Managerial Values And Business Ethics

This course seeks to explore into the underlying values which people hold and the impact
of these values on one’s personal code of ethics. Some of the key questions examined are
as follows: What are the differences between universal values and personal values, and
interactions between them? Do these values serve a major role in a manager’s career and
life? How do they influence the manager’s personal ethical codes as well as the corporate
code of ethics? What are the ways in which conflict amongst one’s core values can be
minimized or sorted out when needed in different decision-making situations? How can
conflicts between corporate codes of ethics and managers’ as well as employees’ personal
codes of ethics be resolved? What are the key drivers of motivation – both internal and
external – and whether greater awareness of one’s own thought processes can help in
ensuring greater inner motivation and more ethical behaviour? Whether greater
awareness of one’s own values, ethical codes and mental and emotional processes can
help an individual to both grow as a human being and to become more aligned with
universal values? Does character have a role to play in a manager’s career as well as the
kind of leadership that he brings to the workplace?

Apart from seeking to answer these and other questions, this course would also look at a
number of real cases from the field where the question of values and ethics were
paramount and how they were handled. Could there be some learnings from these cases
and could these situations have been handled better?
Values and Ethics

Values are principles, standards or qualities that are considered worthwhile or desirable.
Universal values are those principle, standards or qualities that are accepted universally
across geographical locations and different cultures in almost all the parts of the world.
Truth, honesty, punctuality, tolerance, love, compassion, cooperation etc. are some of the
examples of universal values. Personal values are those qualities, principles or standards
of behaviour that a given person considers desirable. These values may or may not be in
sync with the timeless and universal principles such as truth, love, cooperation, freedom,
honesty, justice, fairness, tolerance for differences of opinion, integrity and so on. The
greater is the overlap between one’s personal and universal values, greater is the moral
health of an individual, at least ideally speaking.

Personal Universal
Values Values

That is why it is important to introspect and see from time to time if one’s personal
values are in alignment with the Universal values or not. One’s personal values influence
the decisions that one makes or the actions that one takes, very powerfully, though one
may not be aware of these values in the background which are operating at a given point
of time. A level of self-mastery in terms of awareness, at least morally, can be said to
have been achieved only when one becomes aware of the operating values the moment a
decision is made, or action is taken.

Ethics is a rationally developed set of rules and guidelines, which help one to determine
what is right or wrong in a given situation. One’s personal ethics flows out of one’s
personal values. It is also influenced in a given situation by the contextual variables such
as organizational culture, group norms, and company rules and so on. For example, truth
is a dear value to me. So, speaking the truth in different situations is a part of my personal
ethics when there is no pressure upon me to do otherwise. But in a given context, there
may be a pressure upon me in terms of potential losses, personal or organizational to do
otherwise. In such cases, the strength of my convictions about this particular value would
determine my actual behaviour. So, personal ethics takes into account the values held
dear, the strength of one’s conviction as well as the situational variables.

A perfectly aligned and integrated set of personal ethics can only flow out of a perfectly
aligned and integrated personal value system. A high degree of integration and alignment
in one’s value system with respect to the set of universal values is attained only by the
highly integrated (in terms of harmony between their physical, cognitive, emotional and
spiritual selves) individuals.

A perfect overlap between the universal values and personal values is the ideal situation,
which will be found extremely rarely in real life. People like Amma or Mother Teresa
would come close to this ideal. The rest of us can strive in that direction. But greater the
overlap, more ethical one is likely to be in his day-to-day dealings.
The Integrated Individual: A person with an integrated self has all the four parts of his
being - physical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual- in perfect harmony with one another .

Em
l
ua

ot
t

io
iri

na
Sp

l
Self

al

Co
sic

gn
y
Ph

iti
ve
All the four parts of the individual’s being pull in the same direction thus strengthening
the inner core (self) of the individual. The nervous energy or consciousness of such a
person is not scattered. Rather it is very focussed generating a tremendous impact
wherever it is focussed just like a lens which can burn a piece of paper by focussing the
sun’s energy.

An integrated individual possesses a healthy regard for his body and lives according to
the natural principles of healthy living. He does not flog his body to meet the needs of
other dimensions. He is aware as to what contributes to his physical health and what does
not. So, he takes nutritious and healthful food, does exercises, Yoga, walking, swimming
etc. to maintain the physical tone; takes sufficient rest, sleep etc. So his body is capable
of taking very hard work when needed without succumbing.

He understands the need for an emotionally fulfilling life and hence invests a lot in his
relationships with his family, friends, relatives, neighbourhood and colleagues at the
workplace. He understands that one gets from others on the emotional plane what one
gives to them. So, he treats everyone with a lot of love, respect and understanding. This
enables him to forge very enriching and life affirming relationships with the members of
his family, relatives, friends and colleagues. Their love, loyalty and support toward these
relations generate an equivalent amount of love, loyalty and support from the other side.
This generates a secure source of continuous emotional fulfillment and happiness in their
lives.

An integrated individual understands some fundamental secrets of happiness and success

at the cognitive level. He knows that there is a basic difference between ‘need’ and
‘greed’. ‘Needs’ can be fulfilled but ‘greed’ cannot because greed is a sign of a feeling of
lack in the ‘self’ while need is genuine and easily met. A need is something, which is met
very easily the moment the desired object is gained and used whereas greed demands
more and more without the desire ever getting satisfied. Greed causes one to accumulate
and hoard resources up to fantastic levels which one is not going to be able to be use in
one’s life time and still crave for more. It is like a moral black hole which sucks the entire
‘being’ (sum total of all the four dimensions of a person’s life) of the individual within
itself and yet remains as hungry as it always was. But by the time the ‘being’ has been
sucked in, all that remains is a life left in ruins (in extreme cases) as may happen to
chronic workaholics, criminals or lawbreakers for example. They understand the
difference between ‘intrinsic & instrumental values’ of objects on one hand and the
‘symbolic value’ on the other. While the ‘intrinsic & instrumental values’ of an object
satisfy a real need, the ‘symbolic value’ is the ‘status symbol function’ or ‘aspirational’
function of a product or service, which caters to a ‘want’ as opposed to a ‘need’. As the
term ‘want’ suggests, it is a want or lack of something with in the ‘self’. They realize that
craving for status symbols is a symptom of a deeper malaise afflicting the ‘self’ viz. a
sense of inner lack or incompleteness. Such a lack can never be completed with outer
possessions or acquisitions. As a result of this understanding, they purchase and use
goods and services primarily for their true ‘intrinsic and instrumental values’. The brands
they use may be of good or excellent reputation, but they do not chase brands per se to
fulfill or complete themselves by gaining a sense of status out of them. They use brands
that give them quality products and services and do not bother too much about the
aspirational values that may or may not be embedded in those brands for others. They
realize that true ‘self esteem’ comes from within as a realization of one’s innate ‘self
worth’. A lack of inner ‘self worth’ can never be completed or fulfilled truly from
outside. Their inner strength, level of maturity and understanding of life gives them that
sense of completeness which allows them to get out of the rat race for the newest and the
most exotic brands or status symbols. As a result they save a lot of mental energy, which
allows them to refocus this surplus energy for achieving the tasks that are dear to their
hearts. They are able to concentrate more intensely on their jobs as more often than not,
they choose jobs, which they like and believe in rather than doing it for the ‘material
rewards’ alone associated with their jobs. Of course, they too need ‘material rewards’ like
anyone else, but only up to a certain level which enables them to maintain an excellent
lifestyle on the material plane. But beyond that, ‘real achievement’ in terms of fulfilling
their work goals inspires them more than ‘material rewards’. But it so happens more
often than not that these people end up getting much more ‘material rewards’ than others
as their ‘level of integration’ makes them an outstanding performer and leader within
their organization.

At the cognitive level, an integrated individual keeps updating himself and strengthening
his technical competence due to the innate interest in the work that he does. This makes
him an outstanding professional in a technical sense. This technical excellence happens
because his ‘being’ (sum total of his strengths, interests and innate talents) flows into his
‘doing’ (the work or profession that he has chosen). The ‘havings’ or the rewards
associated with the work in terms of promotions, monetary rewards, name, fame, respect
etc. accrue to him because of his outstanding work quality. Look at the diagram below to
see the difference between a healthy process and an unhealthy one as far as alignment
between ‘being’, ‘doing’, and ‘having’ is concerned.
 Healthy Process

Being Doing Having

Unhealthy Process

Having Doing Being

He is innately humble and reads or practices a lot in order to improve constantly through
self-effort as well as by learning from other great performers, leaders and sources of
wisdom. Their respect for and spirit of cooperation with colleagues coupled with their
technical competence, hard working ability, humility and inner strength helps them often
to achieve the pinnacles of success. For example, we have seen people like Narayan
Murthy, Azim Premji, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Varghese Kurien, Abraham Lincoln,
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and so on.

An integrated individual who is spiritually integrated too, feels intimately connected to

his community, his work team, his organization, his society, the world at large and
ultimately the environment depending upon the level of spiritual integration. At the
highest levels of spiritual integration, such people start to live at Maslow’s self-
transcendence level. For example, Amma or Mother Teresa caring and living for the
whole world. But even at the initial stages of spiritual integration, they show signs of
these strong bonds to their workplace, colleagues, organization, community etc. Such a
person understands that a responsible self-interest means respecting the interest of others.
He realizes that by strengthening the ‘whole’, the ‘parts’ parts become stronger too. It’s
like watering the root of a tree. If one waters the root, the entire tree gets the benefit. But
if one waters the branches alone, there is a lot of loss of resources (water, time and effort
in this example). He focusses not upon taking the largest bit from the cake, but upon
enlarging the cake itself, so that everyone gets more and still a significant part of the cake
remains for future expansion. Such an individual is always inspired by grand visions and
has an uncanny way of inspiring others. His enthusiasm is almost infectious. He has an
unimpeachable character. His inner values are almost completely clarified and serve as an
unfailing compass while making decisions and acting out his day-to-day responsibilities.
They always look at the potential or the upside of the people, teams and organizations
that they work with and tirelessly encourage and help them to achieve the same.

