LUCK - Part 2

 Loyalty Understanding Collaboration Kinship

The Secrets of Dazzling Success

(Part 2)

Love Leads to Loyalty, Latter Leverages Luck

“Guru, I’m so grateful to you that you are visiting us here in this remote place. After our last meeting, I returned with a determination to implement your message that luck helps those who help themselves. But, while I was away visiting you, a rumour spread that we were planning to sell the company and that the prospective buyer had put down a condition that our workforce should be trimmed to half. And, now there is  utter chaos here. The attendance is irregular, there is hardly any discipline, some leave their work stations and roam around like stray animals and shout, rather bark, at managers. I was full of hope to remove the obsession with ‘passing through a patch of bad luck’ and to implement your dictum: ‘luck helps those who help themselves’. But, the situation seems to be beyond redemption. I am thinking of declaring a lock-out. Let them starve. That will bring them back to their senses,” Krishna rambled on without even pausing for a breath.

“Krishna, my friend, I’ve said this before and am repeating it - one should change oneself before attempting to change others. You are in emotional turmoil in this time of crisis, when, as a leader, you should be composed and calm. The first thing is to forget the rash and extreme ideas, which will add fuel to the fire.

“To resolve this tough situation, we will have to do some tough talking. You say that some workers are behaving like animals. That reminds me of the  dictum of the great philosopher Plato: ‘When we restrain or control ourselves, a rational being restrains an animal. In this view, each of us is both a beast and a person. And, the point of human life is to constrain our desires with rationality and purify ourselves of animality’.

“So my friend, do you want to rise above the irrational, instinctive, animalistic urges or constrain them with rationality? In other words, do you want to quit or change yourself and turn the hell into heaven? Do you want to be a victor or a quitter?” Ram asked in a challenging tone.

“Guru, these are the harshest words I ever heard. They are like a whack on the head, which has opened my eyes. So, as Arjun told the Lord in the Bhagvad Geeta - Nasto moha smrutirlabdha karishe  vachnam tav – meaning that ‘my illusion is dispelled; yes, I will follow the way you show,” asserted Krishna.

Love, Openness & Yogic Affinity for Lasting Trust & Yearning

“In our last meeting we concluded that to if we help ourselves, Dame Luck helps us. The most important first factor we identified is ‘loyalty’. You think some workers are behaving in a treacherous manner and would like to turn them into a loyal force.

“Here again is a tough lesson. Loyalty is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as ‘a quality of being faithful to someone or something, i.e. a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product.’ And the most important point to note is that ‘someone’ includes’ the ‘self’, and ‘own inner feelings”. Yes, self-loyalty is of paramount importance. That loyalty to oneself means commitment to your own thoughts and plans. It is said ‘if you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything’. Some people chose to go to the gallows in pursuit of their ideal. Have you been true to yourself and your ideals? 

“Pardon my harsh words, but the true answer is no, you haven’t . You chose engineering studies against your liking, you left the previous company because of the promoters’ fight and imagined downfall, you abandoned the plan to start an educational institute due to failure to win over own relatives, you gave up the idea of a start-up and bought this company.

“And you  did not do ‘thorough due diligence’ and ‘self-analysis’. If you had, you would have seen the lacunae that you ‘discovered’ after the take-over.

“I’m being blunt, but a very critical point has to be driven home. You must collect your thoughts and take a firm decision to pursue your inner promptings. From your body language, it’s obvious that sorting out the current crisis situation appears to you to be the best course.

“If you decide to do that, then the next lesson is tougher still. After establishing self-loyalty, it will be necessary to develop loyalty to the employees. Yes, my friend you heard it right, remember loyalty is a two-way street and only when management is loyal to the employees will they reciprocate. As I said, loyalty is being faithful to someone. You will have to prove, your loyalty to get their loyalty. A loyal person recognises, rather anticipates, others’ needs and takes concrete steps to help in meeting them. In this there is a danger of ‘self-deception’.  A book by Arbinger Institute defines self-deception as ‘an act contrary to what I feel should do for another is called the act of self-betrayal—and self-betrayal is the seed of self-deception ………… self-deception is the most common and most damaging problem the corporations face’.

“The simplest way to develop loyalty to employees is to remember ‘love leads to loyalty’. Your facial expression of disbelief indicates that the idea of ‘loving employees’ shocks you. Your interactions with workers and the sudden impulse to declare lock-out and ‘let them starve’ show you still believe in a master-servant concept. Like many unenlightened, so-called leaders, in your subconscious mind you still think workers as servants, a word that is derived from servus meaning slave. You will perhaps be astonished to know that though slavery was abolished in the USA 200 years ago, there are still old loyal slaves monuments in southern  US states. These  ‘faithful slaves monuments’ were dedicated to the proposition that slaves were loyal and gladly served their masters,” Ram said.

“Guru, honestly all this is beyond my imagination. Is ‘loving employees and being loyal to them’ a philosopher’s dream or are there any real life examples?” asked Krishna.

 

“Yes indeed, there are several. But the most prominent one is Bill Campbell, the trillion-dollar coach of the founders of Google and other Silicon Valley stalwarts, whose mantra is: Love First, Lead Second. He says, ‘Love isn’t a word that’s usually applied to business relationships. Studies have shown that people often view warm and friendly employees as incompetent and workers who are more rigid and stiff as competent. Employees often learn they are rewarded for behaving more like robots than people. They are taught to separate personal emotions from the business environment.’

The mantra has a magical effect. The founders of Google candidly admitted that, without Bill Campbell, Google would not have been what it is. So, you must open up and spread love and you will see that love leads to loyalty and with it people bloom, shells and silos are indoom, business booms and companies zoom. 

 

“So the way out is primarily your and only your responsibility. Leadership is a tough choice and to succeed depends on firm conviction and supreme sacrifices. I sense that you have assimilated the essence of all that I have said and are inclined to take the plunge. If that is the case, I am ready to go out of the way and devote time and energy to help you succeed. 

“To start with, you have to prove that you are a changed person, understand what are the problems that the workers face, what are their apprehensions? Leave your stance and fear of demons and initiate a constructive dialogue with loving feelings and actions,” Ram said with a tone of finality.

“Yes, Gurudev. I have realised that my troubles were not due to any demonic spell, but my own negative chain of thoughts and actions. I often jumped to the conclusions that I am right and the problems are due to the machinations of others. Now I declare my resolution to retrieve the complex situation with your wisdom shots. The progress will be faster if you explain a few steps to implement the doctrine of mutual loyalty.”

“If you keep your mind open, make dedicated efforts and take everyone into confidence, the steps will ‘dawn’ on you. There are no fixed commandments for leadership. However, focus on this dictum: 

Love Leads to Loyalty, Latter Leverages Luck

Let us stay in touch and review your progress virtually and I will visit often for personal discussions. Good luck!

Wizards of the World!

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Loyalty Inspires Fidelity & Empathy