Author
Raghu is formally trained as an engineer with an MS in Bio-Medical Engineering from IIT, Madras, He has been in immersive involvement in questions of human life.
He says that three extraordinary teachers mentored him when he was going through a very difficult phase of life, namely, J Krishnamurti, Yogacharya Krishnamacharya and Pulin K Garg. He was intimately involved with them for more than a decade from his late twenties. This engagement not only transformed him, it gifted him with the path that he has walked, his sAdhana.
He has been Cofounder of the Sumedhas Academy of Human Context since 1995, and of the Barefoot Academy of Governance with TISS since 2012. As Director of FLAME TAO Knoware Pvt Ltd his work spans the commercial world of consulting by helping redesign the client organization for greater alignment and synergy. His work revolves around helping individuals, groups and organizations discover their dharma, and become the best they can be. This aligns with his own personal Sadhana.
His recent book - 5 Seats of Power - Discovering the best you can be through the Mahabharata - provides thought-provoking frameworks drawn from Indic Wisdom for understanding leadership and culture-building. In our conversation we dig into details around Raghu’s journey and his insights from the book.
Published in Aug 2022.
Nuggets from the
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Listening to stories as a child
Raghu reflects on his childhood and how his grandfather would read the Mahabharata or the Ramayana and also use those stories as an opportunity to share a self-reflective story about their life. He speaks about how this approach might have influenced his style of interacting with people and his teaching approach.
Key choices in the journey
Raghu speaks about some of his choices post his undergraduate degree from IIT Madras. He speaks about how he was influenced by the times he was in and the people he came in touch with (Student Revolutions around the world, Meeting Dharampal etc). He goes on to talk about how Dharampal urged him and some of his friends to spend a decade going deep in a subject before moving on to make a difference.
Being Dharmic
Raghu speaks about the notion of being Dharmic and how it can be simply defined using three filters – 1) How is it enlivening you? 2) How is it enlivening the person you are interacting with? 3) How is it enlivening the wider context you are in? He goes on to speak about how he has discovered his Dharma in his journey.
Five Pandava archetypes
Raghu speaks about the distinction between Archetypes and Stereotypes when it comes to relating to some of the historical characters like the Pandavas. He goes on to talk about the defining characteristics of each of the Pandavas and how each one of us might end up having some elements of each of these in us.
Counterpoints to each archetypes
Raghu goes into depth about how for every Pandava Archetype, there is a Counterpoint on the Kaurava side who has similar set of skills but the difference is the orientation (dharmic vs adharmic). He also goes on to speak about how each of the Pandava archetypes has a shadow side that they need to get in touch with to be effective as a Leader (as a King in those days or as a CEO today).
Resolving Dharmasankatas
Raghu speaks about the notion of resolving Dharmasankatas – the double bind situations where there are no easy answers. He speaks about how Indian leadership (going back to King Vikramaditya) has had an emphasis of resolving Dharmasankatas. He goes on to speak about the Leadership traits that help in resolving these tricky situations.
Karna and Krishna - the conversation that never happened
Raghu makes an interesting observation. He says that while Bhagwad Gita was a discussion between Krishna and Arjuna on the various dilemmas the latter was facing, it could have well been a conversation between Krishna and Karna. He says that Karna was so consumed by his hurt that he never even saw the dilemma and that was a missed opportunity. He connects this to several people and communities that might be going through a similar phenomenon.
Accessing Equanimity
Raghu expands on the notion of Shantham and calls it the state of quiet high potential but something that is completely silent. He likens it to some one like a Roger Federer who is in “flow”. He calls it the state where one is fully alert and fully alive and open to all possibilities. He also speaks about how busy leaders can try and access that space of Shantham.
Evolving Leadership Paradigms
Raghu speaks about the evolving paradigm of leadership and how that is likely to look like a combination of Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Yudhishthira and Bheema might possibly be not as relevant as they were in a more predictable past.
Doing versus Being
Raghu speaks about the distinction between DOING and BEING. He speaks about BEING as a regenerative process, something that heals and nurtures. He also speaks about the need for coherence between what we are doing and who we are being at various points in time and not resolving this is often at the root of what people often describe as a mid-life crisis.
Creating the emotional infrastructure
Raghu speaks about the Nakula archetype that often creates the emotional infrastructure in an organization. He speaks about how such leaders might have to flex and demonstrate some of their other elements to build trust when they move to a new context. He also speaks about the link between having this emotional infrastructure and agility that a company might need to respond to sharp changes in the reality of the world.
Balam and Shakti - External and Internal forces
Raghu spells out the distinction between Shakti (internal forces) and Balam (external forces). He expands on each and discusses them. He speaks about three types of Balam – Asana Balam (Position, Status, Resources), Yoga Balam (Political capability, Friends, Enemies), Kala Balam (Timing, Market readiness). He expands on the three types of Shakti – Icha shakti (conviction, intent), Gnana shakti (intelligence, competencies), Kriya shakti (taking action). He speaks about the criticality of aligning Shakti and Balam as we go through life.
Journey as an action researcher
Raghu speaks about his journey on three fronts as an action researcher – Understanding how Systems work, Study of Yoga in depth with Krishnamachari, Process work with Prof Pulin Garg. He also speaks about how he has experimented and engaged with institutions like the Murugappa Group, TCS and Core Healthcare. He speaks about how he has used some of these organizations as a laboratory to try and develop some leadership development and culture building approaches that have been tried and tested.