Paper Presentation given by Swami Ramakrishnananda on Developing leadership between teachers at IIT MADRAS during EduFest 2015 - 2nd International conference for school leaders.

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DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS
Abstract
“Developing Leadership between Teachers” under this topic, six sections of thoughts will be
discussed. ‘Creating a differentiated system’ will deal with a flow chart of creating leaders. It
will deal with a slow and effective empowerment of teachers. The second section ‘The leader
must create a successor’ will deal how a leader should think of a successor for the system. There
must be a smooth hand over of responsibilities to next-in-line. The third section is titled ‘Leader
from outside and inside’. Issues can be drastically reduced if experienced people from the
existing system are selected, is the thought in this section. The fourth section explains
‘Identifying the leaders and potential personalities’ in the system. The existing leader must be
very observant of efficient people in the system and identify the right one for the right place.
The fifth section discusses identification of ‘In born qualities and skills’. Without values, skills
are chaos making powerhouse for any system. In the sixth section how to ‘Training the leader in
the right direction’ is explained. If the successor is not trained in the right direction then the
systems can face very dangerous situation before long.
Authorship : Swami Ramakrishnananda
Academic Degree : Diploma in Mechanical Engg, M.A., Sanskrit (Advaita Philosophy)
Title : Acharya, Chinmaya Mission, Nagapattinam
Trustee, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Nagapattinam
Acharya, Chinmaya International Foundation, Ernakulum, Kerala
Email ID : srkchinmaya@gmail.com

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ABOUT AUTHOR
Swami Ramakrishnanada born on 30.12.1970, hails from Chennai and holds a Diploma
in Mechanical Engineering. He was inspired by Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji’s ideals
and talks and joined the Tamil Vedanta course at Tamaraipakkam, near Chennai in 1993. He
studied the scriptures under the guidance of Swami Sridharanandaji and initiated into the
monastic order by Swami Tejomayanandaji, the global head of Chinmaya Mission. He has
studied Upanishads, Ramayanam, Mahabharatam, Bhagavatam, Vedantic text authored by Adi
Shankara, Vedic Chanting and Sanskrit as part of his Vedantic syllabus.
He was first posted in Chinmaya Mission, Trichy as residential Acharya. His further
successive posting locations are Sri Lanka, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Re-Union Island,
Nagapattinam and United States of America.
He is passionate about Sanskrit and his masterpiece is the “Easy Sanskrit Course” which
has come as an aid for the bloomers in learning Sanskrit. This syllabus has been recognised and
adopted by Indira Gandhi National Open University as curriculum.
Swami Ramakrishnananda has conducted innumerable discourses on various Vedantic
titles and permeated the spirit of spirituality. He organises residential camps in Himalayas
periodically. He actively conducts spiritual classes for teachers, students, parents and youth as
well. He conducts various teacher training programmes and workshops on CCE.

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INTRODUCTION
Man in English, Manushya in Sanskrit, Manidan in Tamil – in the same way many
languages have “man” sound to refer human beings. “man” is the Sanskrit root word from
which Manushya has emerged. “man” means to think; Man means one who thinks. Only
man has the ability to think and act, not any other creature. The visionary spiritual leader
Swami Chinmayanandaji often quotes “The Man is the crown of the creation”. Among the
created things and beings “Man is vertical and animal is horizontal” in position. Four
aspects are common for both man and animal; they are head, heart, belly and genital system.
Head is the place where all the thinking happens, heart is the place where different kinds of
emotions are felt, hunger is felt at the belly and the thread of next generation is created
through the genital system.
Even though all these things are common to man and animal, the beauty is in their
arrangement; these four aspects are kept horizontal in animal and vertical in man. Here the
message is powerful. Not prioritizing the four aspects, the animal just moves according to
its programmed way of life. Man should not live like an animal, as he is created with an
inbuilt priority. He stands vertical with the head at the top, followed by the heart, the belly
and the genital system at the bottom. Therefore, man has to give priority to his intellect
(head), then emotions (heart), then food (belly) and finally reproduction (genital system)
The Sanskrit verse below emphasizes our line of thought.
āhāranidrābhayamaithunāni samāni caitāni nṛṇām paśūnām,
jñānaṁ narāṇāmadhiko viśeṣo jñānena hīnāḥ pasubhiḥ samānāḥ.

