Role of Self-managing Leadership in Crisis Management: An Empirical Study on the Effectiveness of Rajayoga

Abstract

Crises are common in the modern world and the value system of leaders plays a crucial role in effectively managing the crises. The role of self-managing leadership in crisis management is explored in this article. An empirical study is conducted to understand the effectiveness of the ancient self-management technique called Rajayoga. It is based on a sample survey among two groups—one group not practicing Rajayoga and the other group practicing Rajayoga. It is found that the inner powers and innate values have a positive correlation with crises management capabilities. Further, these capabilities and correlations are found to be stronger in a group of people practicing Rajayoga for self empowerment. The relationship between inner powers and innate values, the interactivity and proactivity among the inner powers, the relationship between the ‘doing’ powers and the ‘being’ powers are also confirmed through the study.

Keywords

Self Managing Leadership Crisis Management Rajayoga Meditation Spirituality Change Management

Introduction

Crisis management has always been an important topic from practitioner and academic perspective. Several studies have been dedicated to find out effective techniques to manage and handle crisis. This study is dedicated to explore the role of self-managing leadership in crisis management. Many crisis management blunders have been attributed to leadership failures. In the context of business, lack of effective crisis management has led to downfall of many businesses and hence it is important to understand a wider perspective to the topic.

The focus of this study is to understand the relationship between the inner powers and values of individuals and their crises managing capabilities. It includes literature support and practical examples to understand the relationship between inner powers and values and explore the interactivity and proactivity among the inner powers. It aims to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between the ‘doing’ powers and the ‘being’ powers along with the effectiveness of self-empowerment technique, ‘Rajayoga meditation’ in developing the inner powers and values and its effect on crises management capabilities.

The third section describes the self-managing leadership, the leadership competencies and the Rajayoga in detail. The fourth section describes the research methodology, and the analysis and interpretation of the results are presented in the fifth section and conclusions are drawn in the sixth section.

Literature Review

There are various definitions of ‘crisis’ given by several authors in literature. A crisis is sometimes considered a change, which may be sudden or which may take some time to evolve, that results in an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately (ASIS International, 2009). It is also considered as a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained (Venette, 2003). Three elements that are common to most definitions of crisis are (i) a threat to the organization, (ii) the element of surprise and (iii) a short decision time (ASIS International, 2009; Seeger, Sellnow & Ulmer, 1998).

Erika Hayes James (James & Wooten, 2005) defines organizational crisis as ‘any emotionally charged situation that, once it becomes public, invites negative stakeholder reaction and thereby has the potential to threaten the financial well-being, reputation, or survival of the firm or some portion thereof’. Erika Hayes James (James & Wooten, 2005) identifies two primary types of organizational crisis—sudden crisis and smoldering crises. Sudden crises are circumstances that occur without warning and beyond an institution’s control. Consequently, sudden crises are most often situations for which the institution and its leadership are not blamed. Smoldering crises on the other hand differ from sudden crises. They begin as minor internal issues that, due to manager’s negligence, develop to crisis status.

Crisis Leadership

James categorises five phases of crisis that require specific crisis leadership competencies (James & Wooten, 2010). Each phase contains an obstacle that a leader must overcome to improve the structure and operations of an organization. James’s case study on crisis in the financial services sector, for example, explores why crisis events erode public trust in leadership. James’s research demonstrates how leadership competencies of integrity, positive intent, capability, mutual respect and transparency impact the trust-building process (James, 2009). The five phases are (i) signal detection, (ii) preparation and prevention, (iii) containment and damage control, (iv) business recovery and (v) learning.

Signal detection is a phase where sense-making represents an attempt to create order and make sense, retrospectively, of what occurs. Preparation and prevention on the other hand is a stage that crisis handlers begin preparing for or averting the crisis that had been foreshadowed in the signal detection stage. Containment and damage control is usually considered the most vivid stage, the goal of crisis containment and damage control is to limit the reputational, financial, safety and other threats to firm survival. In business recovery, organizations must be able to carry on with their business in the midst of the crisis while simultaneously planning for how they will recover from the damage the crisis caused. In the last stage of learning, organizational decision makers adopt a learning orientation and use prior experience to develop new routines and behaviours that ultimately change the way the organization operates.

Crisis leadership research concludes that leadership action in crisis reflects the competency of an organization, because the test of crisis demonstrates how well the organization’s leadership structure serves the organization’s goals and withstands crisis (James & Wooten, 2005). Developing effective human resources is vital when building organizational capabilities through crisis management executive leadership (Wooten & James, 2008).¹ Using qualitative research design and the analysis of firms in crises, they examine leadership competencies during each phase of a crisis.

In the face of crisis, leaders must deal with the strategic challenges they face, the political risks and opportunities they encounter, the errors they make, the pitfalls they need to avoid, and the paths away from crisis they may pursue (Hellsloot, 2007). The necessity for management is even more significant with the advent of a 24-hour news cycle and an increasingly Internet-savvy audience with ever-changing technology at its fingertips (Boin, Hart & Stern, 2005).

