RAMAYANA
10. Make
sure you have a clear vision and cause
Ravana’s brother Vibhishan, who had come to Rama’s side questioned him, “How
will you defeat this huge army with your limited resources?” The reply which Rama
gave is the greatest lesson ever for a leader. He said, “You have to make sure
you have a clear vision, and a cause worth fighting for.” In the case of Ramayana, Rama’s cause was to rescue his beloved Sita and
the vision was to defeat the evil forces.
9. 4 foremost ingredients of Entrepreneurship: Character, Courage, Ethics, Valor
Rama told to Vibhishan that the four wheels of the chariot are character, courage, ethics, and valor. Character is the most essential thing for a leader. As an entrepreneur, you must know who you are and what you stand for and communicate the same to your people through actions rather than words. Leadership and respect doesn’t come from a business card. It is the ethics, the value system you embody that does the needful. Courage is the ability to take unpopular decisions, while valor is the courage to defend those very decisions.
8. Be a storehouse of strength,
energy, and passion
Rama said that the horses of the chariot are strength, energy, and passion. In a battle and so in your entrepreneurial venture, you must have the strength to discriminate between the right and wrong, and the zeal and perseverance to keep working towards your goal.
7. Brand is bigger than the "owner" of the brand
A big challenge on the way to Lanka was to cross the southern sea. People suggested inscribing the name “Rama” on the stone and then
throwing it. Surprisingly it worked and a construction of the
bridge started by monkeys ‘Nal’ and ‘Neel’. After sometime Rama decided to help
and he threw a stone in the ocean. To everyone’s amazement, it sank. Everyone
realized that it happened because the stone was not inscribed with “Rama”
Lord Rama was confident that he does not need to use his
"brand" as he was THE "brand" and tried to repeat the
magic. But it did not work. It was not "branded" with
"Rama".
This explains that a brand is always bigger than the owner of the brand. An
entrepreneur should feel good when people recognize him by the name his
company. He should feel happy that his brand is becoming bigger than him.
6. Be armed with knowledge, strategy, intelligence, skills, commitment
These are the weapons that helped Rama win the mammoth battle and would
help you in this exciting and demanding journey. Rama
said to his army before entering into the battle, “Arm yourself with these and
no war will be lost.” After the battle, his army—the group of men and monkeys
defeated the heavily equipped Ravana and his forces.
5. Consult subordinates on important matters and allow them to give their opinions freely
When Vibhishan defected, Rama took him under his protection. He then had a talk
with the various army chiefs some of whom disagreed with Rama. Instead of
punishing them, Rama got them to accept his decision. Everybody felt that their
opinions had been heard and that their objections had been clarified. Empowerment of subordinates to question his decisions was a key and
unique quality of Rama which contrasted with Ravana who never allowed anybody
to contradict him.4. Treat everyone equally
Rama was a prince who interacted freely with the people. Rama did not have any
biases regarding developing relationships with people of a lower social status.
Thus he accepted the hospitality of the chief of the fisher folk and allied
with the forest tribes who were out of the light of normal society. In fact,
Rama gave them positions of equality. This was not only due to the war
conditions since he maintained the same relationship when he won the war. Not surprisingly, he received great loyalty from all.3. Stand courageously in the face of great adversity
Following Sita's kidnap, Rama wandered poor and ruined in the forests searching
for Sita. The Ramayana is full of touching details of Rama's sadness and his
memory of Sita. Yet this grief did not prevent him from searching for partners
even when the enemy was unknown. Rama maintained his courage even at the darkest hours and in doing so
inspired his army to not only continue the unequal fight, but also win it.
2. Have a future oriented plan
The objective of Rama was future oriented. He was ordered to stay away from Ayodhya for 14 years in a forest. This long term actions gave Rama enough time to plan, organize resource and strike against Ravana at an apt time so that mission could be completed without failure.
1. Follow a code of ethics and be ready to sacrifice to follow it
Rama brought ethical decision making in all areas of his life. There
are many leaders who make a sacrifice once in order to build credibility and
then use it to make unethical decisions later relying on the knowledge that
their initial sacrifice would make them immune to attacks. When Ravana paraded
to battle on the first day without sufficient preparations and was rendered
weaponless by Rama, he was allowed to return to his fort because Rama followed
the code of loyalty that an unarmed enemy should not be attacked.
Courtesy Siliconi magazine
