Learn from past to bring changes to organisations, says management guru Radhakrishna Pillai

Leaders of today's organisations should learn from epics such as Mahabharata, Ramayana and ancient management expert Chanakya's Arthshasthra to bring in changes, said Radhakrishna Pillai, management expert and author of the book, Corporate Chanakya. Speaking at a session on Corporate Chanakya at Business Today MindRush, he said ideal leaders require certain traits, as Chanakya had elaborated in his book.

One of them is ability to gather and dissect information, by either directly pursuing or indirectly pursuing or through perceived or inferred collection of information. He said leaders should also keep inspecting or reporting their own work to learn and stay updated as continuous study ensures a trained intellect that can do practical applications.

"Leaders should also be able to bring in different dimensions and insights into an organisation as Chanakya points out", said Pillai, also the director of the Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership. He said another important mantra of Chanakya was that leaders should be energetic and motivated, as when a leader or King becomes lazy, his kingdom can easily fall into the hands of his enemies.

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Swami or the leader should always learn from elders and should not take decisions from day one without studying the environment. The attitude of the leader is very important.

The seven pillars of a business, Chanakya says, should be the King, minister or managers, country or market, a fortified city, treasury, army or workforce and ally or consultant for external advice. Leaders require good advisers like Arjun had Krishna and Chandragupta Maurya had Chanakya. Leaders should also understand human psychology, said Pillai.