These people often represent Maslow’s ‘self actualizing’ people or Jim Collins’ ‘level 5
leaders’ or Carl Rogers’ ‘fully functioning individuals’. There is a huge amount of
research in the OB and leadership literature supporting what has been described about the
‘integrated individuals’ in the paragraphs above. For example, you could read the hugely
popular leadership book called ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins, which is based upon
some real life examples of some of the greatest corporate leaders. Or those of you who
have interest could delve into transformational leadership or servant leadership literature.
References are given at the end of these teaching notes.

The Self – World Framework

 Family
Religion

Friends
Educational
Self
institutions
FCSS Work place
LBP
Professional nAch; I am
Association Fulfillment
Markets

Govt.

Oth
Society &
Culture

ers

FCSS = Food; Clothing; Shelter & Security.

LBP = Love; Belongingness & Pleasures.
nAch = need for achievement
I am = desire of an individual to declare to the society that he has achieved something
significant in life; desire to stand out from the crowd.
Fulfillment = a sense of having accomplished something meaningful in life which gives
immense satisfaction to the individual concerned; a sense of having fulfilled one’s
potential, similar to Maslow’s self-actualisation.

Each individual needs to fulfill some basic physical needs such as food, clothing, shelter
& security to start with. Employees or workers who are not very highly engaged at the
workplace would look primarily for the salary & wages in lieu of their work, which in
turn would enable them to fulfill their and their family’s physical requirements. This is
often the main reason for working for many people, especially if they are employed in
lower level less skilled or semi skilled work.
In a workplace, where employees are highly engaged and the work culture is excellent,
employees may even feel a sense of emotional bonding with the organization and
colleagues thus at least partially satisfying the emotional needs for love & belongingness
through satisfying relationships at the workplace.

Such organizations often have excellent processes to identify and nurture employee skills
and competencies which allows them to grow professionally too both in terms of
technical skills & greater responsibilities and remuneration. This may help employees to
satisfy their need for achievement too, thus adding to their self esteem or sense of ‘I am’.

If a person is able to find a work where his intrinsic interests and competencies are
matched with the work that he is doing, he may also succeed in gaining a sense of
emotional and spiritual fulfillment from his work.

The ‘self’ has three kinds of relations with the different entities of the ‘world’ in which it
is embedded; very close, moderately close and peripheral. Very close relations engage
the entire ‘being’ of the individual, i.e. all the four dimensions of his self. Moderately
close relations engage primarily one or two dimensions, for example, the workplace
involves primarily the mind and the body, more mind for the highly qualified and skilled
employees and more body for the unskilled and semi skilled workers. Only a motivating
workplace would engage the emotional dimension and only an inspiring workplace
would engage the spirit of the people working there. The peripheral relations only
engage at a superficial level.

Every entity with which the ‘self’ engages observes and interprets the signals being
constantly emitted by it for its content, reliability and consistency. The content part
depends upon the overall context of the relationship, as well as the specific
circumstances. The quality of content of the signals being emitted in terms of reliability
and consistency depends in turn upon three things, (i) motivation level, (ii) ability and
(iii) ‘character’ or the ‘value system’ possessed by an individual. The superior quality
of content enables the ‘self’ to discharge the roles expected of it in a satisfactory manner.
This is confirmed by the MAC (Motivation, Ability and Character) framework. We have,

Performance = Motivation x Ability;

In turn, according to Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation,

Motivation = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence

Where expectancy is the concerned person’s perceived probability that he will be able to
perform a task assigned to him up to the desired standard; instrumentality is his
perception of the probability that the management would give the reward that it has
promised for a satisfactory performance of the task assigned, and valence is the
concerned individual’s perception of the probability that the reward offered by the
management would be liked by him or her. So, expectancy is the perception of an
employee about his own competence to complete the task up to the required standards;
instrumentality is a measure of his trust in the management as far as keeping their
promise of disbursing the promised rewards are concerned; and, valence is the
attractiveness of the reward (i.e. how much the concerned employee likes that particular
reward). This relationship tells us about the importance of management keeping its
promises when it comes to giving the promised rewards upon satisfactory execution of
work tasks. Otherwise the value of ‘instrumentality’ would go down for the employees
thus lowering the overall motivation levels. Similarly, this model also shows the
importance of giving rewards after doing a proper study of the kinds of rewards really
appreciated by the employees. If the rewards offered are not attractive to the employees,
then the ‘valence’ level goes down. This also tells us the importance of proper
performance appraisal systems. If performance is not recognized and rewarded correctly
and fairly then motivation levels of the workforce may be adversely affected. We will
look at how to ensure internal motivation later on in these notes.
Motivation and ability are like the two wings of a bird, which enable the ‘self’ to fly
efficiently or perform its expected roles smoothly. The ‘character’ component is like the
propulsion mechanism, which enables the ‘self’ to overcome the downward pull of
gravity. A sterling character enables the ‘self’ to reach and explore the higher reaches of
the sky of professional career. Many promising careers are cut short due to unethical
practices. More in tune with the generally accepted ethical principles the character; the
greater is the ability of a ‘self’ to generate ‘trust’ among all the interacting people and
the organizational authorities. Trust is generally regarded as the most important variable
when it comes to forging strong relationships among employees at the workplace.

A sterling character is one, which is in tune with some of the most widely accepted
universal values. Greater the overlap between the set of universal values and a person’s
personal values better is the character that a person possesses in moral terms. There are
some universal values, which are generally regarded as inviolable and against which all
the individuals are judged. Some of these values are:

Truth: Its good to be truthful. The ideal is to achieve consistency between thought,
word and action. In fact, truth can be called the greatest of all the other universal values.

Honesty: Its good or desirable to be honest. Especially with ones teammates, superiors
and subordinates. It helps to generate trust and a healthy respect for one’s character in the
eyes of relevant others.

Integrity: It is the alignment between one’s inner values and external behaviour. It is the
extent to which a person holds on to his ‘personal truth’ under all circumstances of life. It
is a measure of the alignment between one’s thoughts, words and actions. People with
integrity invariably generate a lot of respect and trust among others. It definitely helps a
manager to gain the trust of one and all.

Respect for human dignity: Humans should be respected just for being human
irrespective of caste, class, creed or hierarchical position. An internalization of this value
would help a manager to command respect of subordinates and colleagues alike. It would
also help him to break the barriers or distance generated by hierarchical positions.

Love & Compassion: One should behave lovingly and show compassion towards others.
People doing so invariably gain the trust, love and loyalty of others. It helps a manager to
get the emotional commitment of employees both towards his own leadership, the team
as well as the workplace.

Belief in the virtues of hard work or industriousness: People who believe in this virtue
are invariably given greater and bigger responsibilities as they grow in their careers. Most
top managers exhibit this characteristic.

Respect for laws and norms: It is generally regarded as desirable. Adherence to norms
helps to gain the acceptance of a group while adherence to laws helps to prevent a
manager from getting caught on the wrong side of law, which may be disastrous at times
both for the manager concerned and the organization. Example: Enron.

Justice: Managers who are fair in their dealings are generally more successful in
motivating their subordinates than those who are not. A reputation for being unfair or
biased is surely going to be a liability for managerial success.

Cooperativeness: Managers who have a deeply embedded habit of thinking

cooperatively i.e. thinking in terms of maximizing the interests of the group and
organization instinctively engage in behaviours that attracts more and more responsibility
and generates greater trust and support from all the stakeholders including employees,
customers, superiors and so on. Such a thinking style facilitates effective performance in
senior management positions and also in reaching those positions pretty quickly.
Everyone working or interacting with such a manager feels at ease and it facilitates an
easy flow and exchange of ideas, which obviously improves decision-making as well as
team morale and spirit. The famous self-development Guru Stephen Covey (author of
‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) calls it win-win thinking.
To the extent a person’s behaviour is grounded in these and other important universal
values, he or she is able to evoke trust, respect and admiration from the different entities
with which he or she engages. It ensures an exemplary character. When such a person
needs support, there are plenty of hands to help him in his work.

So, the content of the signal is determined by these three factors, viz. motivation, ability
and character. But people also look for reliable performance because erratic behaviour
increases the risk of engaging with such a ‘self’ for the interacting entities. The same
argument holds good for lack in consistency also, especially between what one says and
what one does. A manger can ill afford to say (preach) one thing and do (practice)
something else or to say something to someone and a contradictory thing to someone
else. If a manger can ensure these three things, i.e. consistently high quality of content
of the signals that he emits; reliability and also the consistency in the discharge of his
duties, then sky is the limit for such a manager.

How can a high degree of motivation, ability and character be developed? Is

constant growth of an individual possible with greater self-awareness till he reaches
the self-actualization level? Would that be useful to a manager for gaining success in
his career as well as happiness in life?

