Cooperative leadership - Introduction

At the end of the last post cANakya concluded "sahAya sAdhyam rAjatvam" i.e., the leadership is only possible with the help and cooperation.

I want to call it as a model of "Cooperative Leadership Model"

Who are the people a Leader (King) should get the help or cooperation from?

1. karma sacivas or amAtyas - These are the ones who own and perform activities on behalf of the Leader. 
2. buddhi sacivas or mantri - These are the ones who will help in thinking i.e., thought leadership and developing the strategy. 

The two prakaraNas (topics) covered in two chapters (8 and 9) of artha SAstra is about amAtya and mantri, purOhita.

Over and above these two types of sacivas i.e, friends, a Leader should also appoint a purOhita or the prime priest well versed with all the SAstras to oversee the function of the government / overall leadership.

In modern terms, the amAtyas are the operational managers led by a COO (chief operations officer) and mantris are the thought leaders led by the CEO (chief executive officer)

But what is not covered in modern management is the post of a purOhita. puraH dhIyatE iti porOhitaH - which means who is given top most respect in the territory is the purOhitaH as the purOhita always seeks the prosperity of the society / territory. The purOhita is the teacher of the Leader. He should be looked upon as the father by the King / Leader.

What is the use of a purOhita?

He foresees the problems before they manifest. He can provide remedies to unforeseen problems. He monitors and mentors the Leader, amAtyas and mantris in the difficult situations.

So, let us call him as "prime mentor" in the modern terms. It is very important for a Leader to have a prime mentor who is interested in the well being of the whole organization with a holistic perspective.

He makes sure the organization is not moving away from its purpose (or function) its structure is appropriate and the process is adhered.


(I will cover the qualities of amAtyas and mantris in the next two posts.)