The Bhagavad-Gita is considered to be one of the greatest ancient philosophical books the world has ever known. The Bhagavad-Gita has recently made a dramatic impact at Harvard, Wharton and other business schools. The teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita are universal as it is often referred to as the “Handbook for Humanity”. The universal application of the Bhagavad-Gita, when correctly understood and practiced, will enable us to deal with all types of leadership conflicts in life and in organisations.

1. The Bhagavad-Gita & ‘Leader’ Development:A Sva-DharmicModel
Dr BalakrishnanMuniapan
Email: bala.hrm@gmail.com

2. Objectives
1.Tocreateawarenessabouttheexistenceof‘leader’developmentinsightsfromthetimelessclassic–theBhagavad-Gita(BG); and
2.ToexploretherelevanceandtheapplicationoftheBG(Vedanta)in‘leader’developmentfromasva-dharmic(leadersownduty)perspective.

3. Methodology
1.Hermeneutics,astudy,understandingandinterpretationofancientorclassicalliteratures.
2.Thehermeneuticsanalysisbasedonfour(4Is)stages-identification,investigation, interpretationandintegration.

4. Leadership/Management
1.Changingparadigmofleadershipandmanagementresearch.
2.Interdisciplinaryapproachtoleadershipandmanagementwithanincreaseinspiritual,philosophical&historicalperspective.
3.Outside-in&inside-outapproachestotheleadershipand‘leader’development.

5. Emotional
Intelligence
EQIntellectual IntelligenceIQ
Physical
Intelligence
PQ
Spiritual
Intelligence
SQ
Body
Head
HeartSpirit
SELF
Leadership Wisdom

6. The Bhagavad-Gita
1.TheBhagavad-Gita(BG)isaphilosophicaldialoguebetweenSriKrishnaandArjunaintheMahabharata.
2.TheMahabharatawascomposedbySriVyasaMuni&waswrittenbySriGanesaandithas100,000verses(thelongestepicintheworld).
3.TheBGappearsin700verses(ofwhich575areutteredbySriKrishna)inBhismaParvaoftheMahabharataandconsistsof18chapters.

7. Past Studies
1.TheBGiswidelyusedandstudiedinthecontextoftheology, philosophyandspirituality;isyettobeexploredin-depthinthecontextofleadershipresearch.
2.ScholarslikeSrivastava;Chakraborty;Sharma;Chaterjee; Bodhananda;Krishnan;Srinivasan;Satpathy;Muniapan;Chow: Roka;SelvarajahandothershavewrittenonVedanta(BG) philosophytoexplainvariousperspectivesofleadership(Vedanta),whicharedistinctlydifferentfromwesternperspectivesofleadership.
3.StudiesindicatethatVedanta(BG)recommendsleaderstoexploretheinnerworldoftheSELF(inside-out)-i.e.SELFdiscovery:aninwardjourneytodiscoverthetruenature(sva- bhava)andleader’sduty(sva-dharma)–thechariotanalogy.

8. The body is the chariot (KU. 1.3.3–4)
Thefive senses(indriya) are the chariot horses,
The mind (manas) is the reins,
The intelligence (buddhi) is the chariot driver,
The “SELF" is the chariot's passenger,
The objects perceived by the senses are the chariot's path.

9. Panchakosha(Five Sheaths)
The‘SELFdevelopment’processtoberefinedbasedonthePanchakoshaconcept(TU. Brahmanandavalli).
1.AnnamayaKosha(physicalbodyandenergy);
2.PranamayaKosha(innerstrengthandpurityofcharacter);
3.ManomayaKosha(emotionalstrength);
4.VijanamayaKrosha(cognitiveandintellectualstrength);and
5.AnandamayaKosha(actualizingstrength,unconscious).

11. Summary of the Findings
1.Theoryofoneness(advaita)andyogicmanagementofdiscipliningthemindandthebody,BG.C6;
2.Theniskamakarma,BG.2.47(leadersfocusonactionwithoutdesireforrewards):sthitaprajna,BG.2.55andbrahma-bhuta,BG.18.54leadership(leaderswithsteadywisdomandemotionallyintelligent);
3.Theguna,BG,C14(sattva,rajasandtamas)theoryofpersonalitydevelopmentandhumannature;
4.Therajarishi,BG,3.20(asynthesisof‘king’beingexternaldimensionand‘sage’internalselfrealizationdimension)leadershipmodel;
5.Theloka-samgraha,BG.3.21approachinleadershipandmanagementforglobalwelfare(vasudevakutumbakam).

12. Vedanta on SELF Discovery
Wemay(throughourtechnicalskills)rollupthespacelikeapieceofleather;stilltherewillbenoendtooursorrowwithoutrealizingtheluminousspiritortheselfwithinus(yadacarmavatakasamvestayisyantimanavah;tadadevamavijnayaduhkhasyantobhavisyati,SU.6.20).
Beyondthesensoryfacultiesinussuchasthemind,intellect,ego,ears,eyes,nose,handsandgenitals,thereisasupremedirector,whichisnoneotherthantheinvisibleSELF.

