The Hindu Business Line : Focus on one's spiritual essence when leading

"There is a need for Indian managers to consciously lead from a spiritual basis, where concepts of success, ethics, reputation and identity are not just determined by the ever-shifting demands of the market and the media, but are firmly anchored in the Indian ethos with its deep-rooted human values that transcend time and place."

PETER PRUZAN and his wife Kirsten Pruzan Mikkelsen

You can `meet 31 leaders from 15 countries and 6 continents' in `Leading with Wisdom,' a book on `spiritual-based leadership in business', from Response (www.sagepublications.com) . The authors are Dr Peter Pruzan, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, and his wife Kirsten Pruzan Mikkelsen, former editor at Berlingske Tidende, a newspaper in Denmark.

"Spirituality is alive and well in the world of business, though in a subtle and often tacit way," they write in the preface. "It is not yet a part of the common business vernacular; seldom is it explicitly expressed in corporate mission statements, policies, PR and reporting; and it is taught at only a small minority of MBA programmes throughout the world. But as the legendary American folk singer Bob Dylan proclaimed, `The times they are a'changin'."

The Pruzans spend long spells each year in India, lecturing and touring. This time, about a week before leaving India, once again after a five-month stay, they launched their book in Bangalore on March 28. Business Line caught up with Peter for answers to a few questions.

What qualities are lacking in Indian managers?

I feel rather uncomfortable when answering this question. First of all, in spite of my great interest in and love for India, I am a foreigner. Second: the term `Indian managers' covers an extremely diverse and heterogeneous population; there is no stereotype Indian manager. Third: Therefore, my answers will necessarily be gross generalisations subject to considerable interpretation. With these reservations, and with the limited space for my answer, I would suggest that to describe what is `lacking' may best be achieved by focusing on the mindset of Indian executives and the need for integrating what may appear to be conflicting perspectives, as sketched in the table:

Summing up, I feel there is a need for Indian managers to consciously lead from a spiritual basis, where concepts of success, ethics, reputation and identity are not just determined by the ever-shifting demands of the market and the media, but are firmly anchored in the Indian ethos with its deep-rooted human values that transcend time and place.

Do you think companies in India can leverage ancient wisdom rather than go for Western management concepts?

It is not a question of `either - or'; it is more a matter of `both - and'. Indian leaders and organisations are able to draw on a unique resource: the ancient wisdom (sanathana dharma).

This wisdom, particularly that founded on adwaitha with its emphasis on unity (ekam sath), naturally leads to the integration I referred to earlier. I speak here of a symbiotic integration of the internal and the external, of the spiritual and the material.

This does not mean denying the need for skills that have been developed elsewhere, particularly in `the West'. It does mean being ever-vigilant that these skills, primarily aimed at the acquisition of wealth, power and fame, are always under the control of the guidelines and perspectives provided by the gold mine of the Indian ethos. As a frequent visitor to this wonderful, and at times devastatingly confusing country, it is my fear that the focus on growth (with the current huge emphasis on acquisitions rather than organic growth) is blinding Indian leaders and aspiring leaders (both of whom I often teach) to their own real reality; instead of asking the personal existential question: "Who am I?" and its counterpart organisational existential question: "Who are we?", they are asking "How much will I earn?" and "How fast are we growing?" In my opinion, the greatest challenge facing Indian leaders today is to build upon the ancient wisdom and its focus on our spiritual essence when leading in the external world of business with its focus on tangible growth.

Should management education be different from what it is now in India?

There is a great need for founding management education on more fundamental perspectives. To name just a few, these include: a) the history of commercial activity; b) Indian history and ethos; and c) business ethics - not just, as now, with its focus on unethics (on what people and organisations should not do), but on a socially constructive ethics.

I speak here of a values-based ethics that informs how to move from not harming others to serving them, from avoiding the invasion of privacy to cooperation and participation with one's stakeholders, and from deception to trust and honesty based on the realisation of our deep interconnectedness. Leading with Wisdom provides inspiring examples!

This is a huge challenge. Not only due to the dearth of well-suited educational material, but also due to a lack of qualified mentors. I speak here not of teachers who can teach from a syllabus, but of teachers who love their students and who, in thought, word and deed, are role-models for them. So we will have to be patient.

The wonderful news is that there are a number of great institutions, teachers and leaders who already now are demonstrating that such an integral education can bear fruit in the form of Indian organisations and Indian manager-leaders who achieve success and recognition while serving all those affected by their actions.

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