The famous psychologist Abraham Maslow postulated that human beings have an inbuilt
tendency to grow in terms of their dominant needs, which are arranged in a sort of
hierarchy. The moment a lower order need is fulfilled, they move on to the satisfaction of
the next level need in this needs hierarchy. The hierarchy of needs as proposed by
Maslow is shown below.
 Self Transcendence
‘Love’ & ‘Acceptance’ for all

‘Love’ & ‘Acceptance’ for ‘Self’ Self

actualization

‘Passion’
Self esteem

‘Acceptance’ Belongingness
by others
‘Survival’ Safety needs

‘Gratification’ Physiological needs

Self transcendence Complete acceptance & Enlightened individual

(Spirit) living of Universal Being values (can inspire the world)

Satisfaction of one’s ‘Being’

Self actualization (spirit) Satisfied values (Fulfilled human being)
‘Self’ (can inspire the group & orgn.)

Self esteem (Mind) Satisfying career Feeling of being successful in life

& social standing (Successful human being)

Belongingness (Heart) Feeling of being accepted by loved

Nourishing relationships ones unconditionally
(Loving human being)
Safety (Body, Secure home, work Assured survival; no feeling
mind of heart) & social environment of external threat
(Secure human being)

Physiological ‘Gratified’ & respectful of one’s

Healthy body body; good healthy habits
(Body)
(Healthy human beings)
 Spirit Enjoys what he does;
(Spiritual) encourages & supports
growth of others

Heart Emotionally free; invests in

(Emotional) nourishing relationships
Self
actualizing
man Invests constantly in their
Mind chosen vocation; deals with
(Cognitive) information very effectively

Body Respects his body; Follows

(Physiological) healthy habits

These needs on the Maslow’s framework can also be understood in terms of the four
dimensions of life, namely, body, mind (cognitive), heart (emotional) and spirit
(spiritual) as shown in the framework above. If we look at the animal world, we will
notice that at the level of the ‘body’, we have a lot in common with them. This level
almost coincides with the two lowest levels of needs in Maslow’s schema, namely the
‘physiological needs’ and ‘safety needs’ except for the fact that constant physical threats
and punishments may lead to emotional insecurity in the Maslow’s schema which then
would be at the level of ‘heart’ or emotions in the life’s four dimensions schema. Maslow
called the needs at these two lowest levels as ‘instinctoid’, i.e. they have to be fulfilled or
else the individual may not survive or may live a highly uncertain life ala the caveman or
hunters/gatherers of yore. These are extremely strong needs and hence cannot be denied
for long without endangering the ‘self’ literally. Also, if these needs are not gratified for
some time, even those operating at higher levels of the need hierarchy would have to
come down to the level where deprivation has taken place. For example, one cannot deny
hunger, thirst or homelessness for long without these needs becoming the dominant one
till they are satisfied.

At the level of the ‘heart’, one looks for acceptance by others generally, and at least some
close loving relationships where one is accepted unconditionally for constant emotional
nourishment. Human beings have an inherent need to be accepted, admired and
appreciated. When this need is thwarted, it turns into need for respect. If one is engaged
in an activity, which flows out from the core of one’s ‘being’, he easily excels at it and it
becomes easy for him to command respect. The activity itself would lead the individual
to complete self-acceptance sooner or later. But when one is not able to ‘command
respect’, then this relatively healthier need turns into ‘demand for respect’. When this
need is thwarted, a person gets stuck at this level. He keeps trying to prove himself to
others. Faced with a continuous rejection from the outside world, it soon leads to a
person’s rejection of his own self and hence a very poor self esteem. A person sometimes
turns to an acquisition spree to compensate for this lack of respect or self-esteem, and the
outer possessions become substitutes for this inner lack of ‘self esteem’. But no matter
how much a person is able to acquire possessions, it is never able to fill the sense of inner
lack. This ‘lack’ is essentially a lack of self-esteem which itself is a result of non-
acceptance of the ‘self’ by the ‘relevant others’. Most importantly, in childhood and
early adolescence when the personality has not yet completely formed and is in the
process of being shaped.

Essentially, what we are saying is that there is an inborn human need that is visible very
clearly in small children viz. the need to be loved. They need a constant reassurance
from their parents and siblings initially and then from their friends etc. that they are
loved, appreciated and admired. The more easily this reassurance is available, the more
“accepted” they feel. This allows them to feel secure in the knowledge that their parents
are there to support them when they get into trouble. They indulge their curiosity freely,
and explore the world around them quite spontaneously. This helps to form a very stable
base to the personality and leads to a healthy self-esteem. Their free exploration of the
environment enables them in most cases to identify hobbies or activities that they are
keenly interested in and to indulge in them. The parents support these pursuits and may
even actively support the child’s chosen pursuit. This is what often helps the prodigies to
come to the fore at such an early age in many cases. These hobbies may later become
professions. In such cases, a healthy self esteem coupled with the choice of a profession,
which flows from the inner core of their ‘being’, and for which they also possess an
innate talent, enables them to actualize their potential. So, self-actualization becomes
possible for them in many cases. True self-actualization is when an individual is
completely dedicated to the expression of his inner ‘being’ irrespective of any other
inducement, material or otherwise. He has no regrets for having chosen his vocation. The
amount of ‘havings’ (rewards) that accrue as a result is not the criterion by which he
judges his ‘self’. In fact, he does not judge his self at all. But despite this primary focus
upon the expression of one’s ‘being’, such people more often than not are rewarded
amply by the society (i.e. plenty of ‘havings’ accrue to them) simply because they end up
becoming very good at what they choose as their vocation. They achieve this excellence
because of their innate interest in the activity chosen, talent for that activity as well as the
sheer joy, which they experience in practicing and perfecting their work. Such people are
able to accept themselves completely as they invariably develop a very healthy self-
esteem and are able to hit the ‘zone’ or the state of ‘flow’ quite frequently.

In the higher reaches of self-actualization, they may not even need some of the lower
order needs as strongly as others. For example, they do not need external commendation
or greater relative success to sustain their self-esteem. They have accepted themselves so
completely that they can go on their chosen path in the face of opposition from the
mightiest forces without the least doubt in their minds and without showing any signs of
psychological pathology. They appear as integrated at the end of an ordeal as at the
beginning of it. Tests and trials of life may in fact help them to reach even higher and
higher levels of self-actualization as they discover new reserves of strength within
themselves. We have had a number of leaders of this type in the recent past. Names of
Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela or Ag San Su Kyi may be cited as examples. In the
field of business, Varghese Kurien is an example, who fought against all odds to pioneer
the cooperative movement, which ushered in the milk revolution of India. Bill Gates with
his DOS, which made the personal computer possible, is another example from the field
of business.

Apart from an indomitable will that was described above, these self-actualizing subjects
also exhibit an easy and loving acceptance of the others in their immediate environment,
including the workplace. They accept people despite their apparent weaknesses and
shortcomings so completely that most people in their vicinity develop a spontaneous love
and respect for them. They always look at the potentials hidden in people and try to bring
them out rather than focussing on their limitations. The self-actualizing subject becomes
like the lighthouse guiding others in their growth. To the others, he represents the higher
possibilities of their own selves. Most people feel inspired while working with them. This
happens almost spontaneously. It is the power of love to energize, and to melt
psychological blocks and complexes, and to inspire to dream. One just has to look at
Amma and how she is able to spontaneously inspire others around her to understand what
is explained above.

The reason this happens is because everyone needs to be loved and accepted
unconditionally, and people feel this unconditional love and acceptance flowing from
these self-actualizing subjects. There are hundreds of known examples from the
corporate, NGO and social sector and thousands of the lesser known or unknown
examples of self-actualizing subjects scattered al over the world. It may be a loving
mother toiling away in the dead of the night for the betterment of her family in the
poorest regions of Africa or a dedicated doctor serving the poor selflessly in a remote
village of India. Wherever these people are, they inspire and energize others around them.

On the other hand, when the inherent need to be loved and accepted unconditionally is
not fulfilled in the childhood, the child feels judged, restrained and fearful of disapproval
if he does something that the parents or teachers do not like. This constant evaluation and
disapproval of activities that the parents and teachers disapprove of creates in the child a
tendency to conform in order to please his elders and hence regain their unconditional
love and acceptance. It cannot explore the environment freely as a completely and
unconditionally loved child does. It is always fearful of a disapproval or a punishment
coming his way if he trespasses the boundaries imposed on him ever so little. This
constant compulsion to look behind for an authority figure’s approval soon becomes a
habit. It leads to the development of a meek personality. The self-esteem becomes very
low. But the need for love/acceptance is so strong that the child does not give up. He tries
to excel at a vocation/activity, which the parents and teachers approve of, even if it does
not resonate with their own inner interests. In modern educated society, especially in the
urban areas of our country, most of the parents want their children to excel at academics.
Anything else, which the child may be keenly interested in but which is not consistent
with a sound academic performance, is frowned upon. The inbuilt need for acceptance or
love causes the child/adolescent to give up these extra-curricular hobbies/activities in
order to win the parents’ and teachers’ approval. This essentially means a disconnect
from one’s true ‘being’ from a very early age. Once these children are disconnected from
their true ‘being’ or ‘potential’, anything else just serves the purpose of trying to win the
approval of parents, teachers and other relevant authority figures. These constant
approvals serve as a substitute for the ‘acceptance’ or the ‘love’ for which the child
craves. Soon, the need for approvals becomes a deeply ingrained false need overlaying
the original need for love. This results in spontaneity being drained away from the
personality. Graceful spontaneity is possible only in activities that flow outward from the
inner core of their ‘being’

According to this framework, a person starts to aim for achievements in life once his
lower order needs for instinctoid gratification (physiological needs), safety and
belongingness (love) are satisfied. Thus for a person to be really motivated at his
workplace, his dominant need has to be either self-esteem or self-actualization.
If he has an unsatisfied need for belongingness then he can’t really be motivated in a
healthy way to achieve something significant in life. In such cases he would be extremely
competitive trying to substitute for lack of love with a tremendous amount of respect
from others. Maslow also said that people who are not loved enough especially in their
formative years (early childhood and adolescence) lose the ability to love
unconditionally. This tends to harden them emotionally and hence makes it more and
more difficult for them to gain love as one gets love only if he gives it to others.

