Hi,
Who should
possess the decision-making power? Only the team leader? Or every member of the
team? Or is it that everyone is a leader in his own position whatever it may
be? And whether depriving the team members of decision-making ability inhibits
the team’s performance? Let us take a look at the story of Lord Rama and his
greatest devotee Hanuman from the epic Ramayana.
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Freedom to
decide is empowering
Sita, wife of
Rama, was abducted by the demon King, Ravana. Rama, knowing the enormous powers
of Hanuman, asked him to find where Sita was taken. Hanuman went to Lanka in
search of Sita, found her there, identified himself by giving her Rama’s ring,
and comforted her that Rama would soon come to save her and take her back. Then
he set afire the city of Lanka on his way back. Though Rama was pleased with
Hanuman as he located the whereabouts of Sita, he was displeased with Hanuman’s
decision of burning the city. Recognizing his master’s unhappiness for taking a
decision without consulting him, Hanuman decided not to take any more
decisions on his own, and do only when and what he was directed to do by his
master.
However,
during the ultimate battle of Ramayana between Rama and Ravana, the brother of
Ravana, Mahiravana, secretly carried away Rama and his brother Lakshmana to the
patala, the netherworld with an idea to sacrifice the life of the two divine
brothers at the altar of his chosen deity. Only Hanuman had the strength to
find and rescue them. But there was no Rama around him to instruct him what to
do. So what to do but to feel compelled to change his mind and
take the decision on his own to jump into action. Hanuman went to
patala, fought with Mahiravana and his army, killed Mahiravana, and rescued
both Rama and Lakshmana.
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Imagine what
would have happened if Hanuman had not taken the decision of going on the
rescue mission waiting for his master’s instructions to do. Perhaps that was the
way Rama had corrected his earlier mistake of inhibiting Hanuman with his
displeasure at Hanuman’s actions done without his consent, and helped Hanuman
rise up to the occasion and develop his own decision-making qualities. Each of
us is a leader in some way or the other. We work at home and office on
different projects. How do we want our team members to behave, especially when
it comes to decision-making? Should they do only by what and when we instruct?
Or do we encourage them to take decisions, learn from mistakes, and move
forward? Freedom to decide is empowering. And that “freedom” is not just only given but also very much
taken.
With love and regards,
Siva
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