because the denier himself is the Self, or Conscious Entity.”³ In the similar vein, Sureśvarācārya, a ninth-century Advaitin, explains:

Wherever there is a doubt, there, the wise should know, the Self [the Real] is not. For no doubts can arise in relation to the Self, since its nature is pure immediate Consciousness.⁴

In the form of Consciousness presence, our Self is indubitable, undeniable, self-established, and a self-evident fact.

According to Vedānta, the ultimate reality is called Brahman. Vedānta declares, “All of this is Brahman” (सर्वंखल्विदंब्रह्म sarvaṁ khalvidaṁ brahma: Chāndogya Upaniṣhad 3.14.1). All this multiplicity, diversity is but Brahman only. Brahman is one, without a second (एकमेवाद्वितीयम्ब्रह्म ekamevādvitīyam brahma: Chāndogya Upaniṣhad 6.2.1). There is no second thing here. Śaṅkara says that all this multiplicity is imagined only in Brahman (सर्वम्हिनानात्वम्ब्रह्मनिकल्पितमेव sarvam hi nānātvam brahmani kalpitameva).

Brahman means Absolute Reality. It is described as Sat-Chit-Ananda : Pure Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss. It is called Pure Existence because it is beyond time, space, and causality. Normally, the existence of anything depends on time, space, and causality. Whereas Brahman as pure existence lends existence to time, space, and causality! That is why it is called pure existence—meaning, it does not depend on time, space, and causality. They depend on it!

It is Pure Consciousness because it is bereft of objects, yet all objects depend on it. Everything internal (thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.) and external (the perceived world, universe) are objects to it. Their existence depends on Consciousness. Put differently, everything other than consciousness has dependent existence only. They cannot exist apart from it.

It is Pure Bliss because it is uncaused. All experiential happiness is caused—it depends on circumstances, person(s), or objects. It has a beginning, and since it has beginning, it has an end. It is limited by time and space. However, Brahman is Pure Bliss because it is free from the duality of the other. That is, there is no second thing to It for It to desire. It is Infinite Bliss of desirelessness. This bliss is not caused by anything else because there is no second thing to Brahman. This Infinite Bliss is its very nature, svabhāva .

Then, the Upaniṣhad makes a most unusual statement. This Brahman which is Pure Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss is YOU! You are THAT! It is not that you will become THAT after you have meditated for several years or has done this or that spiritual practice or after death; You are THAT right here, right now. Period! The whole uniqueness of this is that it is not an intellectual claim that should be taken on faith.

This Brahman is available to us all in our own experience as the consciousness presence. The felt presence of our being. As the Witnessing Consciousness of our thoughts, feelings, desires, including our waking, dream, and deep sleep states. It is the eternal Subject to which every thought including the I-thought (ego)—and all and every perception—is an object.

That we exist and we are aware that we exist—these are undoubtable facts that can never ever be negated or denied. This is our true Self, which is never not one with Brahman, the Absolute. This is the final declaration (उद्धघोष) of Vedānta: In our true essence (Ātman), we are one with the Ultimate Reality, Brahman.

Advaita Vedānta and Self-Knowledge

While each of the wisdom traditions of the world upholds the importance of Self-knowledge as a necessary condition for wholeness, happiness, and lasting peace, in no other tradition is Self-knowledge explored to such a depth and breadth as in the Vedas. The entire philosophy of Vedānta is devoted to discovering the essence of Self-knowledge, fulfilment, and freedom. Advaita in Sanskrit means “nondual,” and Vedānta means “the end or inner core of the Vedas.”⁵ Vedānta is a philosophy of nonduality based on the Upaniṣhads, the concluding portions of the Vedas.⁶ The word Veda is derived from the Sanskrit root vid (to know) and means that which makes us know.⁷ The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts in the world. The Upaniṣhads, the Brahma Sūtra, and the Gītā form the “triple standard” on which Vedāntic schools are based.⁸ Advaita Vedānta is widely considered by Western scholars of religion and Hindus, to be the philosophical culmination of the Indian spiritual tradition.⁹

As a system of Self-knowledge, Advaita Vedānta is free from sectarian dogma. Its tenets are rational, universalistic, and scientific in spirit. In addition, there is substantial Advaita metaphysics, which has come to emerge in the philosophical foundations of contemporary quantum physics. It expounds the essential oneness of humanity and the universe and presents its message through logical axioms, where there are no dogmas to adhere to. It maintains that all that is required is an open mind and willingness to understand objectively the truth of our own existence. Vedānta helps the seeker to appreciate happiness and liberation (moksha) as an ever-attainable fact in the present.

Who Am I? The Essential Question of Vedānta

There is no such thing as a healthy ego, any more than there is a thing as a healthy disease.¹⁰ – Sri H. W. L. Poonja ji

Vedānta affirms that there is only one question worth asking and answering: “Who Am I?” Through the process of self-exploration called Self-inquiry (“who am I?”), Vedānta points out that we are not what we normally take ourselves to be, a limited body–mind–senses complex. Vedāntic wisdom tells us that we are, in fact, limitless Consciousness that inheres and enlivens the body, mind, and senses. According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, “Self-inquiry is the most direct means to realize the unconditioned, Absolute Being that you really are.”¹¹

Sri Ramana, a twentieth-century seer-saint of Vedānta, stated that the very inquiry “Who am I?” will lead us to realize the Self—if consistently pursued. By conducting the “Seer-Seen discrimination,” dṛg-dṛśya viveka, I can realize that all that is seen—from the world of objects up to my own mind—cannot be I, the Seer. We do not notice this because our attention is generally focused on the objects outside. The practice of this inquiry into the nature of the Self will slowly turn our attention inward—first to the mind, and then from the mind to the “I-thought,” and finally from the “I-thought” to the Self. As Swami Sivananda explains:

The Upanishads declare that the Atman [Self] is the unseen seer, the unheard hearer, the unknown knower. One cannot see the seer of seeing, one cannot hear the hearer of hearing, one cannot know the knower of knowing. The Atman [Self] has neither a subject nor an object. The subject and the object are both comprehended in the Atman [Self] in which all divisions appear and which is raised above them all.¹²

When we ask “Who Am I,” we are basically inquiring about the essential nature of the Self. Upaniṣhads tell us that the Self, ātmā, is of the nature of pure Consciousness (shuddhachaitanya-svarūpa) or of the nature of pure Knowledge (shuddhajñāna-svarūpa). Swami Paramārthananda, a modern Vedānta teacher, explains the nature of the Self, ātmā, as follows¹³:

• 1. The Self is not a part, property, or product of the body.

• 2. The Self is an independent conscious principle that pervades and enlivens the body.

• 3. The Self is not limited by the boundaries of the body. It is all pervading, like space.¹⁴

• 4. The Self is unborn and eternal and does not die with the death of the body.

As a primary spiritual practice, Vedānta recommends a process of Self-inquiry (ātma-vicāra)—a method of inquiring into the essential nature of our discerning the real by separating it from the unreal. It requires a certain level of preparation by the spirant to appreciate the subtlety of this methodology. Ideally, one learns the Vedānta by being in close association with a teacher who is well versed in this teaching tradition (sampardāya).¹⁵ It is said that when a seeker is ready, the Divine arranges that a teacher will cross path with the seeker.

Transformational Leadership and Its Variants

Parts of this section have been drawn from a previously published paper in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Spirituality: The Essence of Ethical Leadership and Management (22–24 November 2014), School of Management Sciences (SMS) Varanasi, India.

Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality with fused purposes (Burns, 1978). This type of leadership is elevating, mobilizing, inspiring, exalting, uplifting, exhorting, and evangelizing as it engages the hearts and minds of others, enlarges the shared vision, clarifies purposes, makes behavior congruent with principles and values, helps each other to achieve greater motivation, satisfaction, and greater sense of achievement (Burns, 1978; Crainer, 1997, p. 50), and brings about changes that are permanent, self-perpetuating, and momentum building (Covey, 2002). The real power in transformational leadership comes when the relations among persons are of understanding and trust. Therefore, transformational leadership involves an ethical influence process (Kanungo & Mendonca, 1996).

Leaders of the organizations who exhibit ethical, authentic, and transparent behavior have profound and penetrating influence upon other members of the organization. Transformational leadership has been found to be positively related to perceived leader’s integrity (Parry & Proctor-Thomson, 2002). Transformational leadership emphasizes moral values like liberty, equality, and justice, and it is guided by universal ethical principles—responsibility, fairness, etc.—along with empathy (Johnson, 2013, p. 190). Transformational leadership uses the active element of transactional approach also for getting results along with idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass & Avolio, 1993; Bass, Avolio, Jung, & Berson, 2003).

Bass and Steidlmeier (1999) make distinction between authentic transformational leaders and inauthentic or pseudo-transformational leadership. Authentic transformational leadership is grounded in “a moral foundation of legitimate values.” Authentic transformational leadership is characterized by the following:

• Behavior true to self and others.

• More reasonable and realistic concept of self—a self that is connected to friends, family, and community whose welfare may be more important to oneself than one’s own.

• Representing more an ideal moral type.

• Commitments beyond the self (Gardner, 1990).

• Congruence between values and behavior (Price, 2003).

• No distinction between the self and the organization (Ford & Harding, 2011).

Transformational leaders raise awareness of moral standards, highlight important priorities, foster high moral maturity in followers, create an ethical climate of shared values and high ethical standards, encourage followers to look beyond self-interest to the common good, promote cooperation and harmony, use authentic and consistent means, provide individual coaching and mentoring, appeal to the ideals of followers, and allow followers freedom of choice. Whereas pseudo-transformational leaders promote special interests at the expense of the common good, encourage dependency of followers and may privately despise them, foster competitiveness, pursue personal goals, foment greed, envy, hate, and deception, engage in conflict rather than cooperation, use inconsistent and irresponsible means, keep their distance from followers and expect blind obedience, seek to become idols for followers, and manipulate followers (Bass, 1995).

Researchers at the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) identify nine transformational attributes universally associated with outstanding leadership: motive, arouser, foresight, encouraging, communicative, trustworthy, dynamic, positive, confidence builder, and motivational (Den Hartog, House, Hanges, Ruiz-Quintanilla, & Dorfman, 1999).

In the pioneer research of leadership challenges, spanning over more than 25 years, James Kouzes and Barry Posner (2012) presented Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:

Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart. Although the context of leadership has changed dramatically over 30 years, the content of leadership has not changed much at all (Kouzes & Posner, 2012, p. 15).

These five practices effectively bring results like creating high-performing teams, generating increased sales and customer satisfaction levels, fostering renewed loyalty and greater organizational commitment, enhancing motivation and willingness to work hard, promoting high degrees of involvements and positively influence recruitment rates (p. 27). As leadership is relationship and reciprocal process between leaders and their constituents, it requires leaders to be honest, forward-looking, competent and inspiring (p. 35).

Authentic Leadership

To Luthans and Avolio (2003), authentic leadership is “a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development” (pp. 241–25). Authentic leaders are genuine people who are true to themselves and to what they believe in (Avolio, 2010; Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wersing, & Peterson, 2008). These leaders bring people together around a shared purpose and empower them to step up and lead authentically in order to create value for all stakeholders (George, 2003). Bill George and Peter Sims (2007) advocate discovering one’s True North,

Just as a compass points toward a magnetic field, your True North pulls toward the purpose of your leadership. When you follow your internal compass, your leadership will be authentic, and people will naturally want to associate with you. Although others may guide or influence you, your truth is derived from your life story and only you can determine what it should be. (p. xxiii)

To them, five dimensions of an authentic leadership are as follows:

• Pursuing purpose with passion

• Practicing solid values

• Leading with heart

• Establishing enduring relationships

• Demonstrating self-discipline

To Avolio, Luthans, and Walumbwa (2004), authentic leaders are deeply aware of their thinking pattern and behavior and are perceived by others as being aware of their own and others’ values/moral perspective, knowledge, and strengths. They are aware of the context in which they operate and are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and high on moral character.

Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership incorporates moral principles such as integrity, fairness, honesty, and trust in their values, behavior, and practices. It is the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and promotion of such conduct among followers through communication, reinforcement, and decision-making (Brown et al., 2006). Ethical leaders engage in acts beneficial to others and refrain from causing harm to others (Kanungo, 2001). Integrity, ethical standards, and fair treatment of employees are the cornerstones of ethical leadership. The domain of ethical leadership is broad that incorporates different types of values, such as altruism, compassion, honesty, fairness, and justice. Ethical leadership behavior involves being very supportive and helpful when someone has a problem, being fair in distribution of rewards and benefits, being open and honest while communicating, making sacrifices to benefit others, setting clear ethical standards for the work, and adhering them strictly by holding people accountable (Yukl, Mahsud, Hassan, & Prussia, 2013).

Spiritual Leadership

Spiritual leadership means practicing “the values, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to intrinsically motivate one’s self and others so that they have a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership” (Fry, 2003, pp. 693–727). To Fry, two essential dimensions of spiritual leadership are calling and membership. This leadership embodies spiritual values such as integrity, honesty, and humility and creates the self as an example of someone who can be trusted, relied upon, and admired. Such leadership is demonstrated through reflective practices or ethical, compassionate, and respectful treatment of others (Fairholm, 1996; Pruzan, 2008; Reave, 2005). The qualities of spiritual leadership are vision (as manifested in broad appeal to key stakeholders, defining the destination and journeying, reflecting high ideals, encouraging hope, and establishing a standard of excellence), altruistic love (characterized by forgiveness, kindness, integrity, empathy/compassion, honesty, patience, courage, trust/loyalty, and humility), and hope/faith (reflected through endurance, perseverance, do what it takes, stretching goals, and expectation of reward/victory) (Fry, 2003).

Servant Leadership

Greenleaf (1977) informs us that he got the idea of servant leadership by reading Hermann Hesse’s book entitled Journey to the East (1932/1956). To Robert K. Greenleaf (1977) servant leadership is leadership with two roles of servant and leader fused in one real person (p. 21). This type of leadership is basically attuned to basic spiritual values like service motive or taking care of others, listening and understanding others, being withdrawn to oneself, acceptance and empathy, awareness and transformed perceptions, knowing the unknowable beyond conscious rationality, foresight, awareness, and transformed perceptions (Greenleaf, pp. 22–49). Such leaders like to live by conscience—the inward moral sense of what is right and what is wrong—and build sustaining relationship based on trust. Servant leaders do not seek leadership roles first, but are moved by compelling vision and desire to serve others first (Spears, 2010). Like moral or ethical leadership, servant leadership is based on a set of values like a sense of fairness, honest, respect, and contribution that transcends culture (Dennis, 2004). The basis of these ethical values is inner conscience that shapes moral authority, enables to sublimate the ego to a higher purpose or principles, inspires to become part of a cause worthy of our commitment, teaches us that ends and means are inseparable, and introduces us to the world of (authentic) relations (Covey, 2002).