Self-managing Leadership in Crisis Management

In general, the literature addresses crises management in the context of organizations. The two extreme generalization of the context of crises could be an individual at one extreme (individual crises) and the whole world at the other extreme (global crises). It is the individuals who have to provide leadership in all these cases—whether it is individual crises, organizational crises or global crises. In this work, we build on crisis management research by focusing on the self-managing leadership competencies associated with crisis management. The role of self-managing leadership during crises is studied in this article with empirical data on Rajayoga. The self-managing leadership paradigm given in Usha (n.d.) is used for the study. The effect of lifestyle changes—specifically a vegetarian wholesome diet, moderate aerobic exercise and stress control by Rajayoga meditation on the coronary artery diseases has been reported in Sareen (2012).² Sustainable yogic agriculture, a pioneering initiative, uses thought-based meditative practices combined with organic farming to reduce costs and improve the quality has been reported.³ Other research works include the effectiveness of Rajayoga on developing managerial skills (Pillai, 2006), on sustaining the environment (Pillai, 2014a), and on developing ethical values (Pillai, 2014b).

Self-managing Leadership (the focus variable)

In rapidly changing times, the challenge to an organization is to provide a framework for people to understand their journey through change so that they can contribute their best to the organization. In order to play a leadership role or as agents of change within an organization, people must be able to bring about significant changes in their own inner organization. As the external environment changes fast, the importance of self-management increases. It is hardly possible to control the external environment, any more. The emphasis has to be shifted towards managing the inner environment that is to harness the inner resources that have been neglected. The future of an organization rests on the autonomy, maturity and confidence of the people. Many have been trained with particular technical and functional-oriented skills and they were promoted on the basis of it. They were fine in a relatively stable world, but not in a chaotic world. The skills and abilities that are required now, are how to lead through a never-ending process of change. How to be calm and confident in face of upheavals? Change is a continuous process.

History has shown that every time there has been a major change in the consciousness of the people in the world, the dominant sector in the society has provided a leading role (see Figure 1). The industrial revolution bears the testimony to this, science having taken up the reins. Prior, to that the basic influence had been religion. Now globalization and consumerism are buzzwords. Unfortunately, cut-throat competition and cut-policies have taken their toll on the work-force and the word ‘stress’ is not only common, but affects each and everyone in a very big way. At this stage, the companies are discovering that they cannot survive unless they make drastic fundamental changes in their policies.

Figure 1.

Transformational Change

Leaders as Agents of Change

Knowing about change is one thing. But the present time is demanding more than this. In fact, a whole new way of looking at things is required. It is required to jump out and take a closer looking at things, rather than mere adapting. ‘Jumping out’ is the ability to step back, perceive the situation in a new way and then act accordingly. It means redefining the role of a manager and understanding the mechanism of creating attitudes. It is only then the change can come from within, instead of it being imposed from outside (see Figure 2). One cannot expect to change the external atmosphere before he/she changes the inner self.

Many are not aware of the qualities they possess and seek the strength from the outside. Accessing and developing these inner qualities is a process called ‘personal reengineering’.

Leaders are agents of change within their organizations and are responsible for helping and guiding other people through proper communication.

Leadership Competencies

A leader may be defined as ‘one who never reacts, but observes, understands, analyzes and then acts decisively’. He would not react immediately on small things because he has some powerful, charismatic qualities. A leader is a cool and calm person. He would not lose his temper instantly. By being a cool and calm personality, there is no confusion. He possesses a clear vision and there is a clear understanding, of what he is doing and why and how he is going to do it. This enables him to be confident and therefore he has a high level of commitment and while performing he becomes highly creative in his ways. This is how he becomes a source of inspiration. When he has these qualities there is job satisfaction or inner contentment that he derives from his own performance. So we can say that he experiences the charisma of contentment through his inner qualities.

Figure 2.

Proactive versus Reactive Approach

A leader is effective and efficient due to certain attitudes and inherent abilities he has, which enables him to efficiently carry on his activities. There are eight main attitudes or inner powers that he exercises at the appropriate time and right place. How does one enhance these abilities and powers to be effective in the present environment? There are some core values connected with these abilities and powers and when he becomes aware of them and practices living those values, then the abilities and powers get naturally developed.

Developing Self-managing Leadership through Rajayoga

The word Raja in Sanskrit means ‘king’, ‘chief’ or ‘best of its kind’ and Rajayoga denotes ‘chief’ or ‘best of’ all yoga practices.⁴ It is an ancient practice for self management/self realization and God realization. There are various approaches followed in practice. In the context of Hindu philosophy, Rajayoga is a retronym, introduced in the nineteenth century by Swami Vivekananda (Vivekananda, 1980). In all historical texts, Rajayoga, in the modern sense of its meaning, is known simply as Yoga, where it means one of six major orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy (Burley, 2012, pp. 43–46 and Introduction chapter; Jacobsen, 2008, pp. 100–101, 333–340). Literature reports several scientific studies on the benefits of practicing various types of yoga (Deepeshwar, Suhas, Naveen & Nagendra, 2014; Maharana, Nagarathna, Padmalatha, Nagendra & Hankey, 2013; Rao & Nagendra, 2012).

The Rajayoga practice followed at the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (O’Donnel, 2006) is used for discussion in this article, which is purely a spiritual practice.^5,6 Every human being in this world aspires for peace and happiness and they have less to do with gross objects but refer to states of mind. The advantages of practicing Rajayoga includes deep relaxation, behavioural transformation, experience the heavenly love (Godly love), gaining control over mind and economy of thoughts, living in harmony with the nature and with oneself, improved relationship with others etc. Several research studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of Rajayoga practice for self control, self management, holistic and stress free living, environmental sustainability, health etc. (O’Donnel, 2006; Pillai, 2014a, 2014b; Sareen, 2012). It provides a deep understanding and experience of the three major powers in the world—the powers of the soul, the Supreme Soul and the nature, and their interaction that leads to various activities in this world.

