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‘Leadership’ as a human trait is almost as old as humanity itself but ‘Leadership’ as a subject of academic interest is a recent phenomenon. It is known to many that the idea of business studies originated in the US. In the modern era, they were the first to realize that developing leadership and managing a business is not just an art but a science, which can be taught and studied as a different branch of academics.
Unknown to many, long back, ancient India had a system of sending princes to residential schools called ‘Gurukuls’ to equip them with the required skill set to govern successfully in the future. Many books were also written containing advice not only for better governance but also to develop soft skills to achieve success. ‘Neeti Shatakam’ , ‘Arthshastra’ , ‘Vidur Neeti’ , ‘Hitopadesha’ , and ‘Neeti Satsai’ are a few examples of collections of such advice (‘Neeti’ means ‘policy’). These ancient teachings are still valid and relevant for learning various facets of leadership.
India has had a rich history of great ‘Gurukuls’ that taught everything from basic language to mathematics and governance skills to warfare tactics. Most of the ancient Indian texts are in the Sanskrit language consisting of ‘Shlokas’ of two lines. Stories and real-life examples of animals and humans have been used to explain the concepts and this makes it easier to imbibe the learnings. For example, let us take one from ‘Hitopdesha’.
“Udyamen hi sidhyanti karyani na manorathaih l __
Nahi suptasya singhasya pravishanti mukhe mrigah ll”
It means one cannot just wish for the work to be completed, one has to make an effort for it, exactly as a deer does not enter into the mouth of a sleeping lion.
For the purpose of this course, we have chosen ‘Hitopadesha’. Like most other ancient textbooks of India, it is written in the Sanskrit language and does not contain the name of the author or the date and time of writing it. The surviving text is believed to be from the 12th century. ‘Hitopadesha’ means ‘helpful advice’ and it contains nuggets of wisdom and rules for governing. It is said that King Sudarshan of Pataliputra left his sons with Vishnu Sharma to teach them everything they needed to become good leaders in the future. The complete set of teachings is compiled in ‘Hitpoadesha’ which is divided into four parts.
This course has four modules to comprehensively cover all facets of leadership skills. It will help readers to embark on an interesting learning journey.
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Target Audience
Middle-level officials in managerial positions. Can also include promising school and college students who are potential leaders.****
* To make the learners internalize the leadership concepts in the unique ancient Indian way.
* To equip them to handle all kinds of situations with ease.
* To enable them to build a team successfully.
* To make them learn the ways of collaboration.
* To enable them to succeed in all spheres of life.
Module 1 – ‘ Mitralabha’:Acquisition of a Friend __
1.1 What should a leader know?
1.2 How should a leader treat the team?
1.3 How should a leader behave?
1.4 Self-assessment
Module 2 – ‘Suhridbheda’:The Separation of a Favourite
2.1 What is wrong?
2.2 What is right?
2.3 Which policies to adopt?
2.4 Self-assessment
Module 3 –‘Vigraha’: Disputing
3.1 What traits are required?
3.2 How does a strategy help?
3.3 How to behave during crises?
3.4 Self-assessment
Module 4 –‘Sandhi’: Making Peace
4.1 With whom should one collaborate?
4.2 With whom should one not collaborate?
4.3 What should the leader be careful of?
4.4 Self-assessment
The course will include a mix of videos, recorded audio clips, faculty-led lectures, examples, stories, cases, self-assessment tests, and assignment(s).