Responsible Leadership

Responsible leadership is a social-relational and ethical phenomenon, which occurs in social processes of interaction with those who interface with leadership and have a stake in the purpose and vision of leadership relationship (Freeman & Auster, 2011; Maak & Pless, 2009). Such leaders work with responsible mindsets and care for the needs of others and act as global and responsible citizens (Maak, 2007). The greatest challenge they have to face is to deal with moral complexity resulting from a multitude of stakeholders’ claims and to build enduring and mutually beneficial relations with them in the form of social capital that enable people to act collectively with trust and goodwill inherent in social relations. Like transformational leaders, these leaders are visionary and architects of the transformed culture focused at morality, change agents as well as coach, and helpful to enable others to find meaning. Like ethical leaders, they are also steward or guardian of values to protect their personal and professional integrity and steering a business responsibly and respectfully (Maak & Pless, 2009). However, their focus of attention is more on balancing the stakeholders’ interest.

Eupsychia Leaders

The word “eupsychia” was created by Abraham Maslow (1965) that integrates two words eu means good and psyche meaning mind or soul. Eupsychian means “having a good mind or soul” or “the well-being of psyche.” Eupsychia is a culture or society inhibited by 1000 self-actualizing people. Eupsychia leaders are leaders who are self-realized beings and help others to realize their potentials (Rego, Cunha, & Oliveira, 2007, p. 66). Eupsychian leadership behaviors include “(a) promotion of self-determination and employee personal development; (b) respecting the personal and inner life of employees; (c) kindness, compassion, loyalty, and respect; (d) promotion of positive interpersonal relationships and a sense of team community; and (e) courage and open-mindedness” (Rego et al., 2007, pp. 174–177), and the employees’ reactions to these leadership behaviors include “(a) psychological well-being, (b) commitment and calling, (c) positive behaviors and attitudes toward the supervisor, and (d) sense of self-worth (feeling of being appreciated” (p. 175).

Lessons of Vedānta in Context of Transformational Leadership

The philosophy of Vedānta has profound relevance for transformational leadership which is concerned with raising the morals and motivations of followers and the transformation of the organizational culture. The relevance of the message of Vedānta also extends to various variants of transformational leadership like ethical leadership (Brown & Trevino, 2006; Kanungo, 2001), authentic leadership (Luthans & Avolio, 2003), servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977), spiritual leadership (Fry, 2003), etc.

• 1. Self-Awareness

The first quality of transformational, authentic, and servant leadership is self-awareness gained through self-knowledge. Advocates of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1996) regarded self-awareness hold that knowledge about one’s emotions is the first and foremost requirement of leadership. Without self-knowledge, service of others cannot be authentic or ethical, as we cannot transcend our narrow self-interest. Vedānta teaches that seeking self-knowledge is not a matter of “acquisition” or a result of our “doing,” but a matter of “understanding” our true nature. Usually, we identify ourselves with body–mind mechanism and consequently become egoist, which superimposes the useless limitations due to selfishness. As a result, we fail to understand our real nature and identify the unreal as the real. Vedānta explains that one is not just the limited body–mind complex but pure awareness. This feeling gives one inexhaustible courage, freedom to act, and abundant happiness not only for oneself, but for other beings that surround us. Therefore, advocates of Vedānta like Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Nisargadatta Maharaj, etc. have taught to realize oneself. With self-awareness, ego and world shall look like illusive dreams. “A man verily becomes liberated in life if he feels: God is the Doer. He alone is doing everything. I am doing nothing” (Sri Ramakrishna: Gospel, 1942, p. 142) and performs one’s ordinary duties in an unselfish manner. While performing one’s ordinary duties in detached way, one should renounce the world in one’s mind, as mind is the source of all bondage and liberation. In one of his talks, Ramana Maharshi (1955/2006, p. 342) profoundly remarks, “By ‘spiritual leaders’ we understand those who are ‘spiritual’ as opposed to ‘physical’. Spirit is unlimited and formless. Being unlimited it includes the leaders, the man,…There is no differentiation.” According to his view, to become authentic leader, one should “Realise the Self within [oneself]” (Ramana Maharshi, 2003, p. 1).

• 2. Work and Worship

To Vedāntic texts, work is meant to excel and elevate oneself while living in the world, provided it is done as yajna, dedicated to Universal force. “Work is only a means to the realization of God.” (Sri Ramakrishna: Gospel, 1942, p. 143). It is not work that is bondage to worship, but the attitude to work that makes the difference as bondage or liberation. Therefore, Vedānta advocates approaching work as form of worship. “If you meditate in the right manner, then the current of mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst of your work….With this, there is no conflict between work and wisdom,” Ramana Maharshi advises Paul Brunton (1934, pp.156–157).

• 3. Overcoming Negativities

The various types of negativities like egotism, greed, and anger exist first in mind of an individual. The source of all these negativities or impurities of mind is false identification with body–mind mechanism. Once one understands that one is not confined to body or other petty identifications and nothing remains permanent, one understands that negative emotions and thoughts are transitory phenomenon, one is likely to overcome them. However, when one thinks over them again and again without awareness, these negative thoughts continue in mind. These need to be subsided it with self-awareness and detachment from external events and objects. With this, one is likely to feel authentic happiness and freedom in oneself than being dependent on external objects. For this, Vedānta advocates the path of self-knowledge or knowing oneself (Jnana Yoga), seeking divine in everyone (Bhakti Yoga) while discharging one’s cherished duties without any tag to results (Karma Yoga).

• 4. Transforming Emotions

Vedānta teachers advocated focus on purification of emotions and transforming emotions to devotions and passion to compassion as authentic source of spirituality and values: “The heart of the devotee is the drawing-room of God” (Sri Ramakrishna: Gospel, 1942, p. 133). The concept of chitashudhi—purification of mind—is profounder than the concept of emotional intelligence of modern psychologists (Chakraborty & Chakraborty, 2008). Managing and controlling of emotions lead to surface acting or hardly deep acting than feeling genuine emotions. This ultimately leads to emotional stress due to emotional labor. Therefore, one should overcome one’s negative thoughts and emotions like lust, anger, greed, attachment-love for one’s near and dear with feeling of “my-ness,” and to serve the world with compassion which is “love one feels for all beings of the world. It is an attitude of equality” (Sri Ramakrishna: Gospel, 1942, p. 161).

• 5. Acceptance of the Unique Existence

The realization of oneness of everything that Vedānta talks leads to acceptance of the unique existence and essence of everyone and the feeling that “whatsoever destined to happen shall happen” (Balsekar, 2003) or events are happening as per the grand plan of the Existence and there is no individual doer to that. With this, one develops the understanding that both negative and positive forces of Existence have their own role to play in one’s life. This attitude of acceptance is the infinite source of humility, harmony, and happiness in our daily living. Transformation leaders, while experiencing this feeling, instill it among others with force of their positive influence with rippling effect.