A human being comprises soul and body. The matter of the body is a form of physical energy and the soul is non-physical (meta physical) conscious energy. It is also called ‘self’ or ‘consciousness’ or ‘spirit’. The soul is a living entity different from its instrument namely the body with various components like eyes, ears, nose etc. and is the master of the body. The connection between the physical and non-physical is by means of thought energy. The eternal nature of the soul is complete purity and it is perfect with knowledge, purity, love, peace, happiness, bliss and power. While living in a body, the soul always desire for experiences of these qualities. These are the qualities that naturally emerge when the soul is aware of itself, or in other words, is soul conscious. The essential spiritual powers of the soul include (Usha) the power of tolerance, the power of judgement, the power to make right decisions, the power to face, the power to accommodate, the power to change, the power to cooperate and the power to pack up.

A soul has three faculties: mind, intellect and impressions (see Figure A5-2). Any action (karma) performed by a soul begins with a thought in the mind (O’Donnel, 2006). The intellect weighs the thought and judges whether it should be transformed into action. Once the action is performed, it leaves a subtle impression on the soul (subconscious mind), which shapes our impressions (sanskaras). These impressions form the basis of and influence our future thoughts. Thus, if a person performs a wrong action, the impression it forms will impel him to perform more wrong actions in the future. Each time he does wrong, his impression will become stronger, and under its growing influence he will go on doing wrong. It is like a man digging a pit and sinking deeper into it as he digs. A person is in body consciousness when he/she identifies himself or herself with the physical body or an attribute of the body, that is, when the thinking, feeling, actions and behaviours are with the awareness that he or she is a body. The vices like lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego are all having their roots in body consciousness. When a person is in the state of awareness that ‘I am a Soul and not this physical body’, then he/she would be in soul consciousness. In other words, the person thinks, feels, acts, behaves, compares, etc., with the awareness that he/she is a soul, the master of the body. The original qualities of a soul such as knowledge, purity, love, peace, happiness, bliss and power naturally emerge under soul consciousness. Karma performed under the influence of soul consciousness form right karma, and only such karma can bring lasting peace and bliss.

Practice of Rajayoga meditation helps in empowering the self to create powerful thoughts filled up with virtues. Through loveful remembrance of the Supreme Soul in soul consciousness, the soul can realize its original virtues. All actions performed under soul consciousness with remembrance of the Supreme Soul will be filled up with the original virtues and as per the law of karma, the soul is also bound to experiences these virtues as return of such actions. This is a positive cycle of transformation. For this, the self has to continuously monitor its state and bring changes to the thought process. A conscious repeated effort on creating thought on any attribute or quality leads to the realization and experience of that thought. This process leads to attaining complete purity of the soul like the Supreme Soul and attains perfection in actions.

Once the soul experiences its own pure perfect nature, the perception about everyone including himself begins to change. It gets affirmed that others are also pure souls like him and that the weaknesses are only temporary. He will be compassionate to others. The experience of the perfect nature also changes the attitude towards work as well as nature. Once the perception changes the attitude and outlook of the person changes and brings satisfaction (contentment) to the self and to the environment including others. Once the consciousness is transformed, it changes feelings, attitude, outlook, words, actions, relations and time. It finally settles itself into the soul as positive personality traits. Through the meditation practice, the soul develops the power to discern/discriminate and judge based on the ethical principles. This development in the will power also helps the soul to practice ethical principles and face the challenges (both internal and external) challenges during the practice. Better control on the vices as a result of the practice helps the soul to preserve its inner powers. Details on the soul, its faculties and the interaction among them, and the Supreme Soul are given in Appendix 5.

Several experimental studies have been done on the positive effect of Rajayoga on self management including health, stress management and on agriculture, etc. For example, a comprehensive survey of youth group was carried out in January–February 2006 with the objective to get data on different levels and areas of transformation among the youth due to Rajayoga practice (Sareen, 2012). This was a nationwide survey involving more than 11,000 Rajayogi youth in India. All of them are regular students of Rajayoga training and have practiced it for at least 1 year after their training. The subjects were asked whether they had any vice before the exposure of Rajayoga and whether they had given up the respective vices after the practice of Rajayoga and since when. The vices considered in the survey include (i) addiction to drinking liquor, smoking, tobacco consumption and drug abuse; (ii) immoral behaviour such as lust, corruption, gambling, viewing obscene films and reading obscene literature; (iii) undesirable practices like taking non-vegetarian food, revengeful nature, indiscipline and raging; and (iv) antisocial acts such as destructive activities and violence. The data collected are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1.

Effectiveness of Rajayoga on Personal Development

	No. of Youth	%
Youth surveyed	11,393	100
Youth not indulged in vices before Rajayoga practice	3,248	28.51
Youth indulged in vices before Rajayoga practice	8,145	71.49
Youth gave up vices after practicing Rajayoga	8,108	99.55
Total no. of youth who gave up vices after Rajayoga practice	11,356	99.68

Source: Sareen (2012).

