What are the self-mastery secrets that make you the world class leader that you are?

I consider myself to be a function of 3 spiritual moorings:

1. Relationship with my own self: This defines my relationship with God. To be a good human, I have to foremost, respect myself. I can only respect myself if I feel good about being me and that comes from right thoughts/ deeds. My actions, then, determine how spiritual I am. Bhagwad Gita advises action, irrespective of the fruits of it, as a key path for attaining Moksha. It goes perfectly with the Vedas: What happened was good, what is happening is good and what will happen, will also be good – If you are centered on your Karma, you can’t but see the world like that. And that’s pure peace! I also concur with Buddha who preached that all of us can become God, or Buddha-like. Be child-like, not childish, being the mantra. This relationship is the core of Hindu teachings and embedded in me.

2. Relationship between me and Nature: I grew up in Roorkee, nestled in foothills of the Himalayas. All my childhood memories are spun around Mother Nature – The wide, gushing river; monstrous flow, plenty of fish, greenery all around, the mango orchards, the Farm houses with cuckoo nests, dense jungles with diverse flora and fauna within, sparse population, the chimes from the Temple bells, speck clean surroundings and the lovely maintained gardens. Those times – Fursat ke raat din, the fresh air, the smile on everybody’s faces and the relaxed pace of things!

Environment is the biggest axis, after spirituality, for Hindus and I feel blessed amongst nature. I truly subscribe to nature’s laws and believe that we need to be aware that we exist in them. Each atom within is a manifestation of nature’s intelligence and more than abiding by it, we must value it. Our Guru’s have preached and practiced love for nature – indeed, all Hindu Gods have a definitive connection with the environment. The birth of my son and daughter enlivened me to this aspect and also allowed me to rise above all things petty.

I have felt the truth of nature that the entire world is an interconnected system and anything one puts into it, eventually comes back, even if through some other source.

3. Relationship between me and Other Human beings: Each happening in my life, reinvents me. No matter how much I grow or which circumstances prevail, it is me who witnesses it. Hence, my centeredness is the deciding factor of my relationship with other human beings. Western civilizations have this Human-to-Human axis as their core, because Jesus is the God of “Love” and “Service-for-mankind” is its core value principle. That is the reason for over destruction of the environment and excess comforts being provided to man in western society

However, Hindu treatises advocate “Sewa”, “Dharma of humanity” and “Right action according to one’s Niyati” as the guiding light of Human-to-Human contact. Our civilization also advocates discarding material and worldly urges as way forward for building an equitable and just society. Each person I meet is a mirror to my own self and hence all my past, which has crucially defined who I am, is trapped in the minds of those who saw me at different stages of my life. Owing to this, my family and friends are most important to me. The clarity derived from meeting many people is the reason those in public life are usually most sorted out. I aspire to be socially extroverted and be of service to mankind.

I maintain a great working relationship with my team and seniors, take ownership of my work, go by the motto that passion for work gives joy, believe that inherently fair and good people rise to the top and consider a good health as most important for a long lasting work life. I also hold the view that what we do is not what we are, so never leave your human side in the rat race of corporate life.

My other professional principles:

  • Never forget that the most capable people you find will eventually rise (being deserving)
  • It takes a true Leader to get people more capable than your own self to work for you
  • Professionalism commands that you keep on developing company processes and stick to them – that builds the organization
  • Those who stick the longest and weather the thick and thin of corporate life – eventually are winners
  • In the end, what will matter is the work that you did and the way you conducted yourself, not the petty things in life
  • Man to Man contact is most important
  • There is no place for vendetta in corporate life since markets eventually weigh worthiness of each individual and one is allotted a role which he or she is worthy of