Venkat - Upanishads and Transformational Leadership

Upanishads and Transformational Leadership

Course Facilitator: Venkat R. Krishnan

Great Lakes Institute of Management, 2011-2012

Required Texts:

Swami Vivekananda. (2002). Jnana-Yoga. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 81-85301-98-0.

Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester (translation). (2002). The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal (selections). New York: Signet Classics.

Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood (translation). (2002). Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God. New York: Signet Classics.

Swami Prabhavananda. (1960). The spiritual heritage of India. Hollywood, CA: Vedanta Society of Southern California.

Swami Vivekananda. (2002). Practical Vedanta. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 81-7505-087-X.

Swami Vivekananda. (2003). Lectures from Colombo to Almora. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 81-7505-181-7.

Overview

The most common dilemma human beings face is knowing whether some action is right or wrong. By incorrectly imagining some course of action to be wrong, we not only lose the opportunity to get our things done but also fail in our duty toward others. In addition, transformational leadership involves taking followers to a better place and showing them something higher than what they were seeing before. To know what is better and higher and to understand what is right and wrong use of power, one has to necessarily study philosophy. Philosophy is as much a prerequisite for leadership as physiology is for medicine.

According to Kautilya, philosophy is the lamp that illuminates all sciences; it provides the techniques for all action. Kautilya says that one should study philosophy because it helps one to distinguish between material gain and loss in the study of economics and between good and bad policies in the study of politics. Above all, it teaches one the distinction between good and bad use of force. When the other sciences (economics and politics) are studied by the light of philosophy, people are benefited because their minds are kept steady in adversity and prosperity and they are made proficient in thought, speech and action (Arthashastra, Ch. 1.2).

Only a universal and not a sectarian philosophy can help lift different followers to a common higher level. Upanishads provide such a universal system of thought. A study of the Upanishads would help identify the near-universal values that could form the foundation of authentic transformational leadership.

This course will also help you better understand who you really are and what your life goals should truly be. Understanding your true nature will not only enrich your life by making it multi-faceted, more balanced, and less stressful, but will also enhance your personal effectiveness. Comprehending that you are not merely a sheep that you were imagining yourself to be, but that you are in reality a lion, will enable you to work wonders in every walk of life. Self-fulfilling prophecy results in the most miraculous outcomes in the domain of human behavior.

Students in India would also derive two more advantages by doing this course. Much of the learning acquired by management students in India is based on theories developed in the western world. Empirical evidence shows that such learning may not help enhance effectiveness and could even be disastrous, if the moderating role of culture is not thoroughly understood. Swami Ranganathananda wrote ("The message of the Upanishads" p. 56): "The capacity to assimilate modern western culture is directly proportionate to our prior assimilation of our own culture. Without a proper understanding of our own culture, we shall never be able to enter the soul of another culture, nor profit from it... In the absence of the strength which comes from an assimilation of one’s own cultural inheritance, when we try to take in western culture, what is taken in proves to be only the cheaper side of that culture, and not the strength that is behind that culture. That strength we can touch only on the basis of our own strength."

Religion and philosophy comprise the innermost core of India and they permeate all aspects of Indian life. It is because of this core remaining intact, that Indian civilization has survived several onslaughts and continues its march. Upanishads comprise the foundations of Indian culture. An understanding of the Upanishads will therefore enable you to grasp the essentials of Indian culture and hence to be a more effective manager. Management is after all an influence game, and influencing others requires an awareness of their worldview. The strongest influence is exerted when you transform others by taking them closer to their real roots and by leading them to where they truly belong. That is when you really touch their lives and leave a lasting impact, resulting in leadership par excellence.

A second advantage for students in India is that this course would help induce a certain pride in their heritage. Instead of ignorantly assuming that they are inferior and everything foreign is superior, they would come to realize the most precious and unparalleled gems that they already have in their pockets. Increased pride in being part of a collective is likely to enhance performance in several ways.