• 6. Cultivation of Profound Ethical and Spiritual Values

Transformational leadership emphasizes moral values such as liberty, equality, and justice and is guided by universal ethical principles—responsibility, fairness, etc.—along with empathy (Johnson, 2013, p. 190). Laura Reave (2005) reviewed 150 studies and finds consistency between spiritual values and practices in context of effective leadership. The study demonstrates that values which were considered spiritual—integrity, honesty, and humility—have definite effect on leadership success. Gay Hendricks and Kate Ludeman (1996), authors of Corporate Mystics, identify the characteristics of corporate mystics/spiritual leaders with three sources of leadership as integrity, vision, and intuition in the organization: absolute honesty, fairness, self-knowledge, focus on contribution, no dogmatic spirituality, getting more done by doing less (in effortless effort), calling forth the best of themselves, openness, special sense of humor, keen distant vision and up-close focus, unusual self-discipline, and balance in their lives (pp. 4–20). Spiritual leadership, variant of transformational leadership, means practicing “the values, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to intrinsically motivate one’s self and others so that they have a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership” (Fry, 2003, pp. 693–727). To Fry, two essential dimensions of spiritual leadership are calling and membership.

Indian philosophy of Vedānta “does not contain an articulate code of morality derived from acknowledged ethical ideal. Though the problems of modern ethics are not explicitly raised in Vedānta writing, the answers to them can be gathered from suggestions contains in the Vedānta texts” (Radhakrishnan, 1914). As the Vedānta metaphysics states that Brahman is the sole reality, and the world at large and individuals are its modifications or manifestations, therefore one should look upon all creation as one in the spirit of abheda, nondifference with universal feeling of love and brotherhood. Therefore, “The Vedānta requires us to respect human dignity and demands the recognition of man as man…(as) nothing is alien…The individual’s life is not a means to satisfaction of his personal desires, but a trust for humanity” (Radhakrishnan, 1914). Therefore, Vedantic perspective—with ideal of love, fellowship, and self-sacrifice being rational reflection upon man’s place in the cosmos—is inexhaustible source of ethical and spiritual values, such as universal compassion, altruism, harmlessness, and interconnectedness. It treats routine and daily work as worship or way of inner elevation if done with awareness and mindfulness.

According to Ramana Maharshi, “Everyday life is not divorced from the Eternal State. So long as daily life is imagined to be different from the spiritual life these difficulties arise. If the spiritual life is rightly understood the active life will be found to be not different from it” (Talks with Ramana, 1955, Talk 376). According to Vedānta, daily life and spiritual life are not different, if they are understood in right perspective. Vedānta does not encourage quietism or inactivity, or ask us to act without motives, “but asks us to serve humanity, without any selfish desires or petty interests, without envy or jealousy, regardless of party or personality” (Radhakrishnan, 1914).

• 7. Leading by Example

The transformational, ethical, and authentic leaders lead others by their examples than directing others. Ethical leaders act as moral person as well as moral managers while discharging their role as leader (Johnson, 2009, p. 76). They treat their people fairly and express care and concern for them. Authentic leaders draw both positive and psychological capacities among the followers by generating greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behavior besides fostering positive self-development (Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Philosophy of Vedānta is perennial guide for persons to lead by example as it helps to develop greater level of self-awareness and sensitivity, to appreciate the divinity in every soul, to treat others with care and compassion, and to do justice with everyone. Daniel Goleman (2013) in his work Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence presents his view that three kinds of focus—on oneself, on people, and on environment at large—contribute to the effectiveness of a leader. “A leader tuned out of his internal world will be rudderless; one blind to the world of others will be clueless; those indifferent to the larger system within which they operate will be blindsided” (p. 4). Vedānta talks about these focuses when it advocates self-knowledge and self-awareness, considering others divine and cultivating of sensitivity to the environment at large.

• 8. Engagement of Others

People’s engagement is assuming important aspect of business management. Research studies suggest that high involvement of people at organization can assure increased customer care and satisfaction and can reduce employee turnover. The different factors that contribute to people’s engagement at work include empathy, understanding, and feeling of resonance, ethics, fair-treatment, trust, and transparency. Spirituality helps to establish authentic connections, to delve deep into resonating dialogues, and to tap into the hearts and souls of other persons (Rabbin, 2009; Ross, 2009). Vedānta being source of infinite spirituality helps to recognize the divine nature of other persons and to indulge in authentic connections, which in turn help to engage the heads and hearts of people and to build learning organization where people contribute to their individual learning as well as team learning through pursuit of dialogues on continuous basis (Senge, 1990).

• 9. Selfless Service

Servant leadership , one of the variant of transformational leadership, is practiced by putting others’ interest first. “Great leaders approach their work as a contribution, as a service, without any sense of entitlement whatsoever” (Dhiman, 2012, p. 140). Vedānta talks of Nishkam karma—doing actions without being attached to results or sense of doership, and treating work or actions as offering to the Divine. This selfless service can be offered in numerous ways like financial assistance, physical help, and emotional and spiritual support. The aim of selfless service is to contribute to the welfare and well-beings of others through thoughts, words, and actions without expectations of reward. Mahatma Gandhi—rare example of transformational, ethical, and servant leadership who devoted his life for the freedom and upliftment of his countrymen—remarked profoundly, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

• 10. Law of Sacrifice

The law of sacrifice is the eternal law. Sufi mystic Gurdjieff states that “nature is full of mysteries and we have to pay price for its revealing.” “Where sacrifice is not willingly given, Nature exacts it by force, she satisfies the law of her living,” Sri Aurobindo (2009, pp. 54–55) profoundly remarks. Bhagavad Gita illuminates sacrifice or Yajana in two chapters: chapter 3 (shloka 10–16) and chapter 4 (shloka 24–35) as means for purification of the being or ways toward attainment of the highest truth. This sacrifice or Yajana (offering to Lord) may be of many types: materialistic or psychological sacrifice of self-control and self-discipline or other forms. But sacrifice in the form of sharing of knowledge is regarded as the highest form of sacrifice as all karmas find their culmination and completeness in the knowledge of the Divine, sarvam karmakhilam jnane parisamapyate. However, any sacrifice should be in the spirit of offering to Lord as Sri Aurobindo (2009/2013), illuminating 4.24 of BG, comments:

The universal energy into which the action is poured is the Divine; the consecrated energy of the giving is the Divine; whatever is offered is only some form of the Divine; the giver of the offering is the Divine himself in man; the action, the work, the sacrifice is itself the Divine in movement, in activity; the goal to be reached by sacrifice is the Divine. For the man who has this knowledge and lives the acts in it, there can be no binding works, no personal and egoistically appropriated action… (pp. 89–90)

The law of sacrifice and theory of Karma Yoga—the path of work without any attachment to fruits—as stressed in first six chapters of BG holds that the world belongs to God and is “not a field for the self-satisfaction of the independent ego; not the fulfilment of the ego.. but the discovery of God” (Sri Aurobindo, 2009/2013, p. 55). All the working of the world is in great circle of sacrifice, yajna, with the Divine being as the enjoyer of all dynamic interplay and to know this Divine all-pervading in sacrifice is highest realization.

• 11. Dispassion and Detachment

Gross ignorance and illusion that materialistic possessions, power, and pursuit of pleasures contribute to happiness is the cause of human sufferings and miseries. Their senseless pursuit causes dependence upon them due to attachment with them. But the feeling of power, control, and pleasure are temporary and transitory phenomenon. However, as the person develops attachment with objects, situation, and persons, s/he becomes dependent on them which ultimately leads to sorrow (Swami Paramarthananda, 2003, pp. 1–3). Happiness is “deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind—an optimum state of being” (Ricard, 2006, p. 19). Pleasures are momentary, sensual, and dependent on external circumstances, whereas happiness is everlasting state of mind–human flourishing, not dependent on the external circumstances. There is nescient unawareness in pursuit of pleasures, whereas there is awakened freedom from mental blindness and afflictive emotions in case of happiness. The sources of happiness are not only our successful economic pursuits, feeling of emotional satisfaction in interactions with our surrounding members, but finding the meaning in our work and existence to deep state of human flourishing—deep contentment and calm that we develop around us—a state of nondependence upon external objects, persons, and situations. सर्वंपरवशंदुःखंसर्वमात्मवशंसुखं, एततविधातसमासेनलक्षणंसुखदुःखयो: (Liberty in all respects is happiness, and dependence in all matters is misery. Know these to be the general definitions of happiness and misery—Manu Smriti, IV. 160).

