This article explores the relevance and application of Principles and Strategies discussed in the 3rd Century BC treatise, Kautilya’s Arthashastra, in Today’s Corporate World.

To become a leader you should think like a leader. Sit down and observe what are the qualities you find in good leaders. And then start practicing them. One of the important qualities of a leader is of decision making.

Kautilya says,

“He should hear (at once) every urgent matter, (and) not put it off. An (affair) postponed becomes difficult to settle or even impossible to settle” (1.19.30)

There is a lot of work that cannot move forward without the final sanction of a leader. Thus, here Kautilya suggests that if there is any subordinate who comes to him with an urgent matter, he should listen to him at once. If he postpones such a decision, the pressure gets piled up and then the situation gets out of control.

A leader has to be a fast thinker, a fast decision maker and a fast implementer. He has no time to waste. Analysing is good but moving ahead is important.

How to become a good decision maker?

1. Do not be afraid to make mistakes

In an interview a CEO was asked the secret of his success. “It is by taking timely decisions”. “How do you know if your decisions are correct?” He snapped, “By taking wrong decisions”.

Every child has to fall before he learns to walk and run. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. But important is to learn from the mistakes. At At the same time do not to keep making mistakes eternally.

2. Think with a deadline

While you are planning and thinking over an assignment or a project, give yourself enough time to think over the various possibilities. But keep a time frame when you will want to take an action. Only then theory will meet practice.

3. Encourage others to take decisions

Work gets stuck up, when it is dependent on a single person. Learn to delegate smaller decisions to your subordinates. Your organisation should become a self managed mechanism. Train others to make them responsible. You should only be dealing with the important matters at the top.

The game should be bigger than the player. The organisation should be bigger than the employees. The purpose should be bigger than you and me.

Contributed by  - Radhakrishnan Pillai