Lord Ganesha turns management guru

By Ramya Ramamurthy & Sushmita Mohapatra /CNBC-TV18

 

It seems Lord Ganesha is not just the remover of obstacles and a giver of knowledge. He's also a management guru who embodies the qualities needed by a smart manager.

 

His big head inspires us to dream big and profitably, his big ears instruct us to listen attentively to new ideas and suggestions, his narrow eyes signify the need to concentrate, and his small mouth reminds us that silence is golden. And these are just some of the lessons that management students will learn this Ganesh Chaturthi.

 

Students listen in attention, learning key management skills from the elephant God himself. This was seen at a five-day conference organised by the Ahmedabad Management Association, to forge a link between spirituality and management, aiming to inspire students to imbibe lessons on profitability, innovation and commitment.

 

Darshan Kanadia, MBA Student, Gujarat University said," We have to relate the thoughts that were shared here with our management lessons. The world is talking about innovation, but we don't have to go anywhere to look for innovation. It is right here, and we have to look for it. These are some of the lessons I learnt from here."

 

This series isn't the first of its kind organised by the institute. Taking a leaf out of Japanese management styles, where Zen ideals are used in business, AMA believes Indian scriptures have a lot to teach future managers.

 

Mukesh Patel, Past President, AMA said, ""We believe that Indian scriptures can teach students a lot about how to live better professionally and personally. One of the earlier AMA weeks discussed role models in Indian Mythology' we picked five mythological characters. Like Krishna, who stood for leadership and crisis management and Rama for values in public life, these are very interesting aspects we have seen."

 

So this Ganesh Chaturthi, students won't just pay homage to their favourite God, they will also open their minds to divine management principles.