In Indian philosophy, ignorance of the self or lack of self-knowledge is the root cause of all sufferings. Because of nescient ignorance, we value unreal as Real and develop undue attachment to the objects and persons we desire, which becomes the cause of anxiety, stress, restlessness, and ultimate lead toward sufferings. To cultivate happiness, one should learn to discriminate between what is real and what is eternal and develop profound sense of calm and equanimity which is possible through discriminative analysis and dispassion toward illusive world of ever-changing emotions and other temporary phenomenon of the phenomenal world. Viveka, discrimination between transient and eternal, and vairagya, detachment toward the illusive world and negating the illusory superimpositions, are the time-tested Vedāntic Wisdom for cultivating profound focus on the real Self, creating conditions of everlasting happiness within and around oneself, and serving the world as liberated being—free from physical, mental, and intellectual entanglements.

While pursuing our mundane activities in the ordinary world, we may not be able to capture pristine purity of the hidden and sublime message with great subtlety unless we achieve integration of discriminating intellect, detachment, ethical behavior targeted at elimination of personal interests and minimization of dependence upon external environment, and tranquility of mind for reflection and meditation. Besides this divine preparation with mental caliber and moral character, it requires serene environment surrounded by dedicated and devoted seekers and its elucidation by realized beings with intellectual and spiritual heights.

Attachment: Source of Bondage

As we interact in the world, we develop one or other type of attachment, which becomes bondage. As a result, man suffers because of attachment with persons, materialistic objects, and body–mind mechanism. Attachment may provide some psychological satisfaction, but it anaesthetizes our sensitivity and impairs our judgment. As we develop attachment with external objects and persons to satisfy our vasanas (inner inclinations) or to accommodate changing moods, we destroy the equipoise which Sankara calls as “dire death” (maha mritu). Thus, attachment is short-term gains and long-term pains. S/he who controls her or his own delusory misconceptions (moha) and is not tempted by the external world finds ultimate solace and contemplation because of liberation from entanglements (Swami Chinmayananda: Vivekacudamani, shloka 85). Shlokas 2.62 and 2.63 of Bhagavad Gita link attachment with downfall and destruction of human being, which Sri Aurobindo (2009/2013, p. 60) illuminates in following words:

The mind naturally lends itself to the senses; it observes the objects of sense with an inner interest, settles upon them and makes them the object of absorbing thought for the intelligence and of strong interest for the will. By that attachment comes, by attachment desire, by desire distress, passion and anger when the desire is not satisfied or is thwarted or opposed, and by passion the soul is obscured, the intelligence and will forget to see and be seated in the calm observing soul; there is a fall from the memory of one’s true self, and by that lapse the intelligent will is also obscured, destroyed even. For, for the time being, it no longer exists to our memory of ourselves, it disappears in a cloud of passion; we become passion, wrath, grief and cease to be self and intelligence and will.

Attachment is regarded as one of the ten bad qualities or inner tendencies that need to be overcome. Other bad tendencies are associated with attachment in one or other way. Dasha-hara and Vijaydashmi are Sanskrit words which mean overcoming ten bad qualities or inner tendencies within oneself: Kama vasana (Lust), Krodha (Anger), Moha (Attachment), Lobha (Greed), Mada (Excessive pride), Matsara (Jealousy), Swartha (Selfishness), Anyaya (Injustice), Amanavta (Cruelty), and Ahankara (Ego). Vivekacudamani further links attachment with man’s downfall in the following words:Verse

Verse śabdādibhiḥ pañcabhireva pañca pañcatvamāpuḥ svaguṇena baddhā / kuraṅgamātaṅgapataṅgamīna bhṛṅgā naraḥ pañcabhirañcitaḥ //76//

The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish, and the honeybee—these five are annihilated because of their slavery to one or the other of the senses such as sound and [touch, sight, taste, and smell] and so on, through their own attachment. What then is the condition of a man who is attached to all these five? (Swami Chinmayananda: Vivekacudamani, shloka 76)

Swami Vivekananda on Leadership

Vivekananda’s unique contribution lies in making Vedānta familiar to the Western World, bringing it out of the hermit’s cave into the market place of the world and regarding service of man as worship of the divine (Swami Swahananda, 2003). His message has profound relevance for searching unity among diversities and harmonizing with different diverse and divergent forces of Existence. Swami Vivekananda’s message of the Upanishad, “Arise! Awake! Stop not till the goal is reached,” has profound relevance for leaders transmitting enthusiasm and energy besides instilling passion and purpose among their followers. Swami Vivekananda’s letters reflect his state of mind that has profound influence on the lives of those to whom these are addressed as well as readers of different ages. These letters also reflect his servant and authentic leadership style. “Swami Vivekananda had preached and practiced the sublime concept of servant-leadership in his life and within his organization 80 years before it was introduced in the corporate world…” Chaudhuri, 2011, p. 3). Vivekananda was also “one of the sources of inspiration for Mahatma Gandhi’s momentous deeds, which are based on renunciation and service, the twin pillars of every true leader” (Chaudhuri, 2011, p. 4). Swami Vivekananda as embodiment of spirituality practicing servant leadership gets manifested in his qualities like empathy, compassion, love, and concern for others.

The concept of Servant Leadership has attracted attention of the researchers (Roberts, 2015; Boone & Makhani, 2012; Focht and Ponton, 2015; Farling, Stone, & Winston, 1999; Ehrhart, 2004; Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006) ever since the work of Robert Greenleaf (1977). Robert Greenleaf (1904–1990) talks about Swami Vivekananda’s concept of leadership by becoming “a servant of servants.” A leader has to be servant first before leading others. Influenced by fictional character of Leo in Hermann Hesse’s novel The Journey to the East (Hesse, 1956), Greenleaf models it as servant leader. Leo was the servant of the group who used to serve other members of the group traveling across the desert, and suddenly disappears as they were served. The group later on realized that Leo was not their servant, but was in fact leader who led by serving them. The theory behind servant leadership is that leadership and service is manifested in the care of others by putting others’ welfare as the highest priority. The best test of leadership is by asking oneself, “Do those served grow as individuals; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” (Greenleaf, 1977, p. 4). Noble Laureate Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) was close friend of another Noble Laureate Romain Rolland (1866–1944) as their frequent meeting used to occur till the death of the former in 1944 (Chaudhuri, 2011, p. 58). Even Hermann Hesse (1951) dedicated his novel Siddhartha, based on Eastern mysticism to Romain Rolland who rekindled his interest in Eastern philosophy and inspired him with his profound writings on Life of Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda.