Thus for a person to have a healthy self esteem need, he needs to fulfill his need for love
and belongingness first. So, if any of us feels that he or she is a bit unfulfilled on the need
for belongingness, then the best course of action is to start reinvesting in the personal
relationships with the near and dear ones, to forge new and deep friendships in order to
get the emotional nourishment that is necessary to free the mental space. Once a person is
free emotionally then he can concentrate on his profession with complete dedication.

In the case of a self-actualizing person, he has not only fulfilled his need for
belongingness, but he also no longer needs respect or appreciation from outside for his
self-esteem. He has a very high sense of self worth, which is derived from with in. Such a
person chooses a work for which he feels passionately and hence motivation and ability
are not a problem at all. He keeps upgrading himself as he enjoys his work. Enjoying
one’s work automatically ensures a very high level of internal motivation.

In the MAC framework, when considering the variable motivation, we had seen the
external factors that influence work motivation. But, when a person enjoys his work
passionately, then it ensures a very high level of internal motivation automatically. By the
time a person reaches the self-actualization level, he has had a very full and rich life with
a wide variety of experiences pertaining to all the lower levels of need. Hence, he
understands life much more completely than an average person. This makes him realize
that most of the universal values have intrinsic worth to them in order to ensure well
being for the all. Since, such people have a spiritual dimension, which has been activated;
they start to think in terms of win-win or the welfare of the community. This enables
them to develop deep respect for most of the universal values and hence they tend to have
very strongly ethical characters.

So, to ensure a high degree of motivation, ability and a strongly ethical character, which
is an unbeatable combination for great success in life on all the fronts, it is always
advantageous for a person that his ‘self’ grows continuously in order to achieve better
and better harmony among all the four dimensions of life, so that one can ultimately
reach the self-actualization level. It is possible to reach the self-actualization level for
most of us if we reorganize our lives identifying what steps need to be taken to fulfill
the lower order needs. For most of us at the best business schools, in the worst case we
need to start from the third level need of belongingness. If that is the case we need to
build nourishing relationships in our lives that can be done deliberately if we recognize
this lack clearly.

In most of the cases we may already be operating at the self-esteem level and have a clear
sense of being loved unconditionally by our loved ones. An awareness of this fact would
make our journey to the top of the hierarchy quite easy. Only thing, which is needed, is to
find a work that one believes in with all of one’s ‘being’, a work environment whose
code of ethics (formal and informal) is more or less in alignment with one’s personal
values and then pursue one’s ‘calling’ (a work which draws upon one’s ‘being’ or the
deepest urge within one’s ‘self’ can be called a ‘calling’). Finding a suitable work
environment is very important in order to express one’s ‘being’ at the workplace with a
fair degree of comfort and without too many unnecessary distractions. Work related
obstacles and challenges would obviously be welcome as they allow the ‘self’ to stretch
itself and hence expand its capabilities. The more capable the ‘self’ becomes higher it
reaches on the ‘flow’ curve thus adding greater depth and joy to one’s work experience.
If the above conditions are met, i.e. the vocation flows from one’s ‘being’ and the
workplace supports and nurtures this vocation and welcomes its expression at ever higher
and higher levels, then the rest will fall in place on its own as far as achieving ‘self-
actualization’ is concerned. The only pitfall that needs to be avoided in that case is losing
touch with real life, which can be prevented by understanding some useful cognitive
frameworks explained below.

The self – object diagram:

Quality of attention
Self Object
Causes quality of
experience

H H
H H H
U
U H
H U
H

Mind as a bucket which accumulates happiness as H and unhappiness as U

As can be seen from the diagram above, when the self contacts a pleasurable object or
experience then it is the quality of the self’s attention to the experience which ensures
happiness or lack of it from this experience. If a person does not pay attention to this
experience at all or starts to take these things for granted, then no happiness accrues to
him. That is one of the main reasons why it is possible for even a very rich and successful
individual on the material plane to have a listless and unhappy life despite having a lavish
lifestyle. There are other reasons of course, but this too is an important one of them.
Always remember that there is nothing intrinsically with in the object that can make you
happy unless you pay attention to the object while using or consuming it. So, if you are
taking a cup of coffee and your mind is lost in some other thought then you may not
enjoy your coffee as much as you would if you had paid attention to it while drinking it.
This habit of paying attention to each and every pleasurable activity can go a very long
way in helping us to enjoy our material prosperity thereby adding to our overall
happiness and gratitude levels. At times, we need to pay gratitude as well to our good
fortunes, which we have quite justly earned through our talent and hard work. In
happiness literature, gratitude for all the good things that life has given to us and keeps
giving to us all the time, has been described as one of the most powerful if not the most
powerful attitudes to have, if one wishes to have a happy and fulfilling life. It is better to
be happy than to be unhappy.

As long as one agrees with this assumption, some further things can be understood. For
example, one can think of one’s ‘self’ as a bucket which can be filled with ‘happy’ or
‘unhappy’ experiences. More the bucket is filled with H (which can be used to denote
happiness) the bigger it becomes. For example, when one feels love for someone and
wishes to embrace him, he quite naturally and spontaneously opens his arms and enfolds
the ‘other’ in a tight heart-to-heart embrace. It is as if two ‘selves’ have become one. The
‘self’ quite literally expands with happiness. Just the opposite happens if this bucket is
filled with U (unhappiness). The ‘self’ shrinks in this case. For example, imagine yourself
walking down the corridor and suddenly you see a member of the faculty who is known
for his temper and strictness. You may instinctively shrink a little bit, bow your head a
little bit and then wish him in as polite and nice a tone as you can muster. You may do
this even if your first instinct was to run away. It is a common experience that when one
is experiencing a strong negative emotion like fear for example, one tends to crouch or
shrink, to hide, to hold on to something for support etc. etc. In contrast, an expanded and
happier ‘self’ is better equipped to face the challenges of life as its intrinsic motivation is
high most of the times which is an important factor of performance as we have seen from
the MAC framework.

Some people have a tendency to focus on every thing that goes wrong in one’s day-to-
day life no matter how small that wrong is while ignoring everything that is right or good.
This causes them to accumulate ‘Us’ all the time and literally wasting the opportunities to
collect ‘Hs’. This causes them to develop a bad mood most of the time and over a period
of time being unhappy becomes a personality trait, which is so hard to rectify. This
causes them to lose their internal motivation and sense of joy thereby affecting their work
performance (MAC framework) as well making their life drudgery. Just the reverse
happens to habitual optimists. They tend to focus upon the good things of life and hence
are in good mood most of the time. Over time these good moods become a personality
trait. If someone has been making this particular mistake, he can rectify it by starting to
pay attention to the good things as well which life shows up in his life in order to start
collecting ‘H’s. Soon, his bucket too would start to fill with ‘H’s and start to expand.
Another thing is that as ‘H’s start to increase in proportion, ‘U’s find it hard to remain in
the bucket. Both ‘H’ and ‘U’ are in conflict to take over your cognitive space. Which of
the two would win depends upon your support. Since, it is better to have the bucket of
your ‘self’ filled with ‘H’s as explained above, you may very well choose in its favour.
But of course the choice is yours.

So, to sum up, one needs to be constantly aware of what is happening in one’s life on a
moment-to-moment basis. This helps one to collect ‘H’s from pleasurable experiences
and to avoid ‘U’s as much as possible. An awareness of this fact may help one to sort out
many of one’s bad habits, which generate unpleasantness. For example, procrastination
which repeatedly causes one to experience the pressure of meeting deadlines, or
unpunctuality which may cause negative experiences at the workplace, eating junk food,
especially if one has a sensitive stomach or values good health and so on. Another benefit
of paying attention to the various things that are going on in one’s life on a moment-to-
moment basis is that one can learn from all these experiences. As we learn more and
more from each of our life experiences many of which are currently left unutilized
because of lack of awareness or close attention not being paid to them; we start to rapidly
gain in maturity and wisdom. In fact, an acute observer of life is likely to have a higher
IQ as well as EQ. IQ is the ratio of one’s mental age to biological age. The assumption
behind this relation is that as one grows older one learns from life and hence one’s mental
age increases. But increase in mental age alone in absolute terms is not going to increase
one’s IQ or intelligence level because one’s biological age is also increasing all the time.
To protect one’s IQ and to increase it constantly one needs to increase one’s mental age
faster than the rate of increase in biological age. This can happen only if one learns from
as many life experiences as possible. Constant efforts to increase one’s wisdom and
knowledge by reading good books, watching and learning from great people, paying
close attention to one’s life experiences, doing one’s work with a lot of interest etc. are
definitely going to help. These things quite obviously increase one’s emotional maturity
and hence EQ also would increase. So, paying close attention to one’s life brings rewards
in terms of increased happiness, internal motivation as well as intelligence and emotional
maturity. The enhanced levels of these key psychological and cognitive resources would
definitely have a positive impact upon one’s career as well as personal life. But it
demands constant practice.

Cognitive Complexity and its relationship with Lifestyle demand and supply:

Body and heart, i.e. the physiological needs and ability to feel are biologically embedded
so deep within the cellular memory of the individual that it is not possible to think of a
normal human being without these two levels of existence. The mind (thinking) part is
also always present but its level of complexity can vary from a completely illiterate tribal
with very undeveloped cognitive tools to the most highly educated modern man with a
tremendous amount of cognitive complexity. The greater the level of education and
interaction with different cultures around the world that one has, the greater is the level of
cognitive complexity. The differences in the levels of cognitive complexity can be so
huge that it may lead to two completely different worlds two people at the opposite ends
of the spectrum. To a tribal, the world may appear so uncertain and unpredictable as to
evoke fear, reverence and awe. But, to a modern educated man, a lot of these forces are
under control with the aid of science.

