Nuggets of Leadership 2 - Lessons from Hanuman

I strongly believe Ramayana is not just a story but for us bharatiyas it is our ithihasa and our guide to create a fruitful life for oneself and others around us. It presents us with numerous templates and references for us to choose from and create personalized recipes that match our temperament and innate nature. If imbibed, it enables us to overcome any limitations that we have programmed our mind to believe and help us create a life that we have envisioned for ourselves and our people. As a short note, The definition of “our” varies from person to person, The bigger the circumference of this “our” circle, the greater the impact we can have in our lives.

In this post, I would like to reflect on the character arc of Hanuman. In Ramayana, I have always been fascinated by the qualities and character of Hanuman. He is wise and possesses profound intellect. His strength is unmatchable even by the best of devatas yet he is kind and benevolent to the weak. He does not hanker for power or position, even though he is born with all the necessary qualities to lead. His whole and sole focus was to serve his lord, for whom he was born to serve and continues to serve to this day. You may wonder all of this sounds great to read, but how is it still valid in today’s context?

He is relevant even in today’s context as an ideal team member with excellent character, skills and ability to tackle impossible problems. Don’t we all like to have a team member or a co-worker whose strength is his ability to go above and beyond what is necessary and expected of his role, in order to achieve the vision and objectives for the team? Why can’t we try to become one? I read a profound line somewhere “We all are team members and leaders at the same time. Based on the circle of operations, we are team member in one circle and a leader in a different circle”. To crystallize the idea, In a large organization, “A CEO is a leader inside the circle of organization but he is team member inside the circle of the board and shareholders. He needs to calibrate his character and skills based on the circle of operations.” This can be challenging when we do not have good references to look up to. The character of Hanuman precisely solves this problem by providing us with necessary lessons and qualities as our guiding light, In other words it serves us as our polestar to calibrate our direction when we are charting our path in stormy waters of the ocean called life. To drive home the message, let’s reflect on events from Ramayana involving Hanuman, that provide a first-person view into how these principles can be integrated and practiced in our daily life.

Event 1: Loyal Friend and Advisor to Sugreeva

When Sugreeva was banished from the kingdom by his brother and king Vali, Hanuman was among the few people who stood up and accompanied his friend on his journey. Hanuman was a respected citizen in the kingdom, there was no need for him to give up his stable, peaceful life and join Sugreeva in his hour of need, who at that point in time had nothing of his own. As a loyal friend and upright citizen he chose to follow what was right(Dharma) even though he knew the journey was fraught with unknown danger and great difficulties. He chose to join his friend in his hour of need and accompany him on his journey. His sole purpose in this endeavor was to guide Sugreeva in his hour of need and Sugreeva knew this and trusted him more than his own self, for he knew, Anything Hanuman has to say and offer, it will be in his best interest. This trust in Hanuman’s character and ability prompted Sugreeva to send him among others around him, to verify the identity of two princes and their purpose of their presence in the region near Pampa Sarovara. Based on the advice of Hanuman, Sugreeva formed a formal alliance with Rama to help each other solve their respective challenges. This alliance changed the course of the flow for Sugreeva which could only be achieved with the foresight of Hanuman.

Event 2: Leaders trust him to complete the impossible task

Sugreeva had assembled a formidable search party to find Sita, he divided the team into 4 divisions one to travel in each of the four directions. Sugreeva had extensive knowledge of the geography, he knew that Ravana’s Kingdom was in the Southern direction but was not certain of its exact location. Sugreeva knew if anybody could do this task, it was Hanuman only. So he made Hanuman accompany the team going in the southern direction, led by a young prince Angada. One notable point here is that Hanuman was not nominated as the leader of the search party, It was Angada. Hanuman had no qualms about serving under the leadership of Angada even though he was younger and less experienced than him. Just before their departure, Sugreeva apprised him of possible challenges that may arise during his travel based on his experience and trusts him to take care of the team accordingly. Seeing this confidence of Sugreeva in Hanuman, Rama also believes that Hanuman is the one who will accomplish this task, so he hands him Sita’s toe ring as his identification symbol to Sita when he meets her. This anecdote clearly highlights the trust that Hanuman has earned over a period of time through his deeds, actions and tangible results. One cannot find one instance in the entire Ramayana where Hanuman self-advocates his abilities and accomplishments. Actions do speak louder than words, even though they take some time to make an impact, but they always have a lasting impact, which no PR can achieve.

