This post addresses satya (truth), astheya (non-seeking), brahmacharyam
(sexual continence) and aparigraha (equanimity).
To make these concepts relevant to today’s reality, truth has
been expanded to integrity, non-seeking to team work and sexual continence to
diversity management. Equanimity cannot be expanded or changed.
What is common in all the above attributes? It is the ability to
work in harmony with others.
What is the basis of effective functioning of these attributes?
Some essential requirements would be;
Ability to inspire trust in others: It is simply not possible to
function in a team if the team mates don’t trust you. So, how does one inspire
trust in others? To start with, the gap between one’s words and actions should
be minimal. This is integrity. One should not take that which is not one’s due;
for instance, if someone has worked for the team, he should be acknowledged.
Otherwise, the lack of integrity will destroy the team cohesiveness. Similarly,
not respecting the diversity of others could lead to isolation of individuals,
thus reducing team cohesiveness.
Ability to control fear and anger: Anger arises from fear. Fear always
arises due to probable loss of identity and manifests itself as anger. Fear is
can be very destructive because of the uncertainty it introduces into outcomes.
Due to its nebulous quality, fear has the ability to destroy individuals and
because it is easy to transmit, it can destroy teams and even civilizations.
But, fear has the ability to disappear once it is confronted. How many feel
fear before a test, going on stage or the annual appraisal only to see it
disappear once the exam or show starts?
Fear destroys integrity because it makes one do what one would
not ordinarily do, damaging the yoking between our identity and action, leading
to damage to our sense of identity – or Svatantra. The ability to comprehend
the truth in any situation, confront our fears and that of others and to follow
through without compromise is a very critical test of integrity. This applies
to teams also. The ability to not take what one has not worked for is both
astheya and sathya. Finally, as in any
situation, the team identity will be subjected to stress and fear of
consequences of failure. Emotional balance within the team and its members can
easily be lost, but must be retained if fear needs to be overcome and the goal
reached. This is the role played by leaders.
It is a historical fact that the losing side in any battle
suffers maximum casualties not because of the battle but during retreat and
flight when fear, anxiety and panic grip the soldiers, leading to loss of unit
cohesion and become easy prey for the victorious soldiers.
How does one control anxiety attacks and bouts of fear? Not
easily. One has to keep confronting one’s fear which will come in various forms
and slowly overcome them. This will take time and one will need to be aware of
one’s behavior and the underlying fears driving those behaviors.
For example – how often do we hear the term – “he makes me so
angry”. Well, actually how can the other person make anyone angry? It happens
because we have given the other person the permission to make us angry! If we
refuse to get angry, then no one can force us into that state.
Change, the great equalizer: The only constant about change is
change itself. Change brings uncertainty and consequently fear of outcome and
its impact on our identity or the identity of the team. Change impacts our
integrity, our dealing with others, forcing conflict, adjustments as well as
control over diversity and equanimity.
Recognising the reality of change is critical for managing
change. The first step is acceptance of change followed by confrontation of the
fear of change and its impact on our sense of identity. This is followed by
coping, response and finally feedback which leads to another cycle of change.
Ability to deal with diversity is critical: As the world becomes
a smaller place, our ability to deal with differences in cultures, sexual
divergences, food habits, cleanliness, values and behavior becomes a critical
requirement. Why is it a problem?
We are all brought up in a particular
environment with certain values and systems which we imbibe and use as guiding
beacons in life situations. This is conditioning or Dharma. When we are
confronted with another Dharma, we are able to adjust to those changes which
are closely aligned with our own but as the divergence increases the ability to
cope reduces, increasing stress.
In extreme cases, this can lead to
dysfunctional behavior such as violence or abuse. How does one increase one’s
tolerance to diversity? Assimilate what you like, accommodate what you can,
compensate if you need to, ignore if the situation is beyond your control and
finally, if the situation is really terrible, disengage and walk away until
balance is achieved again. If the anxiety is above this scale, seek medical
help.
What is a measure of success that one is progressing in the
right direction? Change is constant, our drive and ambition force us into
various situations where we are either drivers or responders. If in this
process, we are able to retain Homeostasis or harmony of our psychosomatic
systems or if we are able to recover our balance quickly after we are subjected
to any stimulus, then we can say that we are progressing…
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