The Inner Powers and the Innate Values Developed through Rajayoga

The eight attitudes (inner powers) and the eight innate values developed through Rajayoga and the relationship between them are discussed below (see Table 2; Usha, n.d.). The first ability or power that a leader needs to have is the listening ability or the power to withdraw. The secret of managing paradox lies in the detachment and equanimity. The greater the ability to detach, from the influences, and the ability to remain stable, in any conditions, the greater is his abilities to manage the paradox. Therefore, it is very important for a leader to be able to withdraw and be detached observer in order to hear what someone is trying to say. If he does not have the ability to pull back and observe he will immediately react, judge and assume what the other one is saying on the basis of his very first impression. Before the other one had a chance to complete what he is trying to say, he colours it with his own feelings and references. This is very dangerous, as leaders for correct decisions, are very much dependent on the information they receive. The basis of all decisions is the information they take in. The ability to listen means a very effective and permanent survey and assessment of the situation. It means having access to a very good management information system. In order to enhance the listening ability, one needs to have patience when someone is sharing something with him. If a manager is impatient, he loses relevant information and can hardly be successful, without complete information.

Table 2.

The Connection between the Inner Powers and Innate Values

Sl. No.	Inner Power	Related Innate Value
1	Power to withdraw (P1)	Patience (V1)
2	Power to pack-up (P2) (Availability)	Humility (V2)
3	Power to tolerate (P3)	Love (V3)
4	Power to adapt/adjust/accommodate (P4) (Flexibility)	Maturity (V4)
5	Power to discern/discriminate (P5)	Knowledge (V5)
6	Power to judge/decide (P6)	Clarity of mind (V6)
7	Power to face (P7)/(Responsibility)	Courage (V7)
8	Power to cooperate (P8) (Team Spirit)	Cooperation (V8)

Source: Pillai (2013), Usha (n.d.).

The second ability is that he has the mental availability or the power to pack up. The responsibility of a leader is to be present whenever and wherever he is needed. The listening ability and the availability are very deeply connected. Whenever he is called upon, he needs to pack up all other thoughts, and pull out from whichever engagement his mind is busy in order to be fully available for the next. He needs to be available to those for whom he is responsible. Availability does not only mean physical availability but together with physical availability, a leader has to be mentally available to his people. Thus, availability means to be always ready, so that you are able to start anything at any time. It means you have all means available to you to be able to delegate well to other competent persons for those jobs. If you can not delegate, you will be very busy and therefore not available. Availability means ability for decision making. Availability means to have very clear objectives. Why is he not available? He may be too busy in doing a lot of other things which are not that important, but very urgent or because he is not well organized. Further, he needs humility to be available to all his associates to gain the trust of his people.

All the uncertainties, complexities and contradictions require a lot of tolerance. A leader has a high level of tolerance. Tolerance means strength or inner power. Tolerance is the ability to work in very demanding situations, when there is a lot of turbulence and high pressure. A leader has to handle many different situations simultaneously and to accept considerable feedback. He has to take major decisions and take the responsibility for those decisions. He has to be able to take criticism without reacting or even feeling it as a burden. As soon as a leader loses his tolerance power, his goodwill is lost. Others will not want to follow him. The tree is the best symbol of tolerance. It gives its shadow even to the wood cutter. Tolerance means to give one’s best up to the very end. Tolerance is to accept both praise and defamation with equanimity of mind. Tolerance is developed through love. Through love, a leader empowers people and the people in return, are available to him when he needs them. All are in the same boat so that he let them cross the stream together.

A leader has the ability to adapt or the power to adjust. Flexibility and the ability to adapt is the strength that helps the leader to reach his goals. A river finds its way through the landscape and reaches the ocean despite many obstacles along the way. In the same way, flexibility in a leader is the ability to adjust to many different personalities and situations he or she faces in the process of reaching his goal. He needs maturity to give way to others, to bend and to tolerate. The more flexible the leader, the better will be his capability to accept pressure. Unlike the little straw that does not break as it bends in the storm, it is flexible and therefore rises again when the storm is over. Adaptability means to have integrity. Adaptability is to encourage job-rotation and to be able to change place and task. Nowadays, effective people are multi-skilled and therefore better equipped for change. A leader needs to have the maturity as to where to adapt, how to adapt, to what extent to adapt and when to adapt. If the leader does not have this maturity or understanding, then he becomes like the boiled frog and fails in his mission.

A leader has a powerful ability to discern or discriminate right from wrong, truth from falsehood, reality from illusion and benefit from harm. This ability is absolutely crucial for a leader who is taking decision for so many others to follow. If he lacks discrimination power and chooses the wrong path, the consequences may be hard hit. Again it requires a very powerful management information system, not just in terms of collecting information, but in terms of selecting, analyzing, synthesizing, prioritizing, assessing, appraising and evaluating. Discrimination power means that you build up a very good assessment system. Knowledge and wisdom enable one to have accurate discrimination. One of the major tasks of a leader is to take decisions. He is constantly in situations where he has to judge, where to go next. The power of decision is not only to discriminate between right and wrong, but further to judge which of the several options in hand would be the best choice. After using imagination, vision and creativity the power of decision is required to commit to a powerful course of action for the future. To decide is to cut off other alternatives. The ability to decide rests on the ability to anticipate the right course of action and to take it. It is a tool for attaining refinement and perfection. Making correct choice is often difficult as it means to renounce other options. Decisions often have to be made on the spot and therefore his power to judge needs greater clarity. Discrimination for correct decision is like correct investigation for right judgement. A leader needs to investigate, analyze, synthesize and understand first and only then take decision after considering all pros and cons of the matter. Not to take decisions first and then understand, he needs have great clarity of mind to take bold decisions.