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“Food, sleep, fear and sex are common aspects for all beings including human beings. It is
the knowledge that separates human beings from others. A man without knowledge is like
an animal”.
As this verse states, human beings should use their intellectual capacity and a leader should
be the most powerful thinker. Only such individuals must head departments and
organizations and they can bring the much needed change in the system.
1. CREATING A DIFFERENTIATED SYSTEM
If the management knows how to mobilise the human resource within schools then there
are many opportunities to move strong teachers into leadership roles. If they start doing this,
the senior teachers and the teachers with capability will feel that their ability is recognised.
When they get into a higher position in the institution, scope for innovation and enthusiasm
among them increases. When the management brings in, a new kind of renaissance in the
system, not only the strong teachers become powerful leaders of the institutions, but they
also grow individually with lot of skills. When all the individuals put together their effort
then there will be a powerful team in an institution to fulfil the desired goal. The
management will see the difference and will be prepared to set higher standards and goals.
Creating an effective principal is our main stream of thought. Though the senior and
strong teachers are good in teaching they cannot suddenly hold the post of the principal
without proper prior training. This may collapse the system, because the ability to teach is
different from the ability to lead the team. Before taking up the post of principal we can
train the efficient teachers as instructional coaches, mentors or coordinators for the new
teachers or junior teachers, so that they can gradually develop their leadership skills, in the
initial stage. In these learning stages even if they make mistake it will not affect the
institution drastically.

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For example - if an educational institution has sixty teachers, up to twelfth standard with
more than thousand children we can make structural hierarchy as, principal, vice principal,
coordinators and teachers. The flow chart below shows the structure of hierarchy.
Table-I The flow chart of structure of hierarchy
Board of management
Principal
Vice principal
Coordinator-1 Coordinator-2 Coordinator-3 Coordinator-4 Coordinator-5
Teachers Teachers Teachers Teachers Teachers
KG-1Std 2, 3, 4 Std 5, 6, 7 Std 8, 9, 10 Std +1, +2 Std
Zone – 1 Zone – 2 Zone – 3 Zone – 4 Zone – 5
Management should find out strong teachers with leadership abilities from the teachers of
particular zone, giving them the post of a coordinator. Here, as a coordinator they should be
given the job of mentor, coach, counsellor, by which they can develop enough confidence

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and leadership skills to go to the next level. If a management creates this kind of structure, it
will get adequate leaders at all levels. This is safe structure for an institution to have
effective leaders created from within the institution.
2. THE LEADER MUST CREATE A SUCCESSOR
To create an organization with great leadership and taking it to the peak of success is a
highly challenging task. Around the globe many a time we see the founder makes the
system, runs the system effectively but does not create a successor and eventually destroys
the system he created. Whenever we conduct leadership programs, we focus more on how a
leader should develop his skills to lead the system, how to organize, how to delegate the
work, how to solve the problems, how to decide, techniques of communication, how to
present a new idea, how to build a team, how to say “no” and many more. All these things
are discussed in great detail but how to create a successor is neglected. A good leader is one
who creates a successor.
The important duty of all the leaders is that they should identify their successor to save
the life of the organization. In the days of yore, the king ruled the kingdom effectively, at
the same time his prime duty was to identify and develop his successor. Identifying the
prince and training him to take over was as important as ruling the kingdom efficiently.
Leader oriented institutions will meet with downfall without a powerful successor. The
leader oriented institution is highly dependent on the success of a leader. The system
oriented institutions are dependent on the system and anyone can take over and work in the
system. In the later kind of institutions, innovations and progress will be very slow. Whether
the institution is leader oriented or system oriented, both, need effective leadership.