Event 3: Role of a mentor/leader to enable us to tackle impossible problems

The search team had reached the southern tip of India, sitting and staring at the large ocean, wondering how to cross this ocean (Impossible problem) in order to reach Ravana’s Lanka, which is 100 Yojanas away. Every team member was quoting his ability to Jump some said 10, others 50, only Angada said he could do 100 but in one direction only. Hanuman was sitting silently and staring at the ocean. Jambavan noticed Hanuman and he was aware of Hanuman’s strengths and abilities, he also knew about the curse. He came to the conclusion that now is the right time to make use of Hanuman’s abilities. He had a short talk with Hanuman apprising him of his latent strengths and abilities. The curse was now invalidated and Hanuman rose up to the challenge with newfound vigor and started the journey towards Lanka. Just like Hanuman, In our lives we forget our capabilities (In Hanuman’s case he was cursed by a sage in his childhood to forget his strength until someone reminds him of it) and let opportunities slide away. We need mentors like Jambavan, who can guide us and remind us of our capabilities and also apprise us of our mistakes, someone who can have difficult conversations with us. This is an essential relationship we need to cultivate in our lives.

Event 4: Go above and beyond defined objectives

A normal person would just complete his assigned objective and head back. If Hanuman was normal, he should have started his return journey after locating Sita and delivering the message as well as the ring from Rama. But, Hanuman was not just any normal person. He had the foresight to make use of his presence in Lanka to get a firsthand view of the city, its citizenry and its political structure and landscape. To put it simply, Gather as much intelligence as possible, in order to plan out for the forthcoming war. This quality is what differentiates the great from the rest. Oh boy, the events leading up to Hanuman’s self-initiated capture all the way to the interaction between Hanuman and Ravana, the king of Lanka is a masterclass in strategic execution, communication and diplomacy, it has such depth that it commands a post of its own. From his interaction with Ravana and the political and military class of Lanka, he noticed and got hold of valuable information that would go on to prove valuable in planning and execution of the impending war. This highlights the importance of having in-person interactions in this digital age, which can provide opportunities to gather new insights and forge new partnerships, which virtual meetings and virtual teams can never achieve.

Event 5: Tackle impossible problems with grace and panache in the midst of crisis

Picture yourself in the shoes of Hanuman in the midst of a fierce war. You are busy fighting battles and offering your assistance in the fights for those who need urgent support and tilting the outcome in their favor. Your leader is fighting brilliantly, leading from the front and taking the fight to the enemy with great panache and focus. The enemy is unable to turn the battle in his favor in an ethical way. So he resorts to underhanded means and delivers a crushing blow to one of your side’s greatest warriors, who also happens to be the sibling of your leader. This has a disastrous impact on the psyche of your leader, who now has to focus on saving his brother’s life and cannot continue the fight like he used to. This has a direct impact on the morale of the army which loses its direction to fight. In this situation, the medic informs that the only way to save Lakshmana’s life is by using an herb called Sanjeevani found near Mount Meru in the Himalayan ranges located in northern India. In this crisis, the leaders turn to Hanuman to rise up to the occasion and rescue Lakshmana and the army from the jaws of death. Think and answer to yourself, how would you solve it?

Hanuman being Hanuman, lost no time thinking of the problems and limitations, instead he focused on solving the problem in the least amount of time possible. He strategized that he would fly right away to the Himalayas to search for the herb. Once he reached the spot, he looked around but was unable to locate the herb as he had not seen it before. Instead of wasting time identifying the herb or finding someone who could help him out. Acknowledging the essence of time, He focused on his capabilities and thought that I have the strength and ability to carry the mountain, let me focus on my job, once I reach Lanka, the medic can find the herb he needs as it is his area of expertise. In this way, Hanuman handles the crisis in the least amount of time possible. This act alone turned the war on its head.

Here is the list of my takeaways from this post:

1. Practice Loyalty and Dharma over petty short-term objectives.
2. Trust needs to be earned and maintained. It needs deliberate effort to achieve it.
3. Find a mentor for yourself in every stage of your growth. Most importantly, be a mentor to others along the path.
4. Think strategically beyond immediate objectives. Think through second-order, third-order effects of your decisions and actions.
5. Impossible sounding problems are worth solving. Tackle them, they are your fastest means to growth.
6. Time is of the essence, especially in a crisis. Execute on your strengths and delegate the rest to the experts.