We all remember Mahabharata as the story of great warriors who fought for their aspirations and what they “believed” was right. There are a lot of management lessons which can be drawn from Mahabharata. But today I want to focus on something different. We all know that Mahabharata is full of characters with strong personalities who have left a mark on history. These characters performed tapas, learnt martial art, studied Vedas to overpower their competitors. They also devised strategies to get an edge over their foes. Surely, they had very interesting professional lives. But what about their personal lives?

Let us take Lord Krishna as an example. How many of us know about Krishna's notorious son Samba, whose mother was the bear-princess, Jambavati. Samba, a look-alike of Krishna, dupes his father's junior wives by disguising himself as Krishna, kidnaps Duryodhana's daughter, pretends being pregnant to dupe sages who were visiting Dwaraka. 

It is really ironical how Krishna’s son is drastically different from him. Is that because of the neglect of his father since Krishna was spending most of his time with Arjuna and the Pandavas and in the politics of Kuru-kshetra?

Can we draw a parallel between the personal lives of Mahabharata warriors and that of people serving in corporate today? Technology has made this world a small place and has eliminated the boundaries between home and workplace. Both people who want to make a difference and those who want an opulent life for themselves are ready to make themselves available for work as and when required. They have little patience and want to make things happen as soon as possible!

As Devdutt Patnaik rightly explains, today family is not seen as achievement. Children are not seen as purpose. They are seen as obligations, duties, by-products of existence, even collateral damage. Leaders who sacrifice family for a 'larger' cause are admired by us. With the rise of feminism, women are also working. Parenting has been outsourced to maids, teachers, computers, videogames and grandparents. Women who work in the office have not been compensated by their husbands spending more time at home. Instead women are made to feel guilty for not being good mothers. No one questions men for not being good fathers. Eventually, the office wins. Absent parents rationalize how office is more important than the children: we need the money, the children eventually grow up, surely our needs are also important.

Those working in corporate therefore end up nurturing Sambas at home. Thankfully, not all the organizations follow the league. Organizations such as GE, American Express respect personal lives of people and therefore have been able to last so long.  

It is high time for the majority of organizations to start thinking about surviving 100 years and more. When they would do so they would care about not just Krishnas but also the Sambas. What is important for organizations to realize is that if their employees identify their purpose beyond professional achievements they would be more sorted and therefore less stressed in their lives. More than shortage of time to do things there is a shortage of right mind state. Leaders should become smarter and address the root cause of lower productivity. At the outset, organizations could look at some of the following:

Flexi working hours

In this age of technology work life balance does not meet separate hours for work and separate for personal life. It is more about doing the right thing at the right time. It should be the effort of business and HR to free up the mind of employees from stress and let them focus on work. This would also mean giving them the flexibility to attend their personal priorities along with achieving business goals.

Extended maternity and paternity leave: Maternity is not just a personal phase of any woman’s life. It is a tremendous growth opportunity for women. Anyone who has experienced it would vouch for the sense of responsibility she develops because of giving birth to a child. Working moms also learn to be very good at multi-tasking. It is that development opportunity given to women by

Maternity is not just a personal phase of any woman’s life. It is a tremendous growth opportunity for women. Anyone who has experienced it would vouch for the sense of responsibility she develops because of giving birth to a child. Working moms also learn to be very good at multi-tasking. It is that development opportunity given to women by life which no organization can ever provide. Maternity leave should not be seen as a break in the career of women but an opportunity to develop women for the next level. Thankfully, maternity leave extension will soon become a law once the bill is passed in the Parliament. 

Child birth not only gives birth to a mother but to a father as well. The more the time he spends with his kid the more focused he becomes. Organizations should take a cue and provide maternity and paternity leave to their employees. 

At a personal level, males must start partnering with their better halves to create a better future for their children. 

Sabbaticals

Life today is quite fast paced. We are not only running in our physical worlds but also in our minds. This is leading to burn outs, lower productivity in people. Organizations can turnaround this situation by introducing sabbaticals for their loyal employees. When these employees will join back they would be rejuvenated and often feel like they have a new job. It would also broaden their perspective as they would find an opportunity to explore more ideas, do things which interest them, take care of family needs and much more.

Creche facilities

Women bring in a very different work style and thought process to workplace. All efforts must be made to ease their continuation in job. Providing creches for kids will help them perform more effectively in their roles while at the same time attending to her kids when required. 

Organizations talk about CSR. To nurture families and personal interests of people is one of the best ways of doing that.

References 

http://indiaopines.com/samba-lord-krishna-son/

http://devdutt.com/articles/applied-mythology/leadership/children-of-the-great.html