It is at the level of cognition that human beings differ the most from one another. There
are differences in the emotional capabilities of a more refined man as compared to a less
refined man, but the emotional differences between them are not as much in terms of
types and range, as they are in terms of cognitions. An accountant and a doctor would
look at the same company in completely different ways. The cognitive differences
between people are also sources of lack of understanding of one another’s viewpoints.
Most of the conflicts starting from the level of small groups to nations and religions are
due to cognitive differences or differing worldviews. As a person becomes more complex
cognitively, even his feelings become more differentiated and finer as more differentiated
cognitions also produce more differentiated (in terms of variety and range) feelings. A
trained student of fine arts would definitely be able to feel much more complex emotions
in the presence of aesthetically exquisite works of art than a layman. It can be observed
that people who are cognitively more refined are able to appreciate art, music, literature,
and even natural phenomena much better than less refined ones. The same phenomenon
may evoke immortal poetry from a cognitively complex person, who also has a talent for
poetry, while a less complex person who has an innate talent for poetry but could not
develop it because of lack of education, may not be able to do so.

At the level of the ‘heart’, it is much more easy to become happy; while, at the level of
the ‘mind’, it is much more difficult and needs a very high degree of cognitive
complexity engaging with a task at a very high level of sophistication. This phenomenon
has been very well explained by the famous psychologist Mihalyi Csiskzsentmihalyi who
terms such experiences as ‘flow’ experiences.
Task Complexity

o w
fl
of
o n
gi
Re

Task Competence

As can be seen from the diagram above, the task complexity is on the y-axis while skill in
===performing the task (a proxy for cognitive complexity in this case) is on the x-axis.
The channel of flow is the region produced when a very highly skilled person is engaged
in a task, which is difficult and complex enough to engage his complete attention. The
person gets completely immersed in the task that he loves to do as well is very good at. In
such cases the work becomes a joy and hours can pass in a state of bliss.
Csiskzsentmihalyi has called such experiences where a person forgets his ‘self’ while
being engaged in a task as ‘flow’ experiences. So, to be happy at the cognitive level, a
person has to not only be very skilled at some vocation but also has to find opportunities
to express his skill. This insight again emphasizes the importance of finding a work
which allows one to express one’s ‘being’ (talents).

The cognitive dimension has other sub-dimensions, the satisfaction or otherwise of which
may produce either happiness or frustration. For example, the need for achievement as
reflected in the career and other material goals of a person. The moment we talk of
happiness or satisfaction derived from the cognitive dimension, feelings come into the
picture. For a cognitively simple person, the need for achievement may be very simple
and very easily satisfied. For example, a simple, uneducated farmer with a small
landholding may be very easily satisfied if he is able to produce enough to feed his family
for the year and attain some surplus to provide for the other needs of the family. But, for
a cognitively complex farmer, he may like to maximize his economic return per unit of
land and other resources as compared to what others have achieved in his locality or as
compared to other parts of the country from the same crops. If he is not able to achieve
the benchmark productivity, he may not be satisfied even if the output in absolute terms
is enough to enjoy a much better quality of life as compared to the first farmer. Similar
logic could apply to small time little educated petty shopkeepers and highly educated
owners of modern departmental stores and retail chains or MBAs from smaller less
known institutes and those from IIMs, XLRI etc. Normally, more cognitively complex a
person is, greater and stronger is his need for achievement and higher his own inner
benchmarks of performance. Another factor is the constant competitive and social
pressure exerted by the peer group to which a person belongs. An IIM graduate would
always compare himself with other IIM graduates to see how he is doing in life, no
matter what his material and lifestyle achievements are in absolute terms. Even if he has
done ten times better than as compared to a MBA from a small institute, he would not be
happy unless he has done better than an average IIM graduate. Cognitive complexity
makes a person conscious of his position in society, leads to higher aspirations, better
quality of life as well as greater capability of dealing with the environment and holding
more difficult and differentiated jobs. Such people make better and more well informed
decisions. The modern institutional structures like the free market economy, democracy,
institutions for higher learning etc. are designed to reward those who are more complex
cognitively. But on the flip side, greater cognitive complexity may lead one to an
alienation from the basic ground of life where the ‘self’ meets real life as can be seen
from the frameworks discussed below. These things are being explained with a view to
produce greater awareness among the students of these cognitive phenomena so that they
can take well-informed decisions in their own careers as well as personal lives.
Life Style Supply

Technological development
Degree of ‘luck’ generates a rotatory force on this
curve upwards

t Degree of ‘discontent’ or ‘frustration’

rfec
e
i sp
ket More complex
mar man
If
Less complex
man

Life Style demand

As a person’s cognitive complexity increases he becomes a member of more and more

differentiated and elitist peer groups which have their own norms of evaluating lifestyle
standards which are determined by a complex interplay of lifestyle comparisons among
one another and ever increasing aspirations created by both better and more differentiated
products due to technical and creative advancements and aggressive advertising
campaigns to sell better and higher lifestyles. This shifts the lifestyle demand towards the
right or in simple terms as a person’s cognitive complexity increases he demands a better
quality lifestyle. The corresponding lifestyle supply which would meet this level of
lifestyle demand or need, and which a perfect lifestyle market would be able to supply, is
available at a much higher economic price than what would be required for a simple
satisfaction of the most basic lifestyle needs of a cognitively simple man (say a simple
farmer or a clerk with a government department). So, to sustain this highly differentiated
and elevated lifestyle one constantly needs to earn a very high level of income. This
creates the pressure to meet the expectations of the highly differentiated (complex,
demanding and requiring a very high level of skill) job that one does. Since a highly
differentiated job alone can fetch the rewards which are enough to sustain the
corresponding lifestyle demand, this job necessarily requires a high degree of skill as well
as willingness and ability to work hard for a significant part of one’s life. With greater
and better education facilities available to more and more people, there is an ever-
increasing supply of people who can hold a particular job, no matter how differentiated it
is. On top of that the rates of technological and knowledge obsolescence are at an all time
high due to frenetic technological and knowledge enhancements in virtually all the
professional fields. These factors force a person holding a highly differentiated high
lifestyle-fetching job to be constantly on his toes to keep upgrading his skills, and to keep
performing at very high levels to protect his job as well as to flourish in it. A very subtle
problem associated with this is that one’s self-esteem gets tied to the level of the job
differentiation as well as the lifestyle level enjoyed and aspired for. This tendency is
reinforced because of favorable social evaluations in favor of more differentiated jobs
and lifestyles. Greater the level of differentiation of the job one does and the lifestyle one
enjoys, greater is the social status enjoyed by an individual in modern society.

So, the threat of a slip down the lifestyle curve threatens the self-esteem need of a
professional constantly. This prevents a person occupying very high positions too from
being relaxed enough to be able to truly enjoy the perks of his position. Secondly, this
constant pressure to perform is easier when one is younger and healthier. It becomes
difficult to sustain that kind of an extremely hard working work life as one advances in
age and one’s vitality starts to decrease. The greater the pressures associated with a job,
faster is the burnout rate and hence in the medium to long run health may become a
casualty of the constant pressure of performance in a highly differentiated job. Thirdly, as
‘symbolic values’ are craved more in this sort of a lifestyle (extremely differentiated),
‘real values’ start to languish. These ‘real values’ may be relationships with spouse,
children, friends and colleagues; physical and mental health; hobbies; restful spaces
which are needed by everyone to just let oneself be and appreciate and enjoy life that one
is living. These spaces are also needed to rejuvenate oneself and to reflect upon all that
one has achieved and gone through in one’s life and to reflect upon and work through the
various good and bad experiences that one has gained in one’s life. Without these
periodical spaces, a person may not be able to grow in wisdom as much as someone else
of an equal intelligence who gets such spaces for contemplation and reflection over one’s
life experiences. Life is not only about running and pulling and pushing constantly; it is
also about relaxing, appreciating, reflecting and contemplating periodically as one goes
along. This is true if one wishes to have a rich life, which is enjoyable as well as
meaningful. These small things which one may start to take for granted owing to the
pressures felt in these highly differentiated and competitive jobs may prevent a person
from enjoying his life truly and fully. The emotional and cognitive muscles, which are
needed to enjoy and appreciate ‘true value’, may wither due to disuse and cause a person
to lose touch with ‘life’ itself despite such a lavish lifestyle.

Typically, people get locked at a particular lifestyle level because of the associated self-
esteem need accruing from the peer group and relevant others. This creates the pressure
to conform to social and peer group norms unless one is able to see the entire set up of
this competitive game as explained above and chooses to be aware of this trap to avoid its
pitfalls.

In the lifestyle demand and supply diagram, people who have achieved a lifestyle level
which is above what is justified by their cognitive complexity level, instead of feeling a
sense of ‘gratitude’ for their good fortune, adjust their ‘lifestyle demand’ upward to
match the lifestyle level gained by luck thus closing the ‘degree of luck’ gap. So, instead
of happiness at the stroke of luck, greater pressure to protect one’s turf results. This game
of ever increasing lifestyle needs and cognitive complexity to fulfill those needs ensures
that one’s material acquisitions never make one happy on an enduring basis.

Besides, the ever increasing output of consumer goods and services can only happen by
ever greater exploitation of the planet’s resources thus endangering its habitat and
ecology as can be seen today. If we do not make a course correction, we may soon pay
for it collectively in a manner, which is too frightening to imagine.

