The name of Shri Ram is just not related to worship of a religious deity, but is synonymous with an identity of a dutiful son, loving brother, caring husband and an inspirational leader. His leadership qualities are an inspiration to mankind in any realm of time and define the modern day leadership skills needed in today’s times. Shri Ram is such an exemplary leader that all the modern leaders’ in spite of full-fledged training in leadership management, need to still learn a lesson or two from Shri Ram.
The first and the foremost quality of a leader is to be ready for any kind of a sacrifice. Shri Ram never hesitated to give up the throne of Ayodhya for the sake of his brother Bharat. For Shri Ram, it was more important that the kingdom stays united rather under one rule rather than fall apart in family disputes. He preferred a life of a forest hermit rather than do anything which was against the interest of his father or the kingdom. A leader’s true victory vests in the survival and unity of the whole team rather than his own self.
Shri Ram was a compassionate leader. Although a leader is above all hierarchy, he needs to nurture the quality of compassion towards all. Shri Ram’s compassion for his friends like Nishadraj Guh, or the noble Sumantr or all his subjects, made him adorable to all. In spite of Shri Ram being away from the kingdom, all of them do their duty diligently and support Bharat in looking after the kingdom. Gentle and caring nature of a leader always gains the support of team mates and drives them to work hard towards achieving success in a task.
To be a leader, one needs to gain great knowledge and Shri Ram was an embodiment of knowledge. Also, Shri Ram understood the true sense of being a knowledgeable person was to be humble to all. He was never arrogant of his knowledge, but always credited it as the blessings of his gurus. When a person is not egoistic about his knowledge, all look upon him as a mentor to guide them.
Along with knowledge, one needs to have courage. Shri Ram was a skilful warrior and he was known for his courage to overcome any kind of obstacle with his power and strength. Be it slaying the demons of the Dandak forest, or building a mighty bridge on the Ocean or even the final annihilation of Ravan, Shri Ram displayed exemplary valour and courage and achieved success. For a leader, it is very important to be courageous to face any kind of adversity and with over it with confidence. This motivates even the team to work in the same way and achieve success.
All these qualities of Shri Ram shone because Shri Ram always stood up for Dharma. He chose the righteous path, no matter what problems he faced in life and that made him the greatest leader above anybody else. Shri Ram never forced his way on others. He only set his life as a guideline and inspired others to follow. He always gave freedom to his people but also taught people to utilise that freedom in a way beneficial to mankind. In todays’ times where life is all about cut throat competition, Shri Ram inspires one to be a leader with humility and wisdom, which are the true traits of being a leader.