The leader has to have the power to face as he carries out the main responsibility. The implication of decision making is to take up the responsibility. This ability is similar to courage. He needs the courage to face the effects of his own decisions, which may sometimes be unpleasant. That means, he has to be trustworthy and responsible. When people are involved in the process of making decisions, they have to become responsible. A leader has to face the obstacles that arise when he commits to a course. The power to face is the ability to anticipate the barriers, problems and contradictions and face them when he goes wrong. Honesty increases his power to face.

A leader should have the ability to create a team spirit and the power to cooperate. A leader needs to be able to inspire cooperation in others and he can do so only when he himself is able to cooperate well with others. The ability to cooperate with each other is becoming more important, as substantial time, money and energy are involved. Cooperation comes from a common purpose and in seeing the speciality of each member of the team, an appreciation of the distinctive contribution that each one can make. Team spirit means that people are strongly connected in the same value system. It is a power which is able to make huge tasks easy and enjoyable as well. Creating a team-spirit means to get people committed to take up the responsibility collectively in a team.

Proactivity and Interactivity between the Inner Powers and Innate Values

There is a very deep proactivity and interactivity between all inner powers and innate values (see Figure 3).

To listen we need to be available and to be available we need to have interest in listening to others; otherwise, we will not be able to make ourselves available. To be available, we need to be strong, which means to have tolerance. If our level of tolerance is low, we will not make ourselves available. Even if we may be physically present, but the mind will be occupied with so many other things and we shall not listen, so we shall miss the information.

To have tolerance, we need the ability to adapt. The one who is rigid breaks easily. Again information increases our understanding which enhances the level of tolerance and we are able to adapt at the right time, in the right place. But in order to adapt in an accurate manner we need the discerning ability so as to know what to adapt, when to adapt and when to be firm. The more we analyze and discriminate, the better decisions we take. Taking decisions implies that we shall be responsible for the results of the decisions we have made. Team spirit is based on shared responsibility and to function in a team we need the ability to listen to all. It is only then we get the cooperation of all.

Figure 3.

Source: Pillai (2013).

Out of these eight abilities the first four abilities is what a leader has to be and the latter four abilities is what he has to do or perform (see Figure 4). A leader has to be a good listener, he has to be humble and keep himself available, he has to be loveful and tolerant, and he has to be mature and adapt himself. So this is what he has to be to enhance his performing capabilities. He has to practically discern, to take decisions, to take up responsibility and to create a team spirit.

Figure 4.

Source: Usha (n.d.)

There is deep interactivity between being and doing. If a leader cannot be what he is expected to be, he cannot do. When a leader is a good listener, he gets clear information to discern or discriminate otherwise his mind will be pre-occupied with his own ideas and assumptions. A leader has to keep him available to take good decisions, otherwise he will keep on postponing until he is free to decide, and the time may lapse and so he will not be able to take timely decisions. A leader needs the power of tolerance to have the courage to take up the responsibility. Strong people can be responsible: responsibility cannot be given to a weak person. Further, when the leader is flexible and is able to adapt him, he gets the cooperation of all and he is able to create a team spirit.

Research Methodology

The research was conducted using questionnaire designed for the purpose by the authors, based on literature and the deeper understanding of the innate powers and innate values experienced by experts (Janki, 2011; Usha, n.d.). The research questionnaire is shown in Appendix 1. Eight inner powers (P1–P8) and eight innate values (V1–V8) and the crisis management capabilities were measured using the Likert scale (1–5) with 1 representing the lowest value and 5 representing the highest value. Three statements were made on measuring different aspects of each inner power and innate value, totalling to 48 statements. The crisis management and leadership capabilities are measured as the ability with which they have successfully managed different types of crises. The crises could be personal including financial crises, crises related to health, ethical/moral crises, professional crises, family-related crises such as death of a family member.

Two groups of respondents are identified: One group that does not follow Rajayoga meditation practice for self management (group 1) and another one following the Rajayoga meditation practice for self management (group 2). The research is administered using a questionnaire shown in Appendix 1. Data is collected from 46 members in group 1 and 14 members from group 2 (total sample size of 60). The expression of various inner powers (P1–P8) and innate values (V1–V8) in action are capture as given below:

Humility (V2): The more humble you are, the more successful you will be. When there is humility, there is benefit to many.

Love (V3): Only when you love yourself you can forgive yourself. The one who is full of love is always happy. Love provides the environment for everyone’s growth. The one way to change others is to deal with them with love. Where there is love, the hardest task becomes easy to perform.

Cooperation (V8): Every task is easy for the one who is able to cooperate.

Discernment (P5): To see things as they are is to be free from the influence of weaknesses. The one who discerns well can bring about real benefit. To be free from seeing weaknesses is to be in constant peace. To appreciate the drama of life is to be in constant joy. Those who with the right attitude make the best contribution.

Responsibility (P7): Responsibility is best fulfilled with lightness. Accepting responsibility means accepting challenge. The way to be accurate is to be responsible at all times. To take responsibility for one’s actions allow the self to grow.

Tolerance (P3): The power of truth gives us the ability to tolerate. The one who understands the power of truth is tolerant. True tolerance is free from negative feelings.

Listening (P1): The power to listen brings inner peace. To listen well is to create harmonious relationships. To listen to others frees us from repeating mistakes.