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Leadership – The Relay Race
In a relay, the baton is handed over to the next person at the end of his leg of running; in
the same way the leader who is at the end of his tenure must hand over the baton, the
responsibilities to the next person so that the successor can move in the same speed as his
predecessor. Most often we don’t see this happens and we witness a collapse and it takes
time to rebuild the organization.
We can see that so many empire in history have vanished away because of not having
effective successors. Generally there is no urgency in creating the second line but the plans
must be on, so that, when it actually happens the shift happens smoothly without any jerk.
Very often, we notice the existing leader is attached to his power, position and authority.
Because of his attachment, he never thinks about his successor. For an existing leader,
creating a successor is losing his power and position. Therefore, a good leader should
remove such fears and create the leader who will lead the organization further. This calls for
mature and objective thinking. If the existing leader fears the successor’s authority then it is
very difficult to handover the power and run the system. We can say that this is the biggest
hurdle to cross over. The leader should break this block to make a powerful successor. Once
the successor is ready, with all proper training the existing leader should introduce the
successor in perfect time to the system.
3. LEADERS FROM OUTSIDE AND INSIDE
Bringing a leader from outside and creating a leader from inside has its pros and cons.
When the leader is from outside, he should understand the work style of the organization,
the culture of the place, mentality of the people, the failures and success of the system in the
past and more. The new leader will need a lot more time to learn this than someone from
inside the organization, thereby losing a lot of valuable time.

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The management which is handing over the leadership to the new leader must understand
the ability and background of the new leader who has come from outside. This also calls for
man hours spent for understanding the new person. Sometimes, a new person from outside
may not have the necessary affinity towards the company as he is new and will take time to
feel comfortable. If he likes the system he may stay otherwise he may quit. However such a
person can bring in fresh ideas.
Fruits from own Garden
Suppose the management finds an efficient leader from its own company, and trains him
in a proper way to fit into the system, they will get the best fruit out of their own garden.
The new leader from the existing system knows the organization from top to bottom, the
working style of the company and culture of the people, expectation of the management and
other details.
The leader evolving from the system will have special affinity towards the system and
gratitude towards the management. He can bring the commitment and dedication towards
the company. Inspiration and leadership will be something extra ordinary for the leader who
has grown in the system. This kind of leader will have complete knowledge, about the
organization, which is very important to lead the company efficiently. Buying the fruits
from the shop is good, no doubt, but producing the fruit from our own garden is something
innovative with long term results.

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4. IDENTIFYING THE LEADERS AND POTENTIAL PERSONALITIES
amantramakṣaram nāsti nāsti mūlamanauṣadham,
ayogyapuruṣo nāsti yojakastatra durlabhaḥ.
This Sanskrit verse says, “There is no syllable that cannot be used in a mantra, there is no
root that cannot be used as a medicine, no one in this world is useless but it is rare to find a
person (leader) who can identify the potential in these things”.
To find out the successor the existing leader should not work from the standpoint of his
likes and dislikes. If the leader selects a successor influenced by his biased mind he makes a
great mistake for the future of the organization. When he identifies a successor without any
leadership quality, that successor definitely will spoil the system through his inefficient
leadership. Selecting wrong person based on likes, or, not selecting the right person based
on dislikes, both are not good signs of efficient management. In both cases we can expect
the fall of the system very quickly. If the management selects the perfect person as a
successor to lead the system, definitely the management has to be appreciated.
Sharp Intellect through the balanced Mind
rāgadveṣaviyuktaistu viṣayānindriyaiścaran,
ātmavaśyairvidheyātmā prasādamadhigacchati. (Bhagavad Gītā - 2. 64)
prasāde sarvaduḥkhānāṁ hānirasyopajāyate,
prasannacetaso hyāśu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate. (Bhagavad Gītā - 2. 65)
“Self-controlled person, moving among objects, with his senses under restraint and free
from both likes and dislikes, attains peace. In that peace all worries are destroyed, then the
intellect of that person becomes steady”.

