Essentials of leadership qualities- with reference to kautilyas Arthasasthra By

Sathya Narayanan.SR. MBA, M.Phil,Faculty of Business Administration,Sri Malolan College of Arts & Science. Madurantakam, 603 306 (This article is published on the Conference proceedings of International Conference on Contemporary Innovative Practices in Management; Organised by Pacific University, Udaipur)

Arthashastra, the treatise on Administration was written by Kautilya in the 4th century. It consists of 15 chapters, 380 Shlokas and 4968 Sutras. In all probability, this treatise is the first ever book written on Practice of Management. It is essentially on the art of governance & management and has an instructional tone. Kautilya wrote this treatise for his swamy, the king Chandragupta Maurya and stated in its preface that it has been written as a guide for those who govern. Kautilya was interested in establishment and operation of the machinery through which the king preserves the integrity and solidarity of the State and generates power. It is astonishing to observe that several concepts of present day management theories especially leadership qualities have been explicitly explained by Kautilya in his treatise. As in the present day management, the importance of vision, mission and motivation was captured in Arthashastra. Kautilya advise his swamy, the king to rule through Prabhu Shakti (vision), Mantra Shakti (mission) and Utsah Sahkti (motivation). Kautilyas concept of the objectives of a king seems to be virtually adopted by Peter Drucker in his book, Managing For Results. In Arthashastra, chapter 19 of Book 1, titled Rules of a King describes the various qualities of a leader. A complete and detailed study of this section can prove very fruitful to various employees and employers, who want to develop leadership qualities. It gives exhaustive, step by step guidelines about the kind of life a leader should lead, right from his daily timetable, to his method of conducting himself with different types of people. Lets see some of the leadership qualities Be Active The first and foremost quality of a leader is to be active. No other quality can replace this. The enthusiasm of the leader is itself an inspiration to others. As the famous saying goes,

People learn more by watching actions than listening to sermons. Leaders are the ones who have a positive energy field around them. Only if he/she is energetic and active, the subordinates will also display energetic enthusiasm. If the administrator is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is slack (and lazy in performing his duties) the subjects will also be lazy, and thereby eat into his wealth. (1.19.1) Communication Kautilya advices a good liaison with others, not only for those at the bottom level in the management, but also those in top level management. He (Leader) should allow unrestricted entrance to those wishing to see him in connection with official affairs (1.19.26) Any person who wants to communicate with the seniors about their affairs should be encouraged as it helps bridge the gap of communication. Knowledge The leader of an organization holds a position of power, commander and decision maker. However, if he/she gets intoxicated by his power and position alone, it will definitely not be long before he loses his/her chair, and many even destroy the organization itself. just as an elephant, blinded by intoxication and mounted by an intoxicated driver, crushes whatever it finds (on the way), so the leader, not possessed of the eye of science and (hence) blind , has risen to destroy the organization and workers (1.14.7)

Responsibilities Every leader should have two big responsibilities; to correct the mistakes of past committed by his predecessors and to create something for future. In the case of inherited territory, he should cover up the fathers defects and display his virtues (13.5.23)

Competitiveness The leader should not limit him/her self after achieving the target, also he/she has to try to achieve more and more what he/she actually expected to achieve. The leader should not become a lazy after him/her achieving the target. Besides, a lazy administrator will easily fall into the hands of the enemies. Hence the administrator should himself always be energetic. (1.19.1-5)

Decision Making There is a lot of work that cannot move forward without the leaders final decision. Thus, Chanakya suggests that if a subordinate comes to him with an urgent matter, he/she should listen to him at once. If he/she postpones a decision, the pressure gets piled up and then the situation gets out of control. He should hear (at once) every urgent matter, and not put it off. An (affair) postponed becomes difficult to settle or even impossible to settle. (1.19.30) A leader has to be a fast thinker, a fast decision maker, and a fast implementer. He/she has no time to waste. Analysing good, but moving ahead is more important. Vigilance It is the primary responsibility of a leader to continuously check all important data as well as the activities of the organization. The leader has to be very alert about movements of his employees as well as his/her competitors. If an administrator fails to be alert, he/she will be cheated by his/her subordinates. He (leader) should constantly hold an inspection of their works, men being inconstant in their minds (2.19.3) Dont allow time to pass

