Sadhguru and Ananya Birla discuss leadership and life in a candid conversation at ET ILC 2023
Sadhguru, who is the founder of Isha Foundation, has been recognised as one of the 50 most influential people in India. Ananya Birla is a musician and Director of Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. Sadhguru has a unique ability to convey life’s deeper truths through ancient yogic disciplines. Both well-known figures in their respective areas, engaged in a conversation that offered a fresh perspective on the nature of leadership.
Excerpts from their conversation:
As an ambitious individual, how does one achieve a balance between personal and professional life?
What we call ambition is a very constipated expression of fundamental human longing. We all aim to be something more than what we are right now. So essentially, you are longing to expand in a limitless way. If you want to become limitless, you shouldn’t try to do it through physical means, because the basis of physical life is a defined boundary. It is only a matter of whether or not you will permit your consciousness to expand, or whether you will keep it obstructed.
You spend the majority of your time with people you work with. When I first arrived in the United States approximately 23/24 years ago, I visited a restaurant whose sign read “TGIF.” When I inquired as to its meaning, I was informed that it means “Thank God It’s Friday.” I discovered that according to studies, 70% of Americans hate their jobs.
There is limited time in life to devote to activities that you hate. Life is such a brief happening.No one is negotiating death we are negotiating time. In the brief amount of time that you live, you must do something that you love, something that you can embrace with the greatest amount of love and affection whether it is your work, industry, or people.
How do I figure out if I should prioritise my personal life or professional? How do I figure out what is the right thing to do or is there no such thing as right and wrong?
It is not the amount of time we spend with our parents or children, but rather how we spend that time, that defines our personal relationships. My involvement in the upbringing of my daughter has been minimal. To her, however, I am an excellent parent. That is her experience, and it is all that matters.
We tend to do a lot of things in life, I balance a career in both business and music. Is this something you believe is correct, or should we devote all of our efforts to one field?
Whether I can ride two horses at a time or one, it is a question of my competence, isn’t it? If I can do it effectively, then it is acceptable, but if I am going to collapse between the horses, it is preferable to ride only one. It is a decision you must make, not a matter of right or wrong. How effective and impactful it will you be is a question you need to ask yourself. Essentially you must understand that human activity is relevant only in terms of its impact that it causes.
The prevailing corporate conditions have resulted in employee layoffs, and my decisions are impacting the livelihoods of individuals. How can we reduce conflict and arrive at a resolution that benefits the majority?
It shows that your sense of humanity is alive. Layoffs are unfortunate, but there is always a larger picture of wellbeing. For example, during the pandemic our activity came to a standstill because all our work is related to the masses. We asked everyone to take a 30% pay cut. We promised to make it up when things pick up. Everyone took the pay cut and we never fired anybody. There are ways like this to negotiate situations.
How important is it to feel pain and what is the right balance there? So how does one go about managing emotional wellbeing?
Every human experience takes place within the individual; things may not go as planned. The world does not go the way you want it to. You choose what happens within you, and you can choose to be happy or sad. The moment you think that the world should happen my way you will just limit the scope of your life. Everything will be fine with you if you are blissful. If your life is determined by somebody else or something else, you become a slave. If you are blissful by nature, you have no fear of suffering. You have the option to either suffer or not suffer.
Companies have a larger vision of creating more impact, how do we keep team members aligned with the aim of our goals?
My volunteers are always on their toes. They are devoted to their work. You do not get such people. You make them. Do not look at life as a transaction, it will become a marketplace. Life is a progression of experiences. You should inspire the people around you. The members of your team should feel that they are doing something significant in their life. You need to be of impact to someone’s life. Then your team will look up to you and feel they are doing something significant with their life.
Leadership means partnership, cooperation, mentoring and support. How do we as leaders keep our egos in check?
Leadership means sacrifice, a larger embrace of life. Leadership is not being a leader. Nobody should call themselves a leader, rather people should say that she is a leader. Leadership is like a ship; the captain does nothing. The others look up at him. Being a successful leader means you see today what they see tomorrow.
When talking about digitisation, there are worries about the use of AI. Should it not be encouraged at all?
Anything you can do the machine can do better. Every time a convenience comes somebody is going to lose their job. Essentially onset of AI will ensure that nobody has to work, and machines will do all the work. You are a human being. Living is taken care of because machines are doing everything. When people ask me what I do for a living I say I read. Doing something just to earn a living is a terrible way to live.
On one hand we are just specks in this universe. How can we avoid taking ourselves too seriously while still taking ourselves seriously enough to realise that we want to make an impact?
You are talking about being tiny and significant at the same time. Nobody knows where this cosmos ends, neither the religious people nor the scientific people. This is the nature of our existence. Countless numbers of people before you and I lived and are gone. They thought they were great and significant but now they are topsoil. When we are sitting here, we are just a small pop up on this planet. Do not draw a conclusion about your realisation. Life is a progression of realisations. Life becomes more beautiful and magnificent when you realise more and more. This is the nature of life.
We should be in touch with our humanity and remain blissful within ourselves. When we are in touch with our humanity it enables us to become better leaders and inspire our community. Understanding in which areas we are competent and broadening our awareness enables us to improve our leadership skills.
