Ethical & leadership dimensions of

Lord Rama

Ethics is the Heart of Effective Leadership“Ethics live at the heart of all human

relationships and hence at the heart of the relationship between leaders and follower.”

Why is Ethics So Central to Leadership? Leadership is essentially an influence processLeaders have more power and control than

followers and thus more responsibility for how they use power and influence.

The conduct and character of the leader have an impact on the organization’s integrity and ethics.

The Shadow Side of Leadership• Shadow of Power• Shadow of• Privilege• Shadow of Deceit• Shadow of the Ego• Shadow of

Irresponsibility

Two Dimensions of Ethical Leadership• What Leaders Do

• Exhibiting Ethical Behaviour

• Who Leaders Are

• A leader’s character and values

OrganisationalEthical Climate

Principles of Ethical Leadership Behaviour

Respects Others Serves OthersBuilds

Community

ManifestsHonesty and

Trustworthiness

ShowsJustice

RamayanaThe Ramayana is one of the great epics of India. The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Indian life and culture. The Ramayana tells about life in India around 1000 BCE and offers models in dharma. The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of dharma; in fact, that was why Indian consider him heroic. When Rama was a young boy, he was the perfect son. Later he was an ideal husband to his faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Aydohya. From childhood most Indians learn the characters and incidents of these epics and they furnish the ideals and wisdom of common life

Why did we choose lord RamaThe life of Lord Rama was primarily and ultimately based on the values and ethics. Every aspects of his announces that it has specific reasons, values and ethics. Right from recognizing and fulfilling the wishes of his parents, obeying the orders of his gurus, service to the people, protecting his followers and devotees etc.

Ethical aspect of Rama’s teachingThe main teaching of Lord Ram's Guru, was to cultivate peace, not happiness. Happiness is a double edged sword, with unhappiness as one of the edges. Just as, one cannot differentiate between milk and its whiteness, as night and day merge into one another, so happiness and misery(unhappiness), merge into one another. Happiness is a lower form of being, when compared to peace. When one experiences peace, one wants peace, and not happiness. Peace is 'Shanti', as in 'Om Shanti'. The best way to be free from the clutches of happiness and unhappiness, is to be self controlled, or to practice spirituality.

Provide a concrete vision to followers Believe in the ability of subordinates to achieve an aim

and inspire them to do so. Treat all people equally Stand courageously in the face of great adversity Stand for morality but do not engage in judgmental

posturing Consult subordinates on important matters and allow

them to give their opinions freely Follow a code of ethics and be ready to sacrifice to follow

it

When talking about Rama’s ethics?

Provide a concrete vision to followers:

Rama held forth a concrete vision of the future. The mission of the army led by him was to defeat the rakshasas and rescue Sita. To this end, a number of actions were taken such as sending out search parties, building an overseas bridge and issuing a direct challenge to Ravana. These actions flowed naturally as a result of the vision held by Rama. This clarity about the goals as well as the process enabled the army to put its heart and soul in the campaign to rescue Sita.

Example

Stand for morality but do not engage in judgmental posturing:

Rama was well known for his moral conduct and his effort to stand forth as an example of his values. But nowhere does the Ramayana depict him as a blind puritan who demanded that all practices that did not conform to his code of conduct be seen as sinful and be banned. A person with a resolve of having only one wife when other kings including his own father had several, Rama did not raise any objection when Sugriva married Bali's widow even though he had a wife already.

Contd...

Idealized Influence - the people of Ayodhya were full of loyalty and adoration to Sri Rama, which resulted them to follow him (Sri Rama) and to request Sri Rama to return to their kingdom (Ayodhya).

Intellectual Stimulation - The intellectual stimulation provided by Sri Rama forced Bharata to think and rethink some of the ideas that he never questioned before.

Transformational Leadership of Lord Rama

Inspirational Motivation - Hanuman crossed the ocean to Lanka and found Sita. Sri Rama also exhibited inspirational motivation to the Vanaras in the construction of the bridge to Lanka.

Individualized Consideration - It is his (Sri Rama) vow to provide shelter and protection to any living entity from fear, even if Ravana comes for protection, he (Sri Rama) will give protection.

Contd...

Management is the act of bringing people together to work for achieving the desired goal. Management is described by five functions – Planning Organizing Leading Controlling Coordinating

Learning for budding managers from Ramayana

The chapters of Ramayana describe the results and outcome of Sri Rama’s leadership. All citizens were fully righteous, always looking towards Sri Rama as their lord and master. Beyond that they saw Sri Rama as their life and soul. All talk centered around Sri Rama.

Conclusion