MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 EPISODE 5 - STORY OR VARNAVAT

MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 – EPISODE 5

STORY OF VARNAVAT LAKSHAGRIHA - WEAK LEADERSHIP

10th June 2019

I talked about 3 important learnings from the story of Lakshagriha in Mahabharatham. They are Perils of Weak Leadership, Power of Contextual Intelligence and Power of Consensus Decision Making. Let us elaborate on each one.

WEAK LEADERSHIP

 Mahabharatham is ultimate in characterization. Vyasa has carefully constructed so many characters each one with unique traits. Intrigue maneuvers in the epic reveals unique personality of each character in terms of skills, attitudes, knowledge, response and Leadership qualities. Even among the valorous Pandava brothers, who remained together till the end, each brother’s personality differs from that of others. Calm, Cool and righteous Yudhistra, Easily agitated Bhima, Valorous Arjuna, Skillful Nakula and Knowledgeable Sahadeva, etc.  

It is a common perception that Shakuni is the primary villain in Mahabharatham and Shakuni is responsible for the grueling Kurukshetra war. But in my opinion, this distinction must be reserved for Dhritarashtra.  Dhritarashtra was the root cause for the sufferings of the Pandavas and citizens of Hastinapur, courtesy his Weak Leadership style. Do I associate weak leadership style to timidity, politeness and submissiveness?  Not necessarily. Strong leadership does not mean aggressiveness and authoritative. Yudhishtra was timid, soft spoken and consensus seeking but still revered as a Good Leader. Then what are the Weak Leadership traits? Dhridharashtra is the epitome of Weak Leadership Style. They are

1.      Remaining indecisive when a decision must be taken

Dhritarashtra remained silent at many key instances in Mahabharatha when he ought to have taken firm decision as the Leader of the kingdom. Many instances such as Draupadi’s humiliation in his court, Not giving Indraprashta to Pandavas, etc.  Dhritarashtra remained indecisive not because he did not recognize the need to take a decision. He remained silent because he did not have courage to defy his son Duryodhana. He knew what he is doing is not correct but still remained a silent spectator.

2.      Not listening to wise counsel

Vidura, his brother and minister, was a wise and most straightforward advisor. Vidura continued to advise King Dhritarashtra whenever Vidura felt that the king was taking wrong decision (or indecision). But despite Vidura’s pleas and warnings, the King turned a blind eye (pun intended) to him, often with dire consequences. Vidura Niti is an important treatise on Leadership qualities. Kingdom of Hastinapur would have flourished had Dhritarashtra listened to Vidura.

He avoided Vidura because Vidura did not hesitate to give constructive criticism. His aversion for Vidura grew so much so that he encouraged another minister Kanika in preference to Vidura.  Unlike Vidura, Kanika knew that the king sought his counsel only for concurrence to what he was musing. Kanika speaks out not ethics, nor his mind, but what his boss, given his moods and intents, wanted him to say. He considered it wise to gladden his boss, rather than guiding him. Directing him to good by sane advice was not his disposition. Keen to hold to his office, without incurring the king's displeasure, Kanika did not bother to tell what was right. Dhritarashtra preferred to listen to Kanika than to Vidura.

There would be many Kanikas and few Viduras in all teams. It is easy for a Leader to spot the Vidura in the team but takes lot of courage to make it a practice to listen to the Viduras and encourage the Viduras. Many Viduras go into oblivion courtesy weak leaders. Weak leaders like Dhritarashtra do things primarily to protect their relevance in the organization.  

An effective leader pays great heed to the wise counsel of trusted employees and the ideas, opinions and suggestions of those whom they lead. They believe that they do not have all the answers and encourage employees to question ideas and challenge conventional thinking, be it their own or someone else’s.

Shun the Kanikas in your team. They are pleasant to your ears but not pleasant for your progress. Spot the Vidura in your team and encourage the Vidura.  Don’t intimidate or put down the Vidura in your team. They are your treasures.

3.      Reluctant, not confident and continued negative thinking

Dhritarashtra was refused his right to rule because he was born blind. Dhritarashtra’s physical disability compelled him to give up his dreams of becoming King despite being the rightful ruler. Kingdom went to his younger brother Pandu. The bitterness fermented. He never recovered from this negative thinking until the end. Even after the war in which all his sons were killed by Bhima, Dhritarashtra attempted to kill Bhima in the guise of an affectionate hug. But for Krishna’s contextual intelligence (?????????) by putting an iron pillar in place of Bhima, Bhima would have got killed by Dhritarashtra.  Dhritarashtra continuously engaged himself in self-pity about his incompetence. He spent his time lamenting on his incompetence rather than developing alternate means to get around his disability. Kingdom came back to him due to the untimely death of Pandu. Even after becoming the king, he spent his time lamenting about his fate, worrying about the rise of the Pandavas, anxious about the fate of his sons, suspicious about Vidura’s affection for the Pandavas, jealous about Pandava’s fame, etc. 

None of the above was justified. Dhritarashtra anyway was crowned the King of Hastinapur and he should have focused on his responsibilities towards the citizens as a King. That would have made him a good king and earned name and fame for him and his progeny. That is `Positive Thinking’. Instead he spent his time in ‘Negative Thinking’. Vidura is known for righteous and impartial advice. You cannot lead a team without trusting the team.  Yudhishtra assured Dhritarashtra that he had no intentions and compulsions to usurp the kingdom. Yet Dhritarashtra was suspicious about the activities of Pandavas and jealous of their fame.

Self-Pity, Lack of confidence, Suspecting your loyal subordinates, Being jealous of your subordinates are tell-tale signs for disaster.

He avoided the company of Vidura, Bhishma and Drona because he thought they would favor the Pandavas over the Kauravas. Instead he accosted the company of negative thinkers ie Shakuni and Duryodhana and sycophants like Kanika.

Shun all forms of negative thinking. Shun the company of negative thinkers. Negative thinking is contagious. Even one negative thinker in a team can spoil the performance of the team.     

It is time to close this week’s discussion here. I have more to discuss on Weak Leadership! Other two learnings Contextual Intelligence and Consensus decision making are there after that. I would think the discussions on the story of Varnavat will go for another 2 weeks. There are enough learnings from each story that I cannot help but extending the episodes. I don’t plan the flow in advance.

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