Ganesh Chaturthi Spcl:Management Lessons from Lord Ganesha

Posted on 12/09/2014 I by: Priya Sharma

The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles.  Each part of His body and everything associated with Him has a significance that can be related to our professional challenges. Read through and you will know how-

Big Head
The big head of Lord Ganesha indicates a big brain within the big head. It tells us we have to think big. Only then can we achieve success. It is these big thoughts that are processed into actions, which is later seen as successful achievements.

Small eyes
Small eyes is a sign of focus. The management has to be focused on its target. Any kind of distraction from the target can result in failure. So remain focused and work towards the goal with a sharp eye says the small eyes of Lord Ganesha.

Long Nose
The long nose of Lord Ganesha suggests that one should be able to smell from a long distance, i.e. smell into the future. The management should smell the dangers or opportunities that are coming up well in advance. Just like the trunk of the Lord can be moved into any direction the management should smell into all directions to detect where the opportunities are coming from and which is the dangerous zone and tread accordingly into the direction of success.

Big stomach
The stomach indicates digestionand a big stomach like that of Lord Ganesha can digest a lot of things, rather everything. A manager should be able to digest any kind of news good or bad. Whether it is objections, disappointments or hardships, digest all resentments and hatred and move ahead until the goal is achieved.

Hands
Lord Ganesha's hands has something to signify. While the left hand has a modak, the right hand is raised to bless. It implies a give and take relation. Lord Ganesha, who loves modak takes modak from his devotees and in turn bless them. Management has to learn to give while they expect outcomes from their sub-ordinates / employees, only then will it succeed.

Small Feet
The small feet of Lord Ganesh, which supports his large body, leaves him with no choice but to be firmly grounded to avoid tumbling or falling. The management (often a small team of professionals) has a large responsibility of handling all the stakeholders of the Company (the large body), and to do this the management has to be very firm with its decisions and policies. Any leniency or relaxation can become the reason for downfall.

The Two Tusks
Each one of us has heard of the saying – 'haathi ke dikhane ke daant alag aur khane ke daant alag” which means that the tusks (dikhane ke daant) are actually the beautifiers, and if one of them is broken definitely the beauty is lost. However, in the case of Lord Ganesha, the broken tusk has not brought down his popularity. His broken tusk reminds us of the sacrifice he made.

Mouse as his vehicle
Lord Ganesha with a huge body has a small mouse for his vehicle. It shows that Lord Ganesha has no egos. Ganesha’s modesty does not permit him to consider the mouse as insignificant, but he has reviewed the advantages that the mouse can offer him. The mouse can squeeze in through the tiniest space and can even help him commute during the night.

Offerings
The offerings made to Lord Ganesha are modak, durva and hibiscus flowers. These offerings, be it the modak, durva or the red hibiscus are easily available. Hence the devotees of Lord Ganesha who desire to have his darshan can easily approach him with any of these easily available offerings.