The objectives of the course include:

1. Knowing what is right and wrong use of power, and what it means to inspire people by showing something higher (one gets an experiential learning of this by going through the Upanishads, the most precious gift of India to humanity).

2. Enhancing self-awareness and making your life richer, more emotionally stable, and less stressful (Karma-Yoga achieves for an active person what meditation does for the hermit); comprehending that you are not merely a sheep that you were imagining yourself to be, but that you are in reality a lion.

3. Understanding Indian culture, so that you could use your Western management learning successfully (the Upanishads form the foundations of Indian culture).

4. Becoming aware of the rich heritage of India and enjoying the most precious and unparalleled gems that you already possess.

Pedagogy

This course follows the method of education and not training; emphasis will be on 'why' and not 'how'. Training focuses on how to do something, providing cookbook recipes for achieving specific predictable outcomes. Education, on the other hand, focuses on why people do something, helping you learn to ponder why people like to achieve various outcomes, so that you can yourself identify, if and when needed, the appropriate means for achieving those outcomes. Education is thus not application-oriented and immediate usefulness is not the main objective. It focuses on developing your capacity to think independently and thereby reach your own solutions to various problems.

The learning method that we will use will be one of interactive discussion that evolves out of questions and answers drawn from a thorough reading of the assigned materials for every session. Skimming through the readings in a superficial manner will not help in this regard. It is expected that you will come fully prepared to every session to engage in a fruitful discussion. My role in this interaction is that of a guide and facilitator, inserting useful additional material at times, but seldom interpreting the readings for you or lecturing about them.

Course readings. This is a reading-intensive course. You can attend a session only if you complete all the readings assigned for that session.

Class attendance. 100% attendance in all sessions is required.

Grading

25% Readings Completion. You should come to class fully prepared with each session's prescribed readings completed (prepared means being capable of making a presentation in class on any section). A deep and thorough understanding of the required readings is expected.

25% Preparedness for Class. After completing the required readings, you are expected to reflect on them, drawing from your personal experience or from other available information. You should come to class fully prepared to raise points for discussion. Your preparedness should enhances class learning and fun.

30% Karma-Yoga Project. Students will do a 10-week leadership experiential project designed to enhance self-efficacy and self-esteem of people in an assigned village. Each student will maintain a personal journal and submit the updated journal every Sunday through e-mail. The students assigned to a village should also submit a video capturing the work done in the village during the academic year.

20% End-Term Exam. This will be an essay-type exam on the entire course material including the project.

Time Line

[01]

The spiritual heritage of India. Chapter 1 (The Vedas: General aspects) & Chapter 2 (Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas).

Das, S. R. (2009). The Rig Veda and credit crunch. Business India, 826 (15 Nov), 110-111.

First public lecture in the east. Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 1-16.

Vedantism. Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 17-39.

[02]

Swami Ranganathananda. (1990). The charm and power of the Upanisads (second edition). Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama.

The way to the realisation of a universal religion. Jnana-Yoga, 343-366.

The ideal of a universal religion: How it must embrace different types of minds and methods. Jnana-Yoga, 367-399.

[03]

The spiritual heritage of India. Chapter 3 (Upanisads).

The necessity of religion. Jnana-Yoga, 1-19.

The real nature of man. Jnana-Yoga, 20-46.

[04]

Introduction: Relevance of the Upanisads in the age of science (pages 11-34) from "Swami Ranganathananda. (2005). The message of the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad: An exposition of the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad in the light of modern thought and modern needs (eighth edition). Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama."

Brhadhâranyaka Upanishad.

The absolute and manifestation. Jnana-Yoga, 108-128.

QUIZ 1.

[05]

Thaiththirîya Upanishad.

The cosmos: the macrocosm. Jnana-Yoga, 215-228.

The cosmos: the microcosm. Jnana-Yoga, 229-249.

[06]

Aithareya Upanishad.

Kena Upanishad.

Immortality. Jnana-Yoga, 250-267.

The Atman. Jnana-Yoga, 268-291.