Todays corporate scenario, there are lot of opportunities for anything you want to do, yet we find people sad, stressed, and worrying about the future, for the above problem Kautilya suggests that, Having found a matter for consideration, he should not allow time to pass.(1.15.45) The leader should not wait for any golden moment to start what he/she always wants to do. The best time is not the muhurat, the expert suggests, nor even the right dates that come up in a calendar. It is right here and right now. So he/she has to adopt the policy of time and tide wait for no man Ethics in Business The root of any business lies in its core value system, this was also pointed out by the father of modern management, Peter Drucker Profits are by- products of business, not its very goal. In the following verse, Kautilya brings out the finer points of the importance of ethics in business. Philosophy is ever thought of as the lamp of all sciences, as the means of all actions (and) as the support of all laws (and duties). (1.3.12) It includes, Guidance, Decision in action, Adhering to law, Duty etc., so it is the responsibility of a leader to retain a value or ethics in business. Be an Example A leaders position is very critical and sensitive. Subordinates do not just do what the leader said they follow leaders every action!. Leaders always observed minutely by people around him. The administrator and the magistrates should first keep in check the heads of departments and their subordinates.- (Book 2 & 3)

Work through Problem A leader must have to posses the skill to handle the problem and to find a better solution for the same. Also he/she should have the capability to face the problem, the one who afraid to face the problem otherwise he/she cannot become an effective leader.

Internal (hindrance) is hindrance by the chiefs, external is the hindrance caused by enemies or forest-tribes (8.4.48)

Love for Members A leader can create a team, but there can be no team without a leader. He/she is the nucleus around which everything takes place. At many points, he/she takes tough decisions that may seem harsh to a few people. However, he/she has to take into consideration on the overall benefit of the team and not just his/her individual benefit, however great the vision of the leader may be, he/she cannot keep others truly inspired, if his/her heart is not full of love. In the happiness of the subject lies the benefit of the administrator and in what is beneficial to the subjects is his own benefit.(1.19.34) Train the subordinates It is one of the essential qualities of the leader; the leader has to train his/her subordinates in order to make them more informative. It will make them to work at any situation which is good for the organization The system (Organisation) continues in the succession of his sons and grandsons, free from dangers caused by men (5.1.56) Consultation There are various areas that the leader has to look into. It may not be feasible for him to take care of all these areas himself. Hence he/she should take help and guidance, consulting experts in various fields. Today we find that even the President or Prime Minister of a country has specialists like the principal scientific adviser, chief security adviser etc., whom he consults before taking any decision in matters regarding that particular area. This consultation should be done in a spirit of humility, with a desire to learn and understand more. All undertakings should be preceded by consultation. Holding a consultation with only one, he may not be able to reach a decision in difficult matters. With more counselors it is difficult to reach decisions and maintain secrecy. (1.15.2, 35, 40)

Respect Spiritual & Experienced People This is a unique quality found in the India that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. India, right from its very birth, has been a spiritual country. It has taken spirituality as its national ideal. Centuries have passed, yet we never gave up our search for Truth. Our gurus and spiritual masters have been our role models and also our benchmark for excellence. We have gone back to them again and again to check if we have missed the right track somewhere.

In ancient India, hermits, ascetics and spiritual masters were respected and revered. They were invited to the courts to take important decisions. In various religious books and stories, we find mention of a special seat for the acharya, a religious teacher, who used to be consulted before taking any key decision in the society. The leader himself understands that he is not the ultimate. Therefore, he looks for guidance from the acharya. The acharya, in turn, understands that he too, as a person, is not the ultimate. His validity comes from his deep understanding of dharma. He gives suggestions or decisions based on dharma. Thus the whole society runs on the basis of dharma. Therefore sit and counsel with those who are mature in intellect.(1.15.20-21) Throughout the Arthashastra, we find that acharyas were given a patient hearing on various matters and also invited to court sessions, where they had the highest and the most important seat offered. The king could start the session only after offering salutations to these great masters.

Thus, Leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for mutual objectives. Simply stated, leadership is the process involving two or more people in which one attempts to influence the others behavior towards the accomplishment of some goals. So the above discussed leadership qualities, which is essential for the growth and sustainability of the organisation, as Kautilya says Leaders always observed minutely by people around him. Leadership is an indispensable part of the directing function and an important factor in Organisational effectiveness. Koontz ODonnell have defined leadership as the ability of a manger to induce subordinates to work with confidence and zeal, Hence the person one who

holds the post of leader must have to possess these requisite qualities in order to make the organisation more efficient and effective.

Bibliography: 1. Corporate Chanakya, by Dr.Radhakrishnan Pillai Jaico Publishers. 2. Business Management, by Dr,C.B.Gupta- Sultan Chand & Sons. 3. Arthashastra Mysore oriental manuscripts library, Mysore, Karnataka 4. Arthashastra - R. Shamasastry, Kautilyas Arthashastra, op.cit 5. Arthashastra, Book I, Chapter XIX