Another thing, which comes out of the lifestyle demand and supply curve, is that all the
players who get trapped in this game disconnect the ‘intrinsic and instrumental needs’
from the ‘symbolic need’. This whole game is played on the foundation of the constantly
increasing demand for the ‘symbolic value’ that products carry. The entire game of ever-
differentiated brands is played on this basis. But ultimately all of this gets reduced to the
‘self esteem’ that people derive from these differentiated products which fuels this spiral
of ever increasing demand for ‘symbolic value’.

So, if a person is able to understand this game completely two things will happen. He can
keep playing this game and perhaps play better because he understands the game better
and hence enjoy it more. Secondly, he gets the freedom from the constant pressure that he
used to feel to attain a lifestyle standard imposed by the peer group. The peer group and
social norms of determining success by comparison of lifestyles and acquisitions can no
longer have a hold on him. So, he plays this game as a relatively liberated player and
hence enjoys the game as well as life much more than earlier. He gets back in touch with
his real felt needs and starts to really appreciate and enjoy his successes and
achievements in real terms. The cognitive space now freed as a result can be devoted to
pursuing activities which are closer to his real ‘being’ thus giving real happiness by
attaining the state of ‘flow’ more often than what is possible in the high pressure modern
life otherwise which is trapped in the game just described. A clever man knows how
much to play this game and then when to step into the world of his true ‘being’. Also
greater enjoyment and skill accrues to a person while playing this game if he understands
the game better.

Differentiation: Differentiation increases constantly because of continuous

advancements in technologies as well as by way of innovations within the same product
segments catering ultimately to the same underlying intrinsic and instrumental needs. It is
the ‘symbolic value’ which signals the ‘I have arrived’ message to relevant others and
which is embedded in the differentiated products as interpreted by the individual, which
creates the ever increasing urge to aspire for more and more differentiated products. If it
were not for this signaling function, which the differentiated products perform, there
would not be so much demand for them. This is well understood by the companies selling
these differentiated products. As the demand gets saturated, they come up with more
differentiated products either with the help of technological improvements in existing
products or by way of package innovations. The corporates engage in this game because
they are headed by management teams that ultimately are composed of the same modern
men that we have been discussing about, who have a chronic need to prove themselves
better than their rivals and contemporaries. The stock and financial markets fuel this
behaviour by imposing their expectations of constantly better performance through the
reward mechanism of higher stock prices and lower interest rates for the most successful
corporates at this game.

The key difference between a cognitively simple and complex man is the greater demand
for various goods and services that a cognitively complex man has as well as the level of
differentiation is needed by him even in those goods and services that overlap with a
cognitively simple man. For a cognitively complex man, a simple meeting of the felt
needs is not enough. He also needs differentiation in order to meet his elitist lifestyle
demands.

Why do ‘differentiated needs’ arise?

They arise because modern man derives his sense of self from external objects. Thus only
way to gain an acceptable level of self-esteem is possible by acquisition of more and
more highly differentiated objects. But the fickle market forces and technological
advancements keep shifting the levels of possible as well as expected differentiation ever
forward; higher and higher. This creates a constant pressure to achieve and consume
more and more of higher and higher quality highly differentiated products. The ‘more’
soon becomes ‘less’ because of constant external comparison with what the peer group
has achieved. But if the level of acquisition or quality of life achieved at an absolute level
is way above what is actually needed in terms of fulfilling the intrinsic and instrumental
needs, then there is no need for an aware person to participate in this rat race for more
and more acquisitions. He can thereafter concentrate on fulfilling his ‘being’ needs,
which will fetch him, inner satisfaction and enrich his cognitive and emotional life.

The Emotion Processing Mechanism

For most people the manner in which negative emotions like anger, jealousy etc. is
processed is shown below:
 Normal Evolved
Emotion is generated Emotion is generated

Attention is directed to the emotion Attention is directed to the emotion

Action is taken Recognition of the emotion

Recognition of emotion takes place Complete understanding of the emotion

Acceptance of the emotion

Necessary action is taken

First, a person experiences a negative emotion and as he becomes aware of it, he instantly
or rather quite quickly expresses that emotion in the form of some action. It could be
shouting at the person who has caused the negative emotion, or shrugging one’s
shoulders, or making a bad face, or hitting etc. The true recognition of the emotion (that I
again became angry etc.) happens after the action has been taken. Then the repentance
etc. may come. But the next time, again a similar stimulus would produce a similar
response. This pattern keeps repeating itself and each time one goes through that pattern,
the particular negative emotion, which is characteristic of a person, keeps getting
strengthened till it becomes a deeply embedded personality trait. Another thing is that the
action taken in a negative frame of mind (be it anger, jealousy, revenge or whatever) is
likely to be sub-optimum, and sometimes even damaging. This may exacerbate the
situation, which actually produced the emotion in the first place, thus pushing the ‘self’
deeper into that particular emotion. Even other related emotions may start to arise as the
situation worsens further. Besides, it would put the person on whom the ‘self’ has taken
out its anger also in a negative mood, which in turn would be passed on to other people
thus spoiling the environment in which the ‘self’ lives or works. It can happen both at
home as well as the workplace.

An emotionally evolved or mature person may not react to a negative emotion in this
way. A person who is almost in complete control of his emotions may respond to his
negative emotions in the following way:

In this case, as the negative emotion is generated, one pays conscious attention to it in
order to become consciously aware of the emotion. One consciously recognizes the
emotion, tries to understand the circumstances (external as well as internal) that have
caused the emotion as completely as possible, and then accepts it as well as he can. As he
does this, the intensity of the emotion reduces and with practice one may create a space
between the ‘negative emotion’ and his response. The action is taken after going through
the above steps. As a result of this, their actions would be more likely to be rational, well
thought out and balanced. This may even enable him to solve the problem or rectify the
circumstance that created the negative emotion in the first place. This process if
employed repeatedly also enables a person to become acutely aware of one’s
characteristic negative emotions and the corresponding conditioned or usual responses to
them. It also enables him to become aware of the typical circumstances or triggers that
produce the different characteristic negative emotions of his and if he really starts to
master this technique, he may even learn the psychological causes of that emotion which
may be embedded deep in his own psyche. In time and with relentless practice, the
typical negative emotions become weaker and weaker till they are one day with in
manageable limits. Going through this evolved process of handling negative emotions
again and again helps the ‘self’ to grow emotionally as well as cognitively. A person who
has gained emotional mastery would not lose control in terms of blatantly ‘reactive’
behaviour as easily as other people. Even if he experiences intense negative emotions
sometimes, they would not be able to sweep his intellect away with their sheer force. He
would be able to hold his own even in the most turbulent emotional environment. This
may turn out to be an invaluable trait for an organizational or group leader because such a
leader would not lose his objectivity and sense of clarity even under extreme situations.
Becoming an effective leader of groups:

If we do a broad survey of humanistic leadership literature which includes leadership

styles such as transformational leadership style, level 5 leadership, authentic leadership,
servant leadership and so on, we would see that the different attributes of such leaders
can be categorized under the following four categories: technical excellence, wisdom,
strength, and genuine care & concern for people.

Technical Excellence: It includes mainly the domain expertise of a team leader which
enables him/her to function as the leader of the group. Without this basic ability one
would never be able to gain the respect and acceptance of the team members. Along with
domain expertise, it also includes the basic ability to control and lead a group. This
ability may consist of characteristics such as good communication ability, high self
confidence & assertiveness, ability to assign and control work, past experience as a team
leader etc.

Wisdom: Wisdom is something which is easy to feel or sense when one sees it operating
in action, but difficult to define formally. It is the ability to make the correct decision in
the most complex situations under severe constraints of time and resources. It has a lot to
do with good judgement which comes from good quality and extensive training,
experience, the confidence of having handled hundreds of tricky situations and so on and
so forth. It is something beyond the purely logical decision making ability. It is not
intuition too. It is a blend of learning, experience, logic, common sense, foresight,
confidence, and a very well developed intuition (which develops by virtue of having
handled a vast number of problems and situations in the past). It is one of the most
important qualities which enables a highly qualified and competent subordinate to respect
in his/her superior. There is no short cut to attaining wisdom. Some of the most well
known methods of gaining wisdom are as follows: going through one’s life in a high state
of alertness processing each and every one of one’s experiences drawing lessons from
them, observing others and interacting with them with a view to learning from their
experiences, learning constantly from each and every opportunity, exploring different
dimensions of one’s personal and professional life, willingness to experiment & innovate,
exposing oneself to reasonable risks from time to time, reading good quality books and
interacting extensively with good quality professionals, and so on.

Strength: Strength refers to the physical fitness as well as the psychological strength of a
person without which one cannot hope to succeed as a good leader. One needs to be
physically healthy in order to meet the demands for long hours from a modern day
professional without succumbing to any illness. One also needs to be resilient and
optimistic in order to overcome the shocks of failures and setbacks which a modern day
professional is invariably going to face in his life from time to time. Strength is the never
say die spirit which a leader should have in the face of any crisis which allows him to
motivate the employees and sustain their morale. In times of adversity, team members
invariably look to the leader for guidance and support. The leader needs all of his
technical expertise and wisdom to be able to guide the team in times of crisis. But, he
also needs a indomitable spirit and optimism to keep going in the face of huge odds thus
inspiring his team members to not give up and carry on the fight. It is one of the most
important qualities that a leader needs.

