"The timeless leadership wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita explained
Although it was written well over two thousand years ago, the Bhagavad Gita (""Song of God""), a revered Hindu religious text, contains an immense wealth of ageless wisdom that speaks directly to the needs of today's business leaders. Timeless Leadership takes this unlikely resource and teases out important lessons on 18 aspects of leadership, from commercial vision to motivation, decision-making, and planning.
Looking in detail at what the Gita has to say about these and other issues of interest to business professionals, Timeless Leadership focuses on one central point: that once the basic thought process of man is improved, the quality of his actions will improve as well, leading to better results.
Uses an ancient religious text to highlight and explain key Western management concepts Explores the leadership ideas in the Bhagavad Gita and helps managers and leaders apply them to modern business life Weaves together the threads of wisdom from the Gita to shed light on issues and challenges for leaders at all levels
Covering teachings and ideas that have only got better with time, Timeless Leadership adapts the wisdom of millennia past for today's business leaders."
By:
Debashis Chatterjee
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 211mm,
Width: 135mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 363g
ISBN: 9780470824276
ISBN 10: 0470824271
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 30 May 2012
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
A Note about the Text xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction: The Context of the Gita xxi SUTRA 1 The Warrior’s Journey Leaders Embrace Discontinuity and Death 1 All Wars Are First Fought in the Mind 3 The Mind Is a Mob 5 The Ego Is a Disposable Idea 8 Leaders Embrace Discontinuity by Dispossessing the Ego 10 The Secret of Invincibility: The Conquest of the Binary Mind 12 Self Is the Cause; Self Is the Effect 13 Hunting for the I 15 SUTRA 2 Invincible Wisdom Leaders Create Alternative Reality 17 Grief, Pity, and Shame: The Mind’s GPS System 18 Creating Alternative Reality 20 Motivation and the Monkey Mind 22 The Leader’s Inspiration Comes from Unselfish Work 23 Unselfish Work Leads to Evenness of Mind 26 Applying Invincible Wisdom: Powered by the Intellect and Driven by Unselfishness 29 SUTRA 3 Karma Yoga Leaders Enter the Timeless Cycle of Action 33 Arjuna’s Dilemma: The Warrior as Worrier 34 Work and Its Secret: Action, Inaction, and Effortless Action 35 Karma Yoga: Work as Worship 38 The Yajna Spirit: Discovering the Timeless Cycle of Work 40 Swadharma: The Case for Righteous Action 42 Work as a Means of Realizing Who We Are 44 SUTRA 4 Timeless Leaders Pursue Purpose as the Source of Supreme Power 47 Rajarshi: The Leader as Sage 48 The Many Faces of the Supreme Power 50 Twenty-Four-Hour Leadership 53 The Return of the Rishi 55 SUTRA 5 Leadership Is the Art of Undoing The State of Detached Engagement 59 How Anchors of the Past Hinder Performance 60 The Art of Detached Involvement 62 Evolving to the Equality of Vision 63 The Art of Undoing 66 SUTRA 6 Leaders Are Masters of Their Minds The Art and Practice of Meditation 69 Separating the Self Image from the Real Self 70 Mastery of the Mind 73 Disciplines of Mastery: Concentration, Detachment, and Transcendence 76 The Power of Stillness 77 SUTRA 7 Leaders Are Integrators The Freedom of “I Am” 81 Context 81 Arjuna’s Journey from Ignorance to Wisdom 82 Timeless Leaders Integrate People and Processes 84 The Leader’s World: A Reflection of Unmanifest Dharma 85 From Ego-Centered to Spirit-Centered Leadership 87 Leaders Liberate Themselves and Others from Suffering 89 SUTRA 8 Timeless Leadership Decoding the Meaning of Life 93 Timeless Leaders Explore the Ultimate Meaning of Life 94 The Multidimensional Meaning of Life 95 Creation Is Sacrificing the Smaller for the Sake of the Greater 97 The Real Meaning of Life Is Contained in Life Itself 98 Meaningful Work: A Synthesis ofReflection and Action 100 SUTRA 9 The Sovereign Secret Timeless Leaders Live in a Self-Organizing Universe 103 Sovereign Self and the Path of Unity 104 The Governance of the Ego: The Path of Disintegration 105 Self-Organization: When Organization Becomes Community 107 The Law of Giving: Being and Becoming 110 SUTRA 10 Leadership Is an Adventure of Consciousness 113 Leading Consciously 113 Silence: The Language of Timeless Leadership 115 The Dynamism of Indivisibility 118 The Pursuit of Excellence 121 SUTRA 11 Timeless Leaders Have Integral Vision 125 Integral Vision 126 Sight and Insight 128 The Pangs of Plurality 130 The Leader as Servant: Being an Instrument of the Whole 132 SUTRA 12 Love Is the Leader’s Essence; Love is the Leader’s Presence 135 Leadership Is Love Made Visible 136 Devotion: The Art and Practice of Leadership 138 Attributes of the Leader as Devotee 142 SUTRA 13 Leaders Command Their Field with the Eye of Wisdom 145 The Leader as a Knower in the Field of Knowledge 146 The Dimensions of the Field and the Knower of the Field 149 Seeing with the Eye of Wisdom 151 SUTRA 14 Leaders Harness the Dynamic Forces of Nature 155 Nature’s Manuscript: The Three Forces 156 How Leaders Harness the Three Forces of Nature 158 Transcending the Dynamics of Nature 162 SUTRA 15 Timeless Leaders Discover Their Invisible Source The Tree of Life 165 The Tree of Life 166 The Invisible Leader 169 From the Perishable to the Imperishable: Quest for the Supreme Self 172 SUTRA 16 Leaders Negotiate the Crossroads The Divine and the Devilish 175 The Crossroads of Leadership: The Divine and the Devilish 176 Toxic Leadership 180 The Return Journey 182 SUTRA 17 Leaders Follow Their Faith The Journey of Self-Giving 185 Faith: The Deep Structure of Leadership 186 Three Kinds of Faith 187 The Art and Science of Self-Giving 191 SUTRA 18 Leadership Is Transcendence The Unity of Two Wills 195 The Source and Resource 196 The Algebra of Attachment 198 Renunciation and Regeneration of the Leader 201 The Path of Transcendence 203 The Unity of Two Wills: The Fighter and the Warrior 207 CONCLUSION Arjuna’s Awakening Practical Wisdom for Timeless Leaders 211 Quiet Leadership: The Practice of Handling Information Overload 212 Leaders Must First Solve Their Most Persistent Problem 214 Wisdom in Times of Uncertainty: Leaders Deal with Discontinuities in Life and Work 215 Leaders Triumph by Merging Their Individual Will with Life’s Purpose 216 References 219 About the Author 223 Index 225
DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE has taught leadership classes at Harvard University and at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) in Calcutta, Lucknow, and Kozhikode for nearly two decades. He has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship twice for predoctoral and postdoctoral work at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The author of six books, including Leading Consciously and Break Free, that have been translated into several languages, Dr. Chatterjee has trained more than 10,000 managers at Fortune 100 corporations globally and has served as a leadership coach to political leaders and CEOs of major Indian organizations. He has acted as dean of an international business school in Singapore. A pioneer in the field of Asian models in leadership, Dr. Chatterjee is currently the Director of the IIM Kozhikode and serves as independent director on the boards of several multinational and Indian companies. He can be reached at dciimk@gmail.com.