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Bhagavad Gita explains so vividly that if one’s mind is released from likes and dislikes
then his intellect will be clear and sharp, to decide easily. Every leader has to develop this
kind of unbiased intellect to select the right one for the right place to save the system.
Rama – The Team Builder and the Task Master
Rama was sent to forest for fourteen years, accompanied by his wife Sita and his brother
Lakshmana. During the forest life, Sita was kidnapped by Ravana – the Rakshasa. At this
juncture, balancing all his diverse emotions with his steady knowledge he could create a
very powerful team to bring back Sita. There is a famous quote “Coming together is
beginning, remaining together is progress and working together is success”. Rama made this
quote true in his life. He came alone to the forest, he found Sugriva, the leader-in-charge.
Hanuman, the dedicated ambassador. Jambavan, the person with life experience. Nila,
commander in chief of his army. Nala, the engineering architect. Vibhishana, Ravana’s
brother with complete information about the opponents. Rama understood the leadership
quality of Sugriva, and the potentialities of others and he brought them together to reach the
goal. Any leader from any organization should learn from Rama how to identify the
potentialities of the people and tap them to achieve the goal.
Valmiki – the spiritual scientist of Tretha Yuga says in his book Ramayana that Rama has
innumerable leadership skills, one among them is “loke puruṣasārajñaḥ” (Ayodhya Kanda
1.18). “Knowing the essence of a person at a glance” When Rama looks at anyone he can
study and understand that person’s complete personality. The skill of judging a person
perfectly is needed for a leader, to fix a right person in right place. Rama had this quality
which is an essential skill for a leader. Success is the result of execution; execution is
possible by delegating the right work to the right person. To delegate to the right person one

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must have the right knowledge of the person and the work. This knowledge can be
developed with keen unbiased observation and by inculcating values and living by it.
Yudhistira – The Strategic Leader
If a leader understands the potentialities of the people then the delegation of the work will
become so easy to attain success. Like Rama in Tretha Yuga, in Dwapara Yuga, king
Yudhistira (eldest among Pandavas) had the same type of leadership quality which is
mentioned in Mahabharatam and Bhagavatam by Veda Vyasa – the poet philosopher.
Yudhistira wished to do the great sacrifice “Rajasuya” which is to be performed by the king
of kings. A king can do Rajasuya only when all other kings accept him as the most powerful
king. Now all the kings had accepted Yudhistira as the king of all the kings and Yudhistira
performed the Rajasuya sacrifice.
In the Rajasuya sacrifice, Yudhistira delegated the work to his executives. Bhima was
given the job of coordinating the whole program. Sahadeva was given the charge of
organizing the worship of the sacrifice, Nakula was collecting donations from the donors,
Arjuna was taking care of all the teachers, Krishna was receiving the people standing at the
reception, Duryodhana was in charge of treasury, Karna was given the responsibility to do
charity for the poor people.
Let us analyse on what basis Yuddhistira delegated the work. Arjuna was always devoted
to knowledge and teachers. Krishna was always smiling and his extraordinary social skill to
connect with people was incomparable, Bhima was very powerful to hold everything under
his control. Likewise Nakula and Sahadeva were given the work according to their taste and
temperament. But why did Yudhishtira select Duryodhana to handle the treasury and Karna