13. Leadership Dharma
Therootdhrmeans"tohold,maintain,keep”,dharmameansthatwhichholdsandsustains(dharayatiitidharmah).
Englishwordstodescribedharmaincludesduty(occupational),rights,laws,religion,conduct,virtues, rightwayoflivingandpathofrighteousness.
Leadershipdharmasignifiesleader’sbehaviorsthatareconsideredtobeinaccordancewiththeorder(nature)thatmakeslifeanduniversepossible.

14. Varnasrama– Dharma(VD)
Asrama– Dharma (AD)
Sva-Dharma
(SD)
Rita-Dharma
(RD)
Individual
Family/
OrganizationSociety/ Community
GlobalSELF
Leadership Dharma

15. Samabhava(Equanimity)
Tat-Twam-Asi
(That Thou Art)
Darshana
(Integral Vision)
Vairagya
(Detachment)
SELF
The Sva-DharmicDimension

16. Darshana(Integral Vision)
Theabilityoftheleadertoseeintocomplexsituations,understanddynamicsrelationshipsconcerningcauseandaffect(BG4.18),andmakedecisionsortakeactionsthatservetheinterestsofthecommongood(loka-samgraha).
Self-masterieswith“insights”whichgoesmuchdeeperthanthecommon“sights”.Chittasuddhi– acquiringqualitymindandcharacter,self-control, humilityanddetachment.

17. Tat-Twam-Asi(That Thou Art)
Therealizationofhumaninterconnectedness,tattwamasi(CU.6.8.7),sarvamkhalvidambrahma(CU.3.14.1) ahambrahmasmi(BU.1.4.10)
Thefirstsixchapters(BG)relatetoTwam(Thou):TheinnermostSELF,thecoreofone’spersonality.
ThemiddlesixchaptersrelatetoTat(That): Consciousnessortheultimatereality.
Thelastsixchaptersestablishtherelationshipbetweenthefirsttwo,Asi(Art):theall-pervadingConsciousnessandtheSELFareone.

18. Samabhava(Equanimity)
Theequanimityoftheleader’smindandtoseeanequalvisionofalllivingbeing(non- discrimination,BG.5.18)
Samabhavaisalsothestateofsteadycalmness, ofbeingunperturbedbytheeventsofthedayandoftheactionofthepeoplearound.Itistheabilitytobeofevenmindwithoutbeingupsetorexcited(brahma-bhuta’sstage,BG.18.53).

19. Vairagya(Detachment)
Dispassion,detachment,orrenunciation,inparticularrenunciationfromthepainsandpleasures(internalstateofmind),BG.C6.Renunciationisabstainingfromselfishacts(sanyasa)anddetachingfromtheresultsofanaction(tyaga), BG.C18.
Renunciationofnegativethoughts,words,andactions,kama, krodha,lobha,mana,madaandharshai.e.,Desire,anger, possessiveness,ego,prideandfoolhardiness(indriyahjayah)- requiresmindmanagement(uddharedatmanatmanam,BG.6.5)
Renunciationofmomentaryhappinessthatisderivedfromselfishbehaviors(preya),instead,seekhappinessthatislong- lastingandbeneficialtoall(sreya).

20. Implications for “Leader” Development
1.Leadership(process)developmentstartswith“leader”(individual)development–thefocusoftrainingonselfmastery–mindandbody;
2.Leaderdevelopmentisadharmicjourney(evolutionary)ofcontinuousimprovementandisculturespecific;
3.Leaderdevelopmentneedstotakeaconsciousnessapproach(inside-out)–selfawarenessandrealization;

21. The Significance of SDModel
1.Fromaresearchviewpoint–expandsthescopeofdharmic(macro-global)leadershipintosva- dharmic(micro-SELF)leadershipandlatterintoasramic(family,organization)andvarnasramic(society,community)leadership.
2.Fromatheoreticalviewpoint–developstheVedanta(BG)dharmicandothertheories(karmic,guna,yoga,etc).
3.Fromapracticalviewpoint-providesaframeworkforleaderstoapplya‘leader’developmentmodel(spiritcentered/inside-out) basedonancientwisdom.

22. Conclusion
Thismodel(sva-dharmic)providesanewdimensioninpromotingspirit-centered‘leader’developmentfromaphilosophicalperspective;andforenhancingleadershipeffectiveness.
Thesva-dharmic‘leader’developmentmodel,attestthatthesubjectofleadershipwasprofoundintheancienttextanditsprinciplesarestillapplicableandrelevant.
However,ourDhuryodhanasyndromepreventsit-Iknowwhatisright(dharma),yetIcannotgetmyselftofollowit!Iknowwhatiswrong(adharma),yetIcannotrefrainfromit(janamidharmamnachamepravrutthihjanamyadharmamnachamenivrutthih).

24. yatrayogesvarahkrisnoyatraparthodhanurdharahah, tatrasrirvijayobhutirdhruvanithirmatirmama(BG. 18.78)
Thank You!