Therefore, subtle influence of Swami Vivekananda on writing of Greenleaf cannot be ruled out. “It is truly amazing that in the pantheon of great leaders in modern times Vivekananda was probably the first to introduce the concept of servant-leadership in no uncertain terms and practice it” (Chaudhuri, 2011). We find key qualities of servant leadership in Swami Vivekananda—self-awareness, good listener, empathy, stewardship, altruism, unconditional love, and character virtues such as integrity, authenticity, courage, forgiveness, hope, humility, and ability to lead with ethics and moral integrity. His role as a servant-leader was to envision the work to be done for transforming the masses through the message of Vedānta, executing the work as decided with hard work, engaging the heart and spirit of his followers, empowering and encouraging them for self-expression, and having empathy with them. Asim Chaudhuri (2011) talks about different leadership traits of Swami Vivekananda which lead to transformational leadership or its variant like authentic leadership or servant leadership like having a vision, bias for action, empathy, empowerment, organizing skills, developing people, integrity, self-mastery, fairness, ability to transform others, etc.

Mahatma Gandhi and Leadership

Mahatma Gandhi, cited as spiritually grounded and outstanding leader by Burns (1978), with consistently deep commitment to truth and nonviolence (Narayan Desai, 1999, p. 4), was profoundly influenced by the Bhagavad Gita as “every moment of his life was conscious effort to live the message of the Gita” (Desai, 1946, p. 6). Gandhi regarded the Gita as “spiritual dictionary” and frequently turned to it for spiritual solace throughout his life. “He considered service to humanity as worship of God and every little activity therefore attained the significance of being part of the worship….individual knowledge, attitude and skills were directly linked with the service of the society” (Desai, 1999, p. 6). Mahatma Gandhi’s life was dedicated to search for truth and nonviolence. Gandhi’s Outstanding Leadership components, as stated by Pascal Alan Nazareth (2006, pp. 11–45), include:

• Elevated or utopian vision that humans, the highest manifestation of God’s creation, can and would live in harmony and peace, firmly adhering to Truth, Justice, Love, and Nonviolence.

• Courage and character as he affirms “fear and truth are mutually contradictory terms,” “being a slave to fear is the worst form of slavery” and “the greatest help you can give me is to banish fear from your hearts.”

• Compassion as seen in his constant focus on the oppressed and empathy for them, dedication to India’s unity and prevention of its partition, and determination as seen in Satyagraha.

• Communication skills that backed with his authenticity and truthfulness of the message that transformed India’s freedom from small group to mass movement.

• Organization skills and Charisma as reflected in establishing training camps and exerting moral influence upon different leaders of that time to change their ways.

• Strategizing skills as he fashioned innovative Satyagraha strategy by integrating truth, nonviolence, and self-suffering, chose Charka for spinning to undermine British economic dominance over India and to bring equality between women and men in spinning activity.

• Management skills were transparent, methodical, and humane with greater insistence on ethical means to achieve the desired objectives or ends. To him, not only ends but also means were important: “The means may be liked to a seed, the end of a tree. There is the same inviolable connection between the means and ends as there is between the seed and tree.”

• Magnanimity as seen in his forgiveness of those who hated, reviled, and attacked him.

• Self-assurance as it enabled him to remain unaffected in the circumstances of false accusations.

• Enlightened patriotism and nationalism keeping with the ancient Indian maxim “Udara charita nam tu vasudaiva Kudumbakam” (for the broad minded, all mankind is one family) that gives equal respect to different religions.

• Broad-spectrum worldview as we find his concern for German Jews tragedy as well as Palestinians and Arabs.

Gandhi and the Value of Values in Leadership

Values represent the heart of leadership and guide behavior and performance. As Samuel Blumenfeld has clearly pointed out, “You have to be dead to be value-neutral.” Values are like a lighthouse; they do not change. It is the ship of practices that has to find its way guided by the lighthouse of values. Can an evil leader be an effective leader? The answer to this question depends on whether we consider ethics to be a necessary condition for leadership. It also begs the fundamental question, “What good is leadership if it is not ethical?”

Since leadership is an expression of who we are, in discovering, living, and sharing our deepest values lies the fulfillment of our life and leadership. In his seminal essay titled “Notes toward a Definition of Values-Based Leadership ,” James O’Toole (2008) calls Gandhi the “most manifestly values-based of all leaders.” Besides Gandhi, the author’s shortlist of such leaders includes Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jean Monet.

Gandhi consistently embodied the perennial values of authenticity/personal integrity, transparency, harmlessness (ahiṁsā), truthfulness (satyāgraha or truth-force), humility, self-discipline, and selfless service in and through his life and death. He believed that the universe is not amoral and that it has a structural bias toward good. His leadership effectiveness proceeded from his categorical adherence to these values and his openness to learn from his own mistakes. Gandhi’s innovation lies in extending them from the personal to the public arena. His was essentially a values-based, principle-centered approach to leadership. Despite his faults, or perhaps because of them, we find there is much to learn about Gandhi’s development as a leader—who lived and died for the values he held most dear.

Authenticity and Transparency

Personal authenticity has been explored throughout history, from Greek philosophers (“Know Thyself”—Socrates) to Shakespeare (“To thine own self be true”—Polonius, Hamlet). Authenticity as defined in this context seems to be closely linked with self-awareness, sincerity, truth, and transparency. An authentic leader operates from a strong personal and moral stance embodying the unity and purity of thoughts, words, and deeds.Verse

Verse Gandhi underscores this alignment by noting: “I say as I think and I do as I say.”

Two Stories about Mahatma Gandhi that illustrate Authenticity and Role-Modeling

A mother once brought her son to Mahatma Gandhi and said, “Sir, please tell my son to stop eating sugar.”

Gandhi looked at the boy for a long time and then, turning toward mother, said, “Bring your son back to me in two weeks.” The mother did not understand the rationale of the delay in instruction, but she did as she was asked.

Two weeks later she and her son returned. Gandhi looked deeply into boy’s eyes and said, “Stop eating sugar.” The mother was grateful, but puzzled. She asked, “Why didn’t you tell my son to stop eating sugar two weeks ago when we were here?”

And Gandhi replied, “Two weeks ago, I was eating sugar.”¹⁶

In another story, Mahatma Gandhi was boarding a train, one of his sandals slipped from his foot and landed near the track. Suddenly, the train began pulling away leaving him no time to retrieve it. Immediately, Gandhi removed the other sandal and tossed it back to lie with the other along the track. When his astonished fellow passenger asked why he did this, Gandhi replied, “Now the poor man who finds it will have a pair he can use.”¹⁷

Grace Notes. These are excellent stories to underscore the importance of being authentic by “walking the talk” for those in leadership positions. At another occasion, Gandhi was asked by a journalist, “Sir, what is your final message?” Gandhi replied, “My life is my message.” The ability to connect one’s voice with one’s touch goes a long way in the making of a great leader. There is a great message underlying these two stories for all leaders interested in initiating change. Too often, we are tempted to wear a “social reformer’s hat” and start making changes around us without considering to first enshrine those changes in our own lives. This breeds lack of trust and short-circuits the whole change process. As humans, we have yet to discover a more effective method of inspiring change than role modeling. This is the essence of authentic leadership.

Gandhi viewed his life and work as an undivided whole and approached his lifework in an utterly selfless manner, renouncing the usual trappings of title, authority, and position. If true living or leadership is an expression of who we are, authenticity becomes the most essential value in life and leadership. According to Warren Bennis, “The ‘Dean’ of Leadership Gurus,” the real task of becoming a leader boils down to becoming an authentic individual first: “At bottom, becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It’s precisely that simple, and it’s also that difficult.”