Genuine care and concern for people: A leader is responsible for the well being and
success of the group that he leads. Thus, unless he has genuine love and care for his
people, he would not be able to make the sacrifices that he may need to make for the sake
of his people in times of crisis. Unless he shows a certain level of selflessness in listening
to the problems of his people and helping them, he would never be able to gain their
affection and trust. Without these two things, chances of his succeeding, especially
during tough times become doubtful. It is only when team members like and respect their
leader that they go that extra mile for his sake which distinguishes a champion team from
average ones.

Any manager-leader exhibiting the above four qualities in ample measure would most
definitely succeed in his/her career as a management professional in an environment
where it is possible to succeed in the first place.
Brief notes on topics discussed after the Mid Term

The Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid: The CSR pyramid has four levels on it,
viz., economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. These levels are positioned on the CSR
pyramid in the form of a hierarchy where the economic level is the lowest and
philanthropic level is the highest.

The economic level on the pyramid corresponds to the normally accepted purpose for the
creation and existence of business organizations viz. to generate profits and thus to
maximize the returns of the owners of the organization. A company which can be placed
primarily on this level of the pyramid is motivated primarily by the profit motive. From
this perspective, the stockholders are the most important stakeholders of a company.
Other stakeholders like the customers, employees, suppliers, members of the community
etc. are not given their due importance. The criteria used by the organization to make
decisions are dominated only by one question, whether the decision about to be taken is
going to enhance profits or not? Traditional wisdom in the field of business management,
especially looked at from the financial management perspective, has tended to favour this
perspective of a business organization. An organization which is dominated by this
traditional view may fail to move to higher levels on the CSR pyramid.

The legal level is the next level on the CSR pyramid. A company which has managed to
reach this level of the pyramid makes it an explicit and formal part of their strategy to
follow and respect the laws, rules and regulations of the country where they operate their
business. This is the bare minimum that is expected of all business organizations beyond
a certain size in most parts of the world. Such an organization would formally declare
their intention to obey the law and even train and educate their employees about the
relevant laws. Following this strategy helps the organization to keep away from trouble
on account of legal violations on the part of its employees. But, the limitation associated
with remaining stuck at this level on the pyramid is that laws are made only with respect
to aspects about which there is knowledge in the public domain and also sufficient will
on the part of the legislatures or governments to legislate with respect to those aspects.
So, a company may keep on doing something which is harmful for any of its stakeholders
just because there is no law preventing the company from engaging in such behaviour.

For example, we saw in the Johns Manville case, the company kept on manufacturing and
selling asbestos products for decades without giving any health warning to its customers
or employees just because there was no legal necessity for the company to do so. This
happened even though the company was aware of the scientifically proven link between
the prolonged use of asbestos products and deadly diseases such as lung cancer and
asbestosis. Ultimately, this information became public and the company had to face
hundreds of lawsuits by its own employees and customers claiming compensation for the
damage caused to their health because of company’s willful negligence. In this case, the
company’s behaviour can be justified legally by arguing that the company has not
violated any of the laws of the nation in which it was doing business. It is up to the
government to legislate with respect to health hazards of different products sold in the
market. But, if we look deeper, we will see that it is not possible for any government to
enact laws for each and every possible harmful behaviour of all the companies in all the
industries. Laws, rules and regulations are there to facilitate business as much as possible.
They are no substitutes for well intentioned and bonafide behaviour. No company in
modern society can be allowed to willfully produce and market products which are
directly harmful to society without giving prior and appropriate warnings to the
concerned stakeholders.

The same behaviour of Johns Manville management looks improper when we go to the
next level on the CSR pyramid, viz., the ethical level. Even though the company did
nothing illegal, what it did was highly unethical. The very fact that the courts settled
thousands of lawsuits brought against the company in favour of the litigants compelling it
to lose hundreds of millions of dollars and file for bankruptcy establishes the relevance of
the ethical level of the CSR pyramid to modern business.
A company which operates at the ethical level of the CSR pyramid has a well defined
code of ethics and its expectations of ethical behaviour are made well known to all its
employees and associates. There are orientation and training programmes to sensitise the
employees towards the ethical issues and to help them resolve typical ethical dilemmas.
The company endeavours to adhere not only to the law of the land but also the expected
social standards of professional and ethical behaviour. The company behaves as a
responsible citizen of the society helping to enhance and enrich the moral and
professional standards by which the society governs itself.

The philanthropic level is the highest level in the CSR pyramid to which very few
companies aspire to or manage to reach. At this level, the company is not only delivering
upon its core business in an exemplary manner adhering to all the rules, laws and ethical
norms, but also actively promoting the well being of the community even though it is not
expected by the society from a business organization. For example, the WIPRO’s
Applying Thought in Schools initiative, which aims at improving the quality of education
in schools in India. It is the company’s effort to help in bringing about a societal change
and expand opportunities for even the most underprivileged sections of the society. Now,
let us forget for a moment the effectiveness or otherwise of this initiative. But the very
fact that a company like WIPRO, whose normally understood motive should be to
maximize its profits for its shareholders has started an initiative like this committing
manpower and financial resources to it puts the company on the philanthropic level of the
CSR pyramid. This is so because there is no expectation by the society for the company
to do so and there is no direct linkage between this initiative and its core businesses.
Many other companies like Tatas, ITC, Mindtree Consulting, IBM etc. are engaged in a
number of such philanthropic projects. We may argue that many of them are doing it for
the mileage that they get out of such projects and to enhance their brand equity. It may or
may not be so. But the point remains that they are doing it and that puts such activities on
the philanthropic level of the CSR pyramid. Companies which manage to reach this level
and sustain it on a long term basis are normally respected enormously by all the primary,
secondary and tertiary stakeholders to business enabling them to reap a number of
tangible and intangible benefits from this enhanced reputation, for example, just look at
the kind of reputation the Tatas enjoy in India.

A company which operates from a higher level of the CSR pyramid takes care of all the
lower levels in the pyramid naturally. So, for example, a company operating at the ethical
level of the pyramid would be found to be diligently adhering to the laws and rules of the
country where it does business.

The Value Conflict Resolution Framework:

This is a four level framework with two stages in each of the four levels. These levels are
(1)Self; (2) Group/Team; (3) Corporate; and (4) Community. Each of these four levels
has two stages, a preservation stage and a flourishing stage. So we have, the following
levels and stages in this framework:

1.a. Self Preservation

1.b.Self Flourishing
 2.a.Group/Team Preservation
2.b.Group/Team Flourishing
3.a.Corporate Preservation
3.b.Corporate Flourishing
4.a.Community Preservation
4.b.Community Flourishing

Let us now try to understand the different levels and stages in this framework and the
inter-linkages between them.

Flouris
hing
and
Preserv
ation

Self
Self Preservation: Any individual at the beginning of his career is primarily interested
in self-survival. A MBA just graduating from a B-school wants to prove himself on his
job in order to establish himself as a management professional with good potential. This
is necessary to gain a foothold in the industry. In the initial few years of his career, he is
basically in the self-preservation mode, learning valuable new skills, gaining precious
experience, making useful contacts and gaining the confidence and wherewithal
necessary to grow to the next stage in his professional journey.

Self Flourishing: After he has proved his worth in the initial few years and logged the
necessary experience, he is ready for the next stage of his career viz. self flourishing. This
is the phase where a given professional grows very rapidly through the middle levels of
the corporate hierarchy gaining ever increasing remuneration, privileges and perks. If all
goes well, this phase will put him on the way to senior management positions in good
organizations. This is the phase where the more competent professionals are able to
differentiate themselves from the not so competent ones. But anyone who has gone
through the self preservation mode successfully starts to flourish in this stage and encash
his success. The basic mindset of most professionals in this phase of their career shifts
from survival or preservation to flourishing.

Group/Team
Group/Team Preservation & Flourishing: Most business organizations today get a
large part of their work done by groups. When a group is formed, initially, it requires
time for its members to know one another and to get adjusted to each another’s styles and
temperaments. The productivity of the group is lower in its initial phase. The group
leader needs to gain the psychological acceptance of all the members and to establish his
authority over the group. He also needs to establish the norms and procedures for the
functioning of the group, allot work to all the members, clarify expectations, resolve
conflicts and ambiguities if any, and extend an extra support to all the members. But,
once the group dynamics have stabilized and members have adjusted with one another,
the group starts to flourish and both productivity and group morale tend to improve. If
groups can cope with the initial preservation phase successfully, they tend to flourish
later on. But, if something happens in the organization which affects the resources or
support enjoyed by the group adversely, or threatens the interests of the group, the group
again resorts to the survival mode. It is the group leader’s job to keep the group morale
high under all circumstances.
Corporate/Organization
Corporate Preservation & Flourishing: A company/business may operate either on the
survival or the flourishing mode. When the company faces enormous threats from
competition, technological changes, shifting customer preferences, adverse economic or
political change, etc., it tends to shift to the survival mode to preserve its market share.
But when everything is going well and there is ample demand for its products & services,
it tends to flourish maximizing its turnover and profits. A flourishing company may be
compelled to switch back to the survival mode when the circumstances surrounding the
business become adverse.

Community
Community Preservation/Flourishing: Modern companies have become so huge that
their operations have a significant impact upon the lives of the general members of the
community apart from its primary stakeholders like the customers and suppliers. Hence
community preservation & flourishing as a result of a business organization’s activities
become a relevant topic to discuss in a course on Business Ethics. We saw a number of
cases in this course where actions of business organizations had a significant upon the
safety and well being of the community. For example, the Johns Manville case, Union
Carbide case, Ford Pinto Fires case and so on. It is a well accepted principle that a
company should not harm the interests of the community while doing its business. If it
does, it becomes vulnerable to action by powerful stakeholders protecting the interests of
the community such as the environmental and human rights lobbies, public interest
litigants, various NGOs, as well as the government organizations meant to protect the
interests of the public. It also loses its face which may have a direct bearing on its future
survival and profitability.