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for charity even though they had tried to destroy the Pandavas? Yudhishtira, being the king
of all the kings, the supreme leader, brought in a brilliant strategy. Even from this kind of
people one can get the best, by converting their negative intentions into positive actions.
According to Duryodhana and Karna, Yudhistira should lose all the wealth. So they tried
their best to empty the treasury. But those who visited for the sacrifice were completely
satisfied with the charity. Even though the poor people received from Karna and
Duryodhana, they were happy and praised Yudhistira. This is a very subtle leadership
strategy every leader should learn from Yudhistira - how to convert negative into positive.
An ordinary leader knows how to identify the potential of the people, and how to tap
them for accomplishing his task, but extraordinary leaders like Rama and Yudhistira know
how to make use of the potentials of the opponent also, and they know how to convert the
negative attitude of the opponent into positive success.
5. INBORN QUALITIES AND SKILLS
We know that all cannot become leaders; only a few can lead. Rest of the people
automatically will become the followers. For any leader some basic inborn qualities are
needed. Clay should have the plasticity to create a doll; the tender bamboo stick should bend
to make a basket. These are the basic qualities of the raw material to convert themselves
into useful things. Born leaders need a little guidance to shine like a star but others through
hard work may take the post of a leader. They are ready to learn and change. Such people
should be inspired to take the path of values through moral stories and special training.
MK Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi
M.K Gandhi was exposed to Harischandra and Sravana Kumar dramas during his
childhood. These two dramas had tremendous impact on Gandhi. These dramas kindled the
values like honesty and devotion to parents in him. Gradually he developed other values.

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Then he developed leadership skills also. Soon he became a powerful leader who could lead
more than thirty crores of people to get the freedom from the British Government which was
his sole goal in life.
A person with some basic human qualities like honesty, straightforwardness, good
attitude, can get other leadership skills which are needed to lead the organization. If an
institution selects a leader based on skills alone, ignoring values, then the skilful can ruin the
system soon.
Rama – The value based Leader
Rama, the king maker had to choose the leader between Vali and Sugriva. The leader
would have to help him in the mission of finding and bringing back Sita. Vali, the elder
brother of Sugriva was the king of Kishkinda. It was a happy family but an unfortunate
incident brought enmity amongst them and Rama had to choose between the two. Vali tried
to kill Sugriva many times and so Sugriva had to escape and was living in the forest, all the
time fearing Vali’s attack.
At this juncture, Rama was in search of Sita who was kidnapped by Ravana in the forest.
By chance, he heard about power of Vali and righteousness of Sugriva. Even though, Rama
was in urgency to find out Sita and bring her back from the Rakshasa, his choice was
powerless righteous Sugriva over powerful unrighteous Vali.
Every leader should think widely and deeply to select a successor. Definitely, the
successor should have skills and values in right proportion; there is no doubt about it. Very
often Swami Chinmayanandaji quotes “when a head and heart work together expect a
masterpiece” but it is very rare to get this master piece combination. Sometimes, we may get
skilful person like Vali or sometimes we may get a righteous person like Sugriva. Here the
visionary leader Rama selects the righteous Sugriva who has inborn values and good

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qualities. Later Rama developed other leadership skills of Sugriva. Soon, Sugriva became a
powerful leader; he made his own life and inturn he helped Rama. Rama’s leadership was
value based leadership.
6. TRAINING THE LEADER INTO RIGHT DIRECTION
Once we have selected the perfect successor with the right combination of the head and
the heart, the next job is to train the leaders in the right direction. If this is not done, the
process of selection becomes a useless process. Inspiring vision of the system is to be
explained to the successor and how to accomplish the vision also is to be given very clearly.
Otherwise it will be like a comfortable ship floating in the vast ocean without any goal or
flying a sophisticated aircraft in the endless sky without any destination.
How a tender plant is protected and nurtured in the nursery by the gardener till it gets its
own ability to withstand the natural calamities, so too the present leader should train and
support the successor till he gets his own mental and moral strength to face any kind of
situation, crisis or problem.
Leader – The Magnet
The special quality of the magnet is to attract iron pieces, so too the leader should pull the
people to accomplish his fixed target. Magnet has got the peculiar qualities that if we put it
down from higher level to lower level or if the magnet is heated up or beaten, the magnet
will lose its attracting quality. Growing leader should be given little support in the
beginning. If the management does not pay any attention to shape the new growing leader,
or does not guide him accurately or does not treat him well or stress him a lot, then these
things will create uncomfortable mental state in the leader. The trainers must ensure that all
these are avoided and that the training is smooth.