Patience (V1): Determination combined with patience brings success. Where there is peace, there is patience. A long-term practice brings long-term gain. To have determination is to have the patience to wait for the fruits of one’s labours.

Flexibility (adaptability) (P4): To be free from weakness means having the power to change. To be flexible is to enjoy everything that life brings. The one who knows to adjust is the one who knows how to survive. A flying bird crosses all problems. To know the art of being flexible is to create beauty in one’s life. With humility and love, flexibility becomes natural.

Knowledge (V5): To bring knowledge into practice is to ensure success. True knowledge gives us the power to perform the right action at the right time. To recognize the worth of the jewels of knowledge is to use the well.

Courage (V7): A single courageous step brings much progress. To receive help, we must first have courage. Sometimes being courageous means accepting help from others. Success is achieved when courage is combined with understanding. The sign of courage is never to be defeated.

Clarity (V6): The one whose vision is clear is the one who is successful. To see things as they are is to be free from the influence of weaknesses.

Availability (power to pack up) (P2): It is the ability to check waste and negative thoughts and able to stop them in one second so there is lightness and freedom from worries.

Decision making (P6): Ability to assess any situation accurately with clarity and precision. With a detached mind we can use this power to help discriminate the quality of our thoughts, words and actions and do not be judgemental of others. Power to judge means always keep a balance between law and love. For others there should be love and for ourselves we should follow the law, discipline. If the power of discrimination is right then power to judge becomes automatically strong.

Team-spirit (power to cooperate) (P8): It means being able to set aside our ideas for a moment and opening up to whatever arises and giving them full scoop of their natural talents. Cooperation ensures equanimity, empowerment, easiness and enthusiasm. Cooperation provides the means for each member to take a step, no matter how small, and for those steps collectively to reach the destination.

Maturity (V4): It is the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one’s age. Maturity also encompasses being aware of the correct time and place to behave and knowing when to act appropriately, according to the circumstances and the culture of the society one lives in.

Each of the above power or value is measured using three questions, in the order given above. For example, questions 1.a, 1.b and 1.c measure humility; 2.a, 2.b and 2.c measure love and ending with 16.a, 16.b and 16.c measuring maturity. Question 17 measures crises management capability.

Table 3.

Distribution of Age

Age
	No.
	Group 1	Group 2	Overall
Less than 25	6	1	7
25–40	31	2	33
40–55	5	8	13
55 and above	1	2	3
Undisclosed	3	1	4
Total	46	14	60

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 4.

Distribution of Gender

Gender
	No.
	Group 1	Group 2	Overall
Male	0	8	8
Female	43	6	49
Undisclosed	3	0	3
Total	46	14	60

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 5.

Distribution of Educational Qualifications

Educational Qualification
	No.
	Group 1	Group 2	Overall
Undergraduates	7	2	9
Post Graduates	32	6	38
Doctorate	2	1	3
Others	1	3	4
Undisclosed	4	2	6
Total	46	14	60

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 6.

Distribution of Managerial Responsibilities

Managerial Responsibility
	No.
	Group 1	Group 2	Overall
People with managerial responsibilities	16	6	22
People without managerial responsibilities	14	5	19
Undisclosed	16	3	19
Total	46	14	60

Source: Pillai (2013).

Summary of Demographic Data

The summary of demographic data is shown in Tables 3 to 6. The majority of the respondents are women (49 out of 60). In terms of the age group, 33 people belong to 25–40 years. Majority of the respondents have post graduate qualification (38 out of 60). Only 22 respondents have indicated that they have managerial responsibilities.

Response to Questionnaire

The questionnaire is first tested for reliability by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha using SPSS software. The Cronbach’s alpha is calculated to test the validity of the questionnaire and is shown in Table A3-1 in Appendix 3. The results show that the reliability and validity of the construct has improved significantly with the presence of group 2.

Table 7.

TTEST Results on the Average Value of the Response in Two Groups

TTEST(1–1)	0.10
TTEST(1–2)	0.18
TTEST(1–3)	0.18
TTEST(2–1)	0.20
TTEST(2–2)	0.35
TTEST(2–3)	0.35

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 8.

TTEST Results on the Average Value of the Response in Two Groups (P1–P8, V1–V8, CRISES)

TTEST (1–1)	0.029314
TEST(1–2)	0.111153
TTEST(1–3)	0.11121
TEST(2–1)	0.058628
TTEST(2–2)	0.222306
TTEST(2–3)	0.22242

Source: Pillai (2013).

The scales were tested in skewness and kurtosis and the results are shown in Tables A2-1, A2-2, and A2-3 in Appendix-2. The results show that the combined skewness and kurtosis is better with group 2. The sample mean and the standard deviation of 59 questions among the two groups. In 32 cases, the sample mean of group 2 exceeds that of group 1 and in 39 cases the standard deviation of group 2 is less than that of group 1. In order to compare the data from the two groups TTEST is performed (MS Excel) on certain parameters like the average values of each questions and the standard deviation. The results are shown in Table 7. This shows the confidence level.

The average values of the inner powers, innate values and crises are then compared for the two groups (Table 9) and the TTEST is performed. The TTEST performed on the average value is shown in Table 8.