The above framework can be used mainly in three ways. Let us have a look at each one
of those one by one. First of all, it helps us to diagnose the level/s at which something
went wrong while analyzing a Business Ethics case. For example, let us look at the Auto
Center Scandal case in the Sears, Roebuck, and Co. which we discussed in the class and
see how this framework can help us to analyze this case.
We know that in order to meet the growing competition in the automobile repair
business, Sears, Roebuck & Co. management introduced certain important strategic
changes in the method employed to compensate employees in this particular division.
Auto mechanics had traditionally been paid wages on hourly basis and were expected to
meet production quotas. In 1991, the compensation plan was changed to include a
commission component. Mechanics were now paid a base salary plus a fixed dollar
amount for meeting hourly production quotas. Auto service advisors (the counter people
who take orders, consult with mechanics, and advise customers) had traditionally been
paid a salary. In order o increase sales, however, commissions and product-specific sales
quotas were introduced for them as well. For example, a service advisor might be given
the goal of selling a certain number of front-end alignments or brake repairs during each
shift. Very quickly, this policy change caused a number of problems for the company. In
June 1992, the California Department of Consumer Affairs accused Sears, Roebuck and
Co. of violating the state’s Auto Repair Act and sought to revoke the licenses of all Sears
auto centers in California. Other states quickly followed suit. The main charges brought
against the company were that its auto center employees had been systematically
misleading customers and charging them for unnecessary repairs. The California
investigation attributed the problems to Sears Auto Centers’ new compensation system.
So what went wrong in this case? Let us look at some of the key parts of the letter that
Chuck Fabbri, a Sears mechanic from California, wrote about Sears’ new wage policy to
US Senator Richard Bryan in the summer of 1992.

“It is my understanding that Sears is attempting to convince your committee that all
inspections in their auto centers are now performed by employees who are paid hourly
and not on commission. This is not the case. The truth is that the majority employees
performing inspections are still on commission ..

The Service Advisors .. sell the repair work to the customer. … The repairs that they sell
are not only based on their inspections, but to a large degree based on the
recommendations of the mechanics who are on commission….
On January 1, 1991 the mechanics, installers and the changers had their hourly wages cut
to what Sears termed a fixed dollar amount, or FDA per hour which varied according to
the classification. At present the mechanic’s FDA is $3.25 which, based on current Sears
minimum production quotas, is 17% of my earnings. What this means is that for every
hour of work, as defined by Sears, that I complete, I receive $3.25 plus my hourly base
pay. If I do two hours worth of work in one hour I receive an additional $3.25 therefore
increasing my earnings. The faster I get the work done the more money I make, and as
intended, Sears’ profits increase. It is therefore obvious that to increase his earnings, a
mechanic may cut corners on, or eliminate altogether, procedures required to complete
the repair correction. In addition to this since the mechanic often inspects or performs the
diagnosis, he has the ideal opportunity to oversell or recommend more repair work than is
needed. This would be especially tempting If this has been a slow week or day. In part,
greed may create this less than ethical situation, but high pressure to meet quotas by
Sears’ management also presents a significant contribution. I have recently been
threatened with termination if my production did not at least equal Sears’ minimum
quotas. I might add that prior to this new wage policy, management had only positive
response to my production, and my record proves this ….

There is no doubt in my mind that before their auto center employees were put on
commission, Sears enjoyed the trust of its customers. Today presents a different story.
The solution is obvious not only for Sears, but for the industry.”

The company was compelled to enter into a multimillion dollar settlement with the state
of California and 41 other states that had filed similar charges. The company was placed
on three year probation in California. It also settled a number of consumer class action
suits. In July 1992, the US Congress held hearings on fraud in auto repair industry.

Analysis: In this case, the company was facing severe competition from players like K-
Mart, Wal Mart etc. Hence, its revenues and profits were declining. So, it was forced on
to the Corporate Preservation stage of the framework. In order to flourish again (i.e. to
increase its revenues and profits) the company brought about this controversial change in
compensation policy. The new compensation policy compelled the mechanics and service
advisors to suggest repairs and part replacements which were not needed in order to meet
the minimum production quotas and to earn decent level of earnings. The fixed
component of the wages for an average mechanic became 17% if he met the minimum
production quotas, whereas earlier his wage was totally on hourly basis i.e. on a fixed rate
system. There were many production quotas for different types of repairs. Thus
employees who had perhaps been flourishing (i.e. were on the self flourishing stage)
previously were pushed to the self preservation stage where they had to resort to
unethical practices to survive in their jobs. If they wanted to flourish again, they had to
resort to unnecessary repairs, inflated bills and so on. Cutting corners in repair work to
save time would obviously affect the quality of repair also. This led to the customers
being cheated both in terms of the quality of repairs received on their vehicles as well as
the bills that they were required to pay. This led to important stakeholders in the
community such as the various state governments & the courts coming down harshly on
the company. This is apart from the customers losing faith in the company.

So, in this case there was tension between all the levels of the value conflict resolution
framework. The company’s management wanted to preserve and flourish the company
without caring for self preservation & flourishing of its employees, and ended up
alienating its customers as well as the community. So, we see from this case that it is
important for a company to align all the levels on this framework in order to flourish in
its business. It is ok if a company does not aim to help the community flourish by
resorting to philanthropic activities. But, it cannot take decisions that jeopardize
customers’ and community’s interests so blatantly. That may threaten the company’s own
survival as in this case and all the other major business ethics cases such as Enron, World
Com, Satyam etc.

Second way in which this framework can be used is to see if the people who have
reached the top management position have evolved in their decision making ability to
deserve such positions or not. When a management professional is promoted to head a
team or a group, he should have evolved in his decision making ability and psychological
maturity to deserve a leadership position. A leader needs to gain the respect and trust of
his team members. It cannot happen if as a team leader, a manager is stuck in the self
preservation/flourishing mode. He should be able to graduate to the team
preservation/flourishing mode by the time he is made a team leader. That is, he should
think about maximizing the team’s interests and ability to perform the tasks for which it
has been constituted rather than maximizing his personal self interest. In fact, a true team
leader is willing to even sacrifice his own interests for the team’s sake. Only such an
attitude from a leader can motivate his team. Otherwise he would tend to misuse group
resources for his personal gain and thus lose the trust and respect of his team members.

Similarly, when a person reaches senior management position, he should be willing to

subordinate his personal interests and group (his friends’ and cronies’) interests and think
in terms of corporate preservation and flourishing. That means that a manager at the top
levels of the management has to think about the well being of the entire organization
without worrying too much about his own or his close friends’ and associates’ personal
interests, if he has to excel as an organizational leader. Taking proper care of the
company is not possible without taking care of the well being (preservation &
flourishing) of all the other levels of the framework. For example, one cannot afford to
harm the interests of the customers as happened in the Sears & Roebuck Auto Center
case. If one does, customers lose faith and the organization’s future is jeopardized. One
cannot afford to neglect or demotivate the employees because that would compromise the
ability of the company to serve its customers and other important stakeholders. One
cannot ignore the suppliers’ interests or the banker’s and financiers’ or the government’s
and the community’s interests. Neglecting, failing to align or harming the interests of
these important stakeholders will cause serious repercussions threatening the company’s
well being and survival as we saw in a number of ethics cases during this course. If a
manager fails to align his thought process in tune with what is required to maximize the
company’s well being by balancing the interests of all the important internal and external
stakeholders, and is still stuck in the self preservation/flourishing or group (friend circle)
preservation/flourishing mode, then his decisions may jeopardize the
preservation/flourishing of the company, as happened in the above case. We can contrast
the above case with how the Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol case was handled by it’s the
then CEO James Burke, keeping the interests of all the stakeholders aligned properly; or
how Lincoln Electric Company or SEMCO of Brazil have been able to produce
tremendously empowering, successful and ethical work cultures in their organizations.

Third way to use this framework is to assess oneself from time to time in terms of the
readiness that one has to take more responsible positions in the corporate hierarchy where
one’s decisions are going to affect so many other people’s lives and well being. Authority
brings responsibility. Higher up one goes in the corporate hierarchy, more the authority
one enjoys. But, the justification for more authority is the greater complexity and
importance of the tasks that one is required to perform. Also, as one goes higher one’s
decisions tend to affect many more people than earlier. So, greater authority cannot be
divorced from greater responsibility. When one is at the beginning of one’s career, one is
operating primarily on the self preservation/flourishing mode. One is responsible
primarily to oneself, one’s immediate superiors and other important stakeholders in one’s
personal life like one’s parents, spouse etc. One’s decisions do not affect too many
people. Hence one can afford to be motivated primarily by one’s and one’s immediate
family’s self interest. But, as one goes up the hierarchy, one’s authority, responsibility
and ability to affect other people increase exponentially. So, one can no longer afford to
be stuck in the self preservation/flourishing mode without causing damage to the group,
company or the community. One needs to graduate to the next level of a leader-manager
or a manager-leader. One needs to develop leadership skills which invariably imply
coming out of a narrow self interest motivated mindset to thinking in terms of the
interests of the larger entity (be it the group/team or organization or the community) that
one is leading and serving. A true leader is the greatest servant of the people that he is
serving. Leadership demands sacrifice when it is needed for the sake of the people or the
organization that one is leading. It needs an integrated person, as we discussed
throughout this course, to discharge leadership positions effectively and honourably. This
framework can be used to gauge how much one has evolved to thinking in terms of the
collective interest before aspiring to get the senior management positions which
invariably demand good leadership ability from an aspiring manager.