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Handle with care
First the successor is to be kept in a very conducive atmosphere and he has to feel that he
has got enough ‘protection’ in the beginning so that he can get strength to face the
situations. When he starts doing progressive work, at that time he needs a little
‘encouragement’ from the higher level to get confidence to take his work forward. If he gets
appreciation at the right time for the right work he will get a grip' of the work. When he
undergoes heavy stress he has to be given enough ‘support’ from the trainer to sustain him
in the system. If the new leader makes any mistake due to his over confidence or over
enthusiasm or for some other reasons, he needs to be ‘corrected’ in a right way; then alone
he gets a very strong hold of the position which he got from the higher authority, to run the
show efficiently.
Self-analysis Steps
The leader who is under training should grow steadily co-operating with the training
system. After getting all the leadership training, when the leader grows in right direction, he
might get struck in some places. During those moments he can discuss his problems with
other leaders to get some tips to solve or he has to apply self-analysis methods to solve his
problems. Getting help every time from outside is not possible, so he has to do his own
analysis honestly so that he can find solutions.
When a vehicle moves on the road without any break, we will enjoy the journey. If
something happens and the vehicle is stopped on the road, we take the vehicle off the road
and then open the bonnet for finding the problem. When we check we may find out the
problem was due to the worn out part of the vehicle. We will remove the worn out part and
then replace it with a new one. Now the vehicle’s problem is solved and we can continue

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our journey. This is the simple theory of how to get back into our route when our vehicle is
in trouble.
The same technique must be applied by the leader. If some unusual situation happens in
the system, the inner personality of the leader may be root cause. Without compromise the
leader should check his own thoughts and actions. This process is called “Introspection”.
After introspection, he finds the cause of the trouble and this step is called “Detection”. He
then should remove the unwanted things from the personality; this process is called
“Elimination”. Finally when the unwanted things are eliminated it has to be replaced with
better and right things, this replacement process is called “Substitution”. Then the leader
can work with new enthusiasm for the growth of the system. This is how he has to shape
himself after the training period. Then alone he can grow brilliantly and withstand steadily
in his field.
CONCLUSION
Though the leadership techniques are same all around the world, there is slight
difference between the leadership in the companies and the leadership in the educational
institutions. In the companies the first preference is given to the head, but in the educational
institutions the heart has to be given the priority. In the companies, profit, loss, work,
money, resources are all priorities, but in the educational institutions students, human
relations, the future of the country, culture of the society, shaping of the humanity, are kept
as significances.
To shape a child, we need more of heart than the head. In the educational field, the
leaders are the Correspondents, Principals, Head masters, Heads of the department etc.,
They are all expected to follow value system. Why? They are the leaders who are involved

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in moulding the future citizens of the country. In a company, a leader can arrange for a
meeting with other executives to execute the ideas of the company, once the ideas are
received the executives can disperse.
In educational institutions, the Correspondents the Principals, Head masters, Head of the
departments also meet and discuss about the execution of the academic ideas. After the
meeting they also try to execute what they discussed. Along with execution they are
expected to follow the basic human values, because teaching the children is living the values
of life. To build the country, through their value based lives the teachers, principals, heads
are highly responsible. In the schools, culture and values are not only to be taught but it is to
be caught by the students, so the heads of the institutions have to practice the values along
with teaching skills. Bhagavad Gita says
yadyadācarati sreṣṭhastattadevetaro janaḥ,
sa yatpramāṇam kurute lokastadanuvartate. (Bhagavad Gītā–3. 21)
“Whatever the great man does, that other men also do (imitate); whatever he sets up as the
standard, that the world (people) follows”.
For the students, teachers are the great people. For the teachers, heads of the department
are the great people. For the heads of the department, the principal is great. According to the
leadership theory of Bhagavad Gita, whatever the leader does the rest of the people will
follow, so it is required for a leader to lead the institution effectively and take the
responsibility of identifying the next generation leaders.