Authenticity does not mean being perfect. It is accepting oneself (and others) as one truly is, warts and all. It is about being aware of one’s flaws and learning from them. In fine, it is about leading from within. Gandhi led from within—from the deep moral and spiritual core of his being. His life and leadership were inseparably one. His life was an open book for all to see. His autobiography is an exemplary model of candidness and transparency. Such a level of “transparency” has not been observed in the life of any other public leader before or after.

Harmlessness or Nonviolence

Gandhi believed that the only test of truth is action based on the refusal to do harm—ahiṁs̄a. The commonly used English equivalent “nonviolence” may be misleading, as it seems to give the impression that ahiṁsā is just a negative virtue. Ahiṁsā is not mere abstention from injury in thought, word, and deed; it also implies the positive virtues of compassion and benevolence. For Gandhi, ahiṁsā was a positive force of love. In addition, nonviolence is not a cover for cowardice. Gandhi has said that “where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.” Gandhi’s distinctive contribution in this area lies in his unique interpretation of “passive” forms of violence such as hatred and anger. The passive violence that we commit consciously and unconsciously every day causes the victims of passive violence to get angry, and their anger eventually leading to physical violence.

We have been told by experts that anger instigates almost 80% of the violence that we experience either in our personal lives or as a society or nation. Anger leads to conflict and conflict to violence. Learning how to use the powerful energy of anger intelligently and effectively is the foundation of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. When used properly, rightly channeled anger can go a long way in reducing the passive violence at the workplace. Nonviolence is both the end and the means. For Gandhi, nonviolence was the means and truth was the end.

Truth

Truth and nonviolence are interrelated; for there is no spirituality without morality. Taken together, truth and nonviolence constitute the alpha and omega of Gandhi the man, as well as Gandhi the leader; every form of discipline or vow that Gandhi observed in his life was just a variation on these themes. And based on all the available evidence, Gandhi remained true to both of these vows in both letter and spirit.

For Gandhi, there was the “relative truth” of truthfulness in human interactions and the “absolute truth” of the Ultimate Reality. This ultimate truth is God (as God is also Truth) with ethics as expressed in the moral law as its basis. Gandhi was humble enough to acknowledge that the truth we experience at the level of human interactions is “relative, many-sided, plural, and is the whole truth for a given time.

Pure and absolute truth should be our ideal.” This humility gave Gandhi the understanding to be on the side of the truth rather than insisting for the truth to be on his side. Such humility and courage of conviction are object lessons for contemporary leaders. Even while committing to truth and nonviolence as the absolute ideals, leaders should remain open to the fact of many-sidedness of truth encountered at the level of human interactions.

Humility

Many spiritual traditions speak about the need to “be poor in spirit and pure in heart.” Of all the leadership qualities, humility is perhaps the most difficult to develop. Ben Franklin tells us in his legendary Autobiography that the reason humility as a virtue is hard to cultivate is because by the time one gets to be good at it, one becomes proud of it!

Gandhi strongly believed that the “truth is not to be found by anybody who has not got an abundant sense of humility. If you would swim on the bosom of the ocean you must reduce yourself to a zero.” In fact, humility is both the means and the goal. In the field of leadership, the importance of humility can hardly be overemphasized. Only humble leaders can serve a cause higher than themselves. Howard Schultz, the founder and chairman of the Starbucks chain of coffee shops, says that the great leadership expert, Warren Bennis, once told him that to become a great leader you have to develop “your ability to leave your own ego at the door, and to recognize the skills and traits that you need in order to build a world-class organization.”

Self-Discipline

Gandhi once said, “Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as being able to remake ourselves.” Every time Gandhi confronted human frailties in the outer world, he turned his moral searchlight within (a phrase Gandhi loved using) to find answers in the deep recesses of his soul. This spiritual and moral anchorage was the key to Gandhi’s political potency and innovation and became his most important discovery: A person’s capacity for self-discipline enhances his capacity to influence the environment around him. And no power on earth can make a person do a thing against his will. He who disciplines himself gains the strength to shape the environment. Peter Senge concurs and regards self-mastery to be the key aspect of growing as a leader.

Through prayer, contemplation, self-abnegation, and self-purification, he cultivated his being to such an extent that it emanated a gentle soul-force that endeared him even to his severest critics and detractors. Even Gandhi’s critics agree that his strength lay in his towering spirit that resided in his frail frame. With his indomitable spirit, Gandhi was able to win his ideological wars in the long run, even when he seemed to be losing his battles in the short run.

Selfless Service

A leader’s true inspiration comes from doing selfless work. Selfless work brings equanimity of mind which in turn contributes to leadership effectiveness. Exemplary leaders are not motivated by personal desires or interests. They recognize that selfless service is the highest principle of life and leadership. They become instruments of the Whole and selflessly work for the well-being of all beings. This is where their true fulfillment lies. Gandhi was right: the best way to find oneself is to lose oneself in the service of others.

Gandhi believed that only by not regarding anything as their own can leaders truly devote themselves, body and soul, to the selfless service of others. For unless mind is purged of personal desire and attachment, even service is but an inflation of the ego. These are all valuable lessons for contemporary leaders to emulate.

The path to leading others starts with self-awareness through self-discipline and ends with self-transcendence through selfless service. It is paved with authenticity, humility, and compassion. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” said Gandhi. He lived and died by this maxim.

Gandhi’s Talisman

Gandhi’s advice to a fellow seeker, given 5 months before his death:

I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny?... Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away.¹⁸

This admirably sums up Gandhi the humanist.Gandhi was essentially the archetypical moral force whose appeal to humanity is both universal and lasting. Originally a timid and taciturn soul, he became “a century’s conscience” and grew into a paragon of higher order visionary leadership, helping to secure liberation of a fifth of the world’s population from the rule of the largest empire on earth. His life became a guiding star to leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela—his spiritual heirs to nonviolence. “His legacy is courage, his lesson truth, his weapon love.”¹⁹ With his life as his monument, Gandhi now belongs to all humanity, and his leadership lessons apply to all nations and times. “Of all the modern politicians and statesmen,” writes a recent commentator, “only Gandhi is an authentically global figure.”²⁰

If we want to bring about any change in the world, we have to begin with ourselves: We have to be the change that we wish to see in the world. This was Gandhi’s most important discovery and his greatest gift to humankind. Gandhi had his share of human failings and favorites. Yet for his abiding passion to constantly “remake” himself until his last breath, his dogged determination to walk the straight and narrow path of truth and nonviolence, his exceptional ability to reduce his personal self to zero, his disarming humility, and his excruciating self-honesty, he will continue to shine as a beacon for humanity as long as might oppresses right.

Case Study of Metro Man Dr. E Sreedharan: Leading with Human Values

Dr. E. Sreedharan (June 12, 1932–), well known as Metro man, is highly respected among his colleagues and staff members for his excellence in construction projects of Indian Railways like Pamban Bridge Project (that was completed in 46 days, despite deadline of 3 months), Konkan Railway Project—the gigantic challenge involving construction of 1880 bridges and 91 tunnels on Western Ghats that reduced the distance of 1800 km through innovative funding and involvement of different governments of different political parties—and Delhi Metros to give clean mass transportation system to Delhi and nearby areas. Dr. E. Sreedharan transformed the functioning of Konkan Railways and Delhi Metros by making it paperless based on trust and mutual respect among different staff members, timely payment to contractors, and value-based decision-making. Dr. E. Sreedharan is not only known for his engineering excellence, professionalism, diligence, and knowledge but also known for his commitment for values like personal integrity, hard work, sincerity, professional competence, and profound values deeply rooted in Indian Spirituality. Dr. E. Sreedharan is regarded as Avatara, Bhagawan, or fatherly figures by his staff members.

