When it comes to achieving the heights of Corporate Excellence, the element of Wisdom plays a crucial role. Look at any organization which enjoys a strong brand equity and one is apt to discover the wiser ways in which it conducts its operations. Its initiatives lead to a sustainable growth of the business, giving back to society in ways which are imaginative as well as pragmatic. The common thread running through all such initiatives is that of the element of Wisdom, one of the four pillars of Integral Management, the three other pillars being Perfection, Harmony and Strength/Power.
Sri Aurobindo Center for Advanced Research (SACAR) recently organized a one day seminar on the topic of ‘The Element of Wisdom in Management’. The event was a part of a series of seminars organized by SACAR over the past two years as a part of its endeavour to explore the relevance of some key spiritual tenets to the realm of management.
Wisdom in Organizations
A talk by yours truly covered the diverse ways in which Wisdom manifests itself in strategic as well as in tactical decision-making by organizations. It quoted real life examples of business houses using Wisdom in such managerial functions as Marketing, Finance, HR, and the like. Business houses like Tatas, Nestle India, HCL, Infosys and Wipro were covered.
Wisdom in managing People and Production
Mr. K. Nagaraja Kumar, Head-Marketing, L&T Corporate Technical, Chennai, explained the elements of Wisdom which can come in handy to managers responsible for handling people and production. With the help of light-hearted illustrations, he conveyed some profound messages to the participants. He presented a case study wherein a detailed road map was used to turn around the fortunes of an ailing manufacturing unit by engaging meaningfully with relevant stakeholders.
Balancing Intelligence and Intuition
Dr. Narendra Joshi, Principal, Agnel Technical College, Mumbai, highlighted the necessity of balancing intelligence and intuition in the realm of Product Life Cycle Management. He cited the examples of companies like Sony, Xerox, Matsushita and Nestle which introduced innovative products which were much ahead of their times. Analytical tools like Teboul’s model, Kano’s model and the Fritz approach were quoted by him. So was the necessity for a quiet mind for reaping the benefits of one’s intuitive powers.
The Age of the Spiritual Manager
Dr Ananda Reddy, Director, SACAR, spoke of the fact that Wisdom is far above and beyond the realm of the thinking mind. It is about understanding and effectively using the underlying algorithms which open up the vast vistas of miraculous knowledge and infinite possibilities for managements to decide long-term business strategies and frame policies which ensure profitable as well as sustainable operations. He shared his perception that the age of the Spiritual Manager is already upon us and management professionals would do well to equip themselves with spiritual tools to succeed in their career and life objectives.
The Wisdom of Human Values
Prof G P Rao, a doyen in the field of management education, spoke of SPANDAN, a NGO founded by him, which espouses the Wisdom of running business enterprises based on human values and ethics.
Empirical evidence of Integral Management
Prof Kisholoy Gupta, Acharya Institute of Business Management, Bangalore, presented the empirical results of an insightful study done by him to gauge the perception and reality of the Four Pillars of Integral Management – Perfection, Harmony, Strength and Wisdom – by practicing HR seniors in the Indian industry. The results showed that there is already some awareness of the constituents of Integral Management, though the nomenclature arouses a curiosity and a desire amongst management practitioners to understand and adopt this new paradigm in their day-to-day working.
Wisdom at the personal level
What does Wisdom mean to a practicing manager? Mr Ganesh Babu, Founder & CEO, Winning Minds Solutions, Puducherry, came up with a heart-warming presentation on the dimensions and utility of Wisdom in the mundane life of a working manager. The talk explored different dimensions of Wisdom in all spheres of one’s life – professional, social as well as personal.
Leaders with equanimity
Dr. Debabrata Sahani, Surgeon, Optholmologist, Bhuvaneshwar, touched upon the importance of an inner connection for business leaders. Wise are those who enjoy a tranquility and calmness within themselves. Their decision-making is based on balanced, well-considered and holistic view of the facts of the case. They do not manage crises in business with knee-jerk reactions. They deal with people according to their nature and with occurrences in the business environment according to their force and the truth or hard reality they represent. Impartial they are. Detached they are. Compassionate they happen to be, but never at the cost of their innate wisdom and truth.
Wisdom for an Indian citizen
Mr Hariharan Subramaniam, Director, Indian Institute of Governance, Chennai, touched upon the Wisdom of not only connecting to one’s inner self, but also the need for an Indian to contribute towards restoration of the old glory of her country. India has a special role to play in the comity of nations and the need of the hour is to train value-based politicians and administrators who would steer the country in the decades to come. He spoke of the vision of kick-starting his dream project, the Indian Institute of Governance, which would serve this purpose. His opinion was that one’s wisdom was directly proportional to one’s inner growth.
The seminar was well attended by practicing managers, management academicians and research scholars. Its conduct marked another milestone in SACAR’s efforts to propagate the concept of Integral Management, the Four Pillars of which happen to be Perfection, Harmony, Power and Wisdom.
The Age of the Spiritual Manager is already upon us. The time has come for management professionals to consider and adopt Integral Management – an Indian paradigm to understand and refine our managerial processes.
(Related Posts:
https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/harmony-in-management-a-seminar-at-pondicherry-india
https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/power-in-management-a-seminar-at-puducherry-india)
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