Analysis and Interpretation of Results

The average values of the inner powers, innate values and crises are then compared for the two groups (Table 9). In this case, the average of response to each construct (P1, P2, …) is used by taking the average value of questions under the same construct. In 11 cases (out of 17) the average value in group 2 is greater than that in group 1. In 11 cases (out of 17) the standard deviation in group 1 is greater than that in group 2. In 15 cases (out of 17) the minimum value in group 2 is greater than that in group 1. This shows that group 2 outperforms group 1 in inner powers, innate values and crises management capabilities.

Table 9.

Comparison of the Average Value, Standard Deviation and the Minimum Value of Various Inner Powers, Innate Values and Crises in Groups (P1–P8,V1–V8, CRISES)

	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	V1	V2	V3	V4	V5	V6	V7	V8	CRISES
Average (Group 1)	4.21	3.94	3.79	4.18	4.04	3.54	4.00	4.41	3.95	3.76	4.28	4.28	4.19	3.83	4.10	4.64	4.01
Average (Group 2)	4.10	4.40	3.56	4.05	4.02	3.95	4.17	4.43	4.21	4.29	4.26	4.31	4.40	4.07	4.12	4.60	4.04
Average (Overall)	4.18	4.05	3.74	4.15	4.04	3.64	4.04	4.42	4.01	3.88	4.28	4.28	4.24	3.89	4.11	4.63	4.01
SD (Group 1)	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.6
SD (Group 2)	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.4	0.4	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.8
SD (Overall)	0.58	0.62	0.65	0.47	0.53	0.77	0.59	0.58	0.56	0.48	0.54	0.48	0.51	0.59	0.60	0.44	0.64
Min (Group 1)	2.67	2.67	2.00	3.33	3.00	1.67	2.67	3.00	2.67	2.67	3.33	2.67	2.33	1.67	2.33	3.33	2.75
Min (Group 2)	3.00	3.67	2.00	3.33	3.33	3.00	2.67	3.33	3.33	3.67	3.00	3.67	4.00	3.00	3.33	4.00	2.50
Min (Overall)	2.67	2.67	2.00	3.33	3.00	1.67	2.67	3.00	2.67	2.67	3.00	2.67	2.33	1.67	2.33	3.33	2.50

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 10.

Pearson Correlation Coefficients (Group 1)

	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	V1	V2	V3	V4	V5	V6	V7	V8	CRISES
P1	1.00	0.55	0.46	0.34	0.42	0.31	0.22	0.24	0.27	0.23	0.22	0.35	0.18	0.21	0.18	0.29	0.14
P2		1.00	0.33	0.49	0.28	0.33	0.15	0.34	0.61	0.27	0.43	0.53	0.30	0.31	0.39	0.43	0.39
P3			1.00	0.31	0.38	0.23	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.27	0.43	0.25	0.34	0.18	0.26	0.480	0.10
P4				1.00	0.14	0.19	0.37	0.12	0.46	0.25	0.38	0.39	0.27	0.10	0.36	0.07	0.42
P5					1.00	0.41	0.54	0.28	0.12	0.14	0.44	0.24	0.36	0.47	0.33	0.40	0.20
P6						1.00	0.46	0.46	0.08	0.15	0.27	0.30	0.32	0.43	0.42	0.06	0.23
P7							1.00	0.27	0.09	0.22	0.41	0.30	0.12	0.36	0.42	0.24	0.12
P8								1.00	0.28	0.31	0.18	0.45	0.47	0.52	0.39	0.35	0.24
V1									1.00	0.18	0.20	0.49	0.38	0.23	0.31	0.54	0.40
V2										1.00	0.12	0.13	0.19	0.28	0.35	0.06	0.17
V3											1.00	0.18	0.17	0.18	0.34	0.26	0.30
V4												1.00	0.38	0.33	0.47	0.24	0.35
V5													1.00	0.45	0.64	0.24	0.26
V6														1.00	0.59	0.04	0.24
V7															1.00	0.12	0.21
V8																1.00	0.04

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 11.

Pearson Correlation Coefficients (Group 2)

	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	V1	V2	V3	V4	V5	V6	V7	V8	CRISES
P1	1.00	0.58	0.39	0.43	0.44	0.63	0.51	0.41	0.56	0.81	0.55	0.64	0.56	0.82	0.42	0.45	0.45
P2		1.00	0.70	0.63	0.22	0.66	0.76	0.74	0.59	0.58	0.75	0.75	0.72	0.27	0.88	0.91	0.91
P3			1.00	0.73	0.06	0.01	0.31	0.73	0.36	0.07	0.74	0.59	0.34	–0.08	0.61	0.76	0.76
P4				1.00	0.49	0.22	0.50	0.65	0.40	0.22	0.72	0.54	0.45	0.26	0.59	0.59	0.59
P5					1.00	0.39	0.46	0.37	0.35	0.46	0.39	0.45	0.61	0.66	0.27	0.16	0.16
P6						1.00	0.76	0.40	0.65	0.73	0.45	0.72	0.63	0.54	0.66	0.49	0.49
P7							1.00	0.43	0.38	0.54	0.61	0.78	0.69	0.38	0.87	0.60	0.60
P8								1.00	0.53	0.34	0.70	0.64	0.66	0.27	0.63	0.71	0.71
V1									1.00	0.44	0.73	0.49	0.66	0.35	0.44	0.69	0.69
V2										1.00	0.40	0.64	0.61	0.84	0.48	0.38	0.38
V3											1.00	0.71	0.71	0.34	0.69	0.80	0.80
V4												1.00	0.58	0.53	0.81	0.66	0.66
V5													1.00	0.55	0.66	0.70	0.70
V6														1.00	0.26	0.11	0.11
V7																0.77	0.77
V8																1.00	0.75

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 12.

