Of Swollen Minds and Shallow Hearts
A vast majority of managers fall in this category. With money power ruling their lives, they cannot be blamed for behaving like robots, relentlessly chasing materialistic goals. With the heart playing a subservient role to that of the mind, analytical skills rule supreme. Intuition, feelings and emotions take a back seat, leading to rapid burnouts and build up of stress. We run into managers who are driven entirely by results, a prospect tolerated with much glee by top managements. Often, they lose the trust and confidence of their team members, resulting into a human relations crisis. External titillations offered by life provide transient moments of gratification. The inner glow of happiness eludes them.
This tribe, which puts a premium on the ‘I and Me’ approach to decision-making, experiences a hollowness within. Minds are whirling with ideas, indicating the dire need to practice brain-stilling, as opposed to brain-storming. Hearts are shallow, resulting into lack of empathy and concern for others. They need the maximum amount of the kind of meditation practice one would refer to as Heartfulness.
Of Balanced Hearts and Minds
Managers in this category are indeed the luckier ones, because they are able to deliver results on a more sustainable basis. Their heads are screwed on right. Their hearts have a modicum of the milk of human kindness flowing through its chambers. By balancing the output of their active brains with the emotional vibes generated by their empathic hearts, they lead happier and more contented lives.
This tribe takes the ‘We and Us’ approach to decision-making. Loved by their team members, they make better business leaders. Since the emphasis placed on results is balanced by the importance given to their people, they command a high level of trust from their loyal team members. If one were to look back at the kind of bosses one still keeps in touch with, even if the formal association had occurred quite some time back, one is apt to find them having achieved this delicate balancing act between the mind and the heart while handling matters.
Of Larger Hearts and Sharper Minds
These are the ones who care about humanity in general. They end up assuming leadership roles while handling challenges facing a particular business group or the society at large. Their thinking is strategic. Their vision is lofty and innovative, at times even disruptive. They take a holistic view of matters at hand. In the process, they extend their sphere of influence to all stakeholders of business. Corporate Social Responsibility is not a mere public relations exercise for them, but an agenda which has to be pursued as vigorously as any other business goal. The inner glow of happiness and contentment does not elude them.
This is a rare breed indeed. It believes in, and follows, a ‘They’ approach to decision-making. Fame comes easily to them. Humility is one of their key personality traits. They become role models, not only for those who observe them at close quarters, but also for people at large. Their minds are vibrant, firing on all twelve cylinders. Their hearts are already overgrown, encompassing a much wider segment of humanity. They are living examples of the potential Heartfulness has, and what it can offer to humanity.
The opportunity of a transformation
A manager has it within herself to bring about an inner transformation from the ‘I and Me’ attitude to the ‘We and Us’ mindset. Introspection can lead to it. A benevolent senior could propel her on this path of an inner journey of evolution. Even a major setback in life could lead to it.
The germ of this inner desire nestles within her, silently planted there in an embryonic form by their upbringing. The trick lies in discovering and nurturing it, so an opportunity of transforming oneself is not lost. Her core personality and attitudes help. The catalyst of this process of transformation happens to be the value system inherited by her from her elders.
Managers who ignore the need for a transformation of this kind run the risk of being poor team players, stunting their own growth.
ashokbhatia 