Completing projects like Konkan Railway or Delhi Metro within budget and deadline involves various complex facets of project management, understanding of multirange issues, presenting practical and instant solutions, keeping the staff motivated, facing political pressures, and managing the routine. This was possible because of “a unique work culture that we were able to bring in and nurture in those two organizations. I think the four major pillars of work culture were punctuality, integrity, professional competence, and a sense of social responsibility or accountability.” (Sreedharan, 2012/2017)

• 1. Punctuality: As trains are expected to run on time unless we the people are punctual, we cannot expect our trains to be punctual. Metro trains in the world over are considered late if it is 3 minutes late. In Delhi Metro, this standard was updated to 60 seconds, and 99.6% or 99.7% punctuality was found in 3000 trains run.

  Same type of punctuality was to be followed in project management and for this countdown clock system was used. According to it, a project is assigned a time and then reverse counting is done to pressure.

• 2. Integrity: To Dr. E. Sreedharan, integrity is not merely honesty, or lack of corruption, but includes all activities with transparency as the main factor of this culture. Because of integrity of the people, different governments trusted the organization and proposals were approved without questioning.

• 3. Professional competence: Learning on continuous basis should be pursued. In the initial stage of projects, Delhi Metro engaged foreign consultants, but at second phase onward, its people pursued the projects on their own way because of acquisition of knowledge.

• 4. Social responsibility: To Dr. E. Sreedharan, completion of project on time without cost overruns is not only question of professional competence but also social responsibility as “it is the people’s money, the tax payers’ money. It has to be spent for the right cause in the right way…with least inconvenience to the citizens” (Sreedharan, 2017). Another aspect of environmental issue like tree-cutting was there. Delhi Metro decided that it would plant 10 trees for every tree cut as a compensatory effort. “Social responsibility is a very important dimension of any project and implies that society should benefit from the project and not suffer because of it” (Sreedharan, 2017).

These values are deeply influenced by Dr. E. Sreedharan’s spirituality based on Bhagavad Gita as he advises:

• 1. What so ever you do, do with best of your ability.

• 2. Do your work as offering to God.

• 3. Do not expect return. Do not get attached to results (Sreedharan, 2019, Personal Communication with author).

Verse

Verse muktasaṅgonahaṃvādī dhṛtyutsāhasamanvitaḥ / siddhyasiddhyor nirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate //Gita 18.26//

If you want to be a virtuous doer, you should not be too attached to the work that you are doing. You should not bother about the results either, whether failure or success. You should have the same attitude about the project. If you are able to assume that status of mind and execute the project, you can never fail.²¹

Dr. E. Sreedharan has disciplined and focused lifestyle as he gets up every day at 4.00 a.m., does some Pranayam and Yoga for 45 minutes, and reaches office 5 minutes earlier. He prefers to complete the work within office and devote his evening to his family members or evening walk. Dr. E. Sreedharan is so busy that even at the age of 87 years, he works hard and leads by his personal example. He has to take care of different metro projects of different governments like Rajasthan, Delhi, Kerala, Bangalore, Jammu and Kashmir, and Hyderabad. Even UN engaged his services regarding recommendation of sustainable transportation. For working hard without feeling of stress, he advises top executives to study Bhagavad Gita as spiritual text to find solution for ordinary problems. Dr. Sreedharan had a metal plaque inscribed with the following words of Yog Vashishat and hung in his offices:Verse

Verse Karyam karomi, na Cha Kinchit, Aham Karomi (Whatsoever is to be done I do, but in reality I do not do anything.)

Conclusion

The philosophy of Vedānta that advocates the Oneness of the universe and divinity of every being has profound relevance for transformational leadership and its variants. Different spiritual masters have lived and interpreted Vedānta. Their teachings have definite relevance in context of transformational leadership. The various lessons of Vedānta in context of transformational leadership include acceptance of the unique Existence of other beings, cultivation of profound ethical values, leading by example, engagement of others, overcoming negativities, and pursuit of selfless service as offering to Divine.

What are the implication of the preceding discussion in the context of the workplace and leadership? Essentially, all human beings are unique manifestations of the One Self as consciousness and have unique qualities and capabilities; every human being is cut from the cloth of Consciousness. In this sense, no one is higher than another or lower than another in their Essential One Self. This understanding fosters equality in ethical conduct stemming from realizing the divinity of all beings and serving them with altruistic motive. The teachings of Vedānta regarding respect, tolerance, and understanding of the other faiths nurture humanity and solidarity in the contemporary war-ravaged world. This understanding of oneness of all beings furnishes the best rationale for the golden rule. This awareness of oneness also provides the best explanation of Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Impetrative of treating everyone as an end in itself. As different beings are just the expressions of one universal consciousness, hurting the other means hurting oneself. This realization is the source and foundation of all philanthropy, ethical conduct, and social contract.

Chapter Takeaways

• 1. The philosophy of Vedānta advocates Oneness of all beings in the Universe. The understanding of oneness fosters kinship with the all human beings and the world at large. This has far-reaching implications for living a life of self-awareness, harmony, and peace. This understanding fosters equality in ethical conduct stemming from realizing the divinity of all beings and serving them with altruistic loving-kindness.

• 2. Advaita Vedānta teaches that the phenomenal world, though real at the relative level, is merely a manifestation of an underlying Absolute Reality, known as Brahman, the universal consciousness. As different beings are just the expressions of one universal consciousness, hurting the other means hurting oneself. This realization is the source and foundation of all philanthropy, ethical conduct, and social contract.

• 3. Vedānta lays greater emphasis on ethical conduct and spiritual values in daily living. It recognizes four pursuits or goals of life: artha (wealth), kama (pleasure), dharma (righteousness), and moksha (liberation). Since righteousness (dharma) underpins and regulates the other three pursuits to ensure their propriety, according to Hindu scriptures, the right order of these pursuits should be dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation).

• 4. True transformational leaders raise awareness of moral standards, highlight important priorities, foster high moral maturity in followers, create an ethical climate of shared values and high ethical standards, encourage followers to look beyond self-interest to the common good, promote cooperation and harmony, use authentic and consistent means, provide individual coaching and mentoring, appeal to the ideals of followers, and allow followers freedom of choice.

• 5. Values represent the heart of leadership and guide behavior and performance. As Samuel Blumenfeld has clearly pointed out, “You have to be dead to be value-neutral.” Values are like a lighthouse; they do not change. It is the ship of practices that has to find its way guided by the lighthouse of values. Can an evil leader be an effective leader? The answer to this question depends on whether we consider ethics to be a necessary condition for leadership. It also begs the fundamental question, “What good is leadership if it is not ethical?”

• 6. Leadership is journey into one’s soul. Since all authentic leadership is an expression of who we are, in discovering, living, and sharing our deepest values lies the fulfillment of our life and leadership.

Reflection Questions

• 1. How Vedāntic principle of oneness of all beings fosters equality in ethical conduct? What are its implications for the workplace and leadership?

• 2. What are the common elements among different variants of transformational leadership?

• 3. What were the most important ethical values for Gandhi that guided him in his quest for self-realization and servant leadership?

• 4. Which leadership competency has contributed the most in Dr. Sreedharan’s success as a leader?

• 5. What key life and leadership lessons emerge from a comparative study of leadership styles of the three exemplary leaders profiled in this chapter?