Leading the team

It is true that effective leaders and efficient team members will sooner or later spell success of a given project. 

The trained members do run the show marvelously, but somewhere along the line the relationship among the team begins to fester. 

Elements of jealousy, lies, fraud, one-upmanship, the trait to take credit for work done by others among other such negative traits seep in, weakening the managerial pyramid.
 Many a time these setbacks are realised only when they take mammoth proportions.

Sometimes the situation appears to be crumbling and almost irreparable. It is during these times that one wonders what could have possibly gone wrong, despite having the best of intentions in mind.

A little retrospection on the subject will show that a sea of difference lies between understanding managerial aspects theoretically and translating them into reality. 

The zeal to stick to the written word sometimes prevents people from taking cognizance of situational disparities. 

Social, economic, cultural, political and emotional aspects are hardly taken into consideration when dealing with certain circumstances that require finer sensibilities.

Often, managements oscillate between extremities like underestimating the capacity of the fraternity or being over confident about their capabilities leading to unforeseen debacles. 

If one were to encapsulate the reasons for such failures in a nutshell, it will not be very difficult to realise that it is the absence of humane features like compassion and mutual respect. 

The Ramayana reinforces these basic principles of leadership skills and team work in the unique incident when a bridge of rocks and trees is built across the ocean.

Rama assumes captaincy over King Sugreeva’s army consisting of monkeys and bears and directs them to work on the basis of their potential. 

Nobody is allowed to shirk their work and neither are they coerced to work beyond their ability.

When a little squirrel volunteered to help and carried tiny pebbles to the site of construction, his contribution was not discounted. 

In fact, Rama appreciated the gesture and stroked the rodent leaving the marks of his fingers on its back as a reward.

Rama’s motley team with its varied skills and strength was steered into a successful venture because Rama was not tenacious about thumb rules. 

He did not seem to be unduly worried about training his army or substituting them with skilled labour. 

Instead he gave them a broad outline of his expectations and gave them the freedom to execute the idea in the best manner possible. 

Rama’s respect and consideration for his team members eventually spelt the success of his project!