Situational God

During my MBA days, as part of the course on organizational behavior, we studied different leadership styles and I was particularly fascinated with Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model.

As per this model, leadership styles need to be different for different people based on the maturity of the person being led and the relationship of the person with the leader.

Broadly, there are 4 leadership styles:

Telling style: This is simply telling and directing people to do what is desirable and not do what is undesirable.  This style is applied when the maturity of the person is very low and the relationship of the person with the leader is low.

Selling style: This is encouraging and motivating people to do what is desirable and not do what is undesirable.  This style is applied when the maturity of the person is low and the relationship of the person with the leader is high.

Participating style: This is collaborating and guiding people to do what is desirable and not do what is undesirable.  This style is applied when the maturity of the person and the relationship of the person with the leader are both high.

Delegating style: This is empowering and inspiring people, to decide on their own, to do what is desirable and not do what is undesirable.  This style is applied when the maturity of the person is very high and the relationship of the person with the leader is low.

I internalized these leadership styles and have been applying them in my life.

Somewhere down the line, I observed a similar pattern in the Gods that are worshipped by people:

Fierce Gods: For people who need to be directed, we have Gods who instill fear - Kali, Durga, Rudra and so on.  They direct us through commandments.

Benevolent Gods: For people who need to be motivated, we have Gods who kindle love – Shiva, Parvathy, Vishnu, Ganesh, Skanda and so on.  They motivate us through relatable stories.

Gurus: For people who need to be guided, we have Gurus who are enlightened – Buddha, Ramana, Shirdi Sai Baba and so on.  They guide us through the way they lived their lives.

Self-driven: For people who are enlightened, they are Self-driven.  They stay connected to the Source and take spontaneous right actions.

All of us start from where we are and go through this journey.  While we may think that our way is the best way, we may also be sensitive to the fact that others are traveling from different points and so their way may be the best for them.  

This sensitivity is key to unity.

Comments

  1. Unknown8 December 2020 at 14:43

    Valuable information

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guru8 December 2020 at 21:17

    This is very new thought process that has never been told earlier. Very interesting and unique...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sai Shankar Gadepalli8 December 2020 at 22:21

    I have a question sir.

    In which of these categories an 'athiest' will be classified? Are we to conclude that they belong to the enlightened 'self-driven' category just because they don't believe in the concept of God?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Muralidharan Saravanamuthu9 December 2020 at 06:30

      Hello Sai Shankar! As you can see, this article has been written from the perspective of the leader of a group of people in an organization or a community. As leaders of organizations adopt different leadership styles to manage/lead people of varying maturity levels, leaders of communities, over centuries, have adopted different Gods to manage/lead people of varying maturity levels. As we have believers of varying maturity levels, we also have non-believers of varying maturity levels driven by fear, love, guidance or wisdom.

      Delete
    2. Sai Shankar Gadepalli9 December 2020 at 12:35

      Got your point sir.

      Delete
  4. Aruna Muralidharan10 December 2020 at 14:07

    Nice perspective

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sangeetha JPrakash12 December 2020 at 20:59

    Great correlation

    ReplyDelete

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