Pearson Correlation Coefficients (Overall)

	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	V1	V2	V3	V4	V5	V6	V7	V8	CRISES
P1	1.00	0.49	0.46	0.37	0.41	0.35	0.28	0.27	0.28	0.29	0.32	0.41	0.22	0.31	0.21	0.35	0.23
P2		1.00	0.33	0.44	0.25	0.42	0.29	0.39	0.63	0.42	0.45	0.55	0.38	0.33	0.44	0.44	0.47
P3			1.00	0.39	0.33	0.16	0.32	0.42	0.29	0.15	0.53	0.32	0.31	0.11	0.30	0.52	0.30
P4				1.00	0.19	0.16	0.38	0.22	0.41	0.15	0.46	0.42	0.27	0.10	0.39	0.16	0.45
P5					1.00	0.39	0.51	0.29	0.14	0.17	0.41	0.27	0.38	0.49	0.32	0.38	0.12
P6						1.00	0.53	0.44	0.19	0.34	0.30	0.38	0.39	0.47	0.45	0.09	0.29
P7							1.00	0.30	0.16	0.33	0.47	0.42	0.24	0.38	0.49	0.27	0.28
P8								1.00	0.31	0.28	0.32	0.49	0.49	0.47	0.43	0.43	0.36
V1									1.00	0.28	0.28	0.48	0.43	0.27	0.32	0.51	0.44
V2										1.00	0.17	0.24	0.31	0.43	0.33	0.12	0.22
V3											1.00	0.24	0.31	0.43	0.33	0.12	0.48
V4												1.00	0.41	0.37	0.52	0.27	0.44
V5													1.00	0.48	0.63	0.32	0.34
V6														1.00	0.53	0.08	0.20
V7															1.00	0.18	0.33
V8																1.00	0.26

Source: Pillai (2013).

The Pearson correlation coefficient among the average values of 16 constructs (P1…P8, V1…V8) and across each of construct and crises are calculated using MS Excel and shown in Tables 10 to 12. The proactivity among inner powers (P1–P8), the correlation between the eight inner powers and eight innate values (V1…V8), and the interactivity among the inner powers are deduced from these tables. As shown by the values, the following observations are made:

There is a positive correlation between the inner powers and innate values and the crises management capabilities.

There is a positive correlation between the inner powers and innate values.

There is proactivity and interactivity among the inner powers.

The above correlations are much stronger in group 2.

Table 13.

Pearson Correlation Coefficients (among ‘being’ inner powers and innate values, ‘doing’ inner powers, innate values and crises)

	P1–P4	P5–P8	V1–V4	V5–V8	CRISES
P1–P4 (Group 1)	1	0.491321	0.739928	0.497335	0.188643
P1–P4 (Group 2)	1	0.763319	0.871907	0.831092	0.81539
P1–P4 (Overall)	1	0.555967	0.763701	0.567338	0.321349
P5–P8 (Group 1)		1	0.495694	0.659326	0.101359
P5–P8 (Group 2)		1	0.86045	0.860251	0.658531
P5–P8 (Overall)		1	0.597331	0.701973	0.214278
V1–V4 (Group 1)			1	0.633572	0.329324
V1–V4 (Group 2)			1	0.865173	0.781763
V1–V4 (Overall)			1	0.682553	0.434262
V5–V8 (Group 1)				1	0.085916
V5–V8 (Group 2)				1	0.716432
V5–V8 (Overall)				1	0.20046

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 13 contains the correlation coefficient among the four ‘being’ inner powers (P1–P4) together and innate values (V1–V4) together, the four ‘doing’ inner powers (P5–P8) together and innate values (V5–V8) together and the crises. This again confirms the observations made from Tables 10 to 12 in an aggregated manner.

Table 14 contains the correlation coefficient among the all the eight inner powers (P1–P8) together, innate values (V1–V8) together, and the crises. This again confirms the observations made from Tables 10 to 12 in an aggregated manner.

Table 14.

Pearson Correlation Coefficients among All Inner Powers Together and Innate Values Together

	P1–P8	V1–V8	CRISES
P1–P8 (Group 1)	1	0.761679	0.165875
P1–P8 (Group 2)	1	0.945712	0.789421
P1–P8 (Overall)	1	0.811352	0.302526
V1–V8 (Group 1)		1	0.213994
V1–V8 (Group 2)		1	0.778367
V1–V8 (Overall)		1	0.345972

Source: Pillai (2013).

Table 15 contains the correlation coefficient among all the inner powers (P1–P8) and all innate values (V1–V8) together, and the crises. This again confirms the observations made from Tables 10 to 12 in an aggregated manner.

Tables A4-1 to A4-6 in Appendix 4 contain the correlation coefficients of various inner powers and innate values with respect to specific crisis. The following observations are made from these tables:

The inner power flexibility (P4) and the innate value love (V3) have the strongest correlation with crises management capability while managing personal crises including financial, health and moral/ethical.

While the inner power flexibility (P4) and the innate value love (V3) have the strongest correlation with crises management capability while managing personal crises (financial) and personal crises (health), the inner power tolerance (P3) and the innate value knowledge/cooperation (V5, V8) have the strongest correlation with crises management capability while managing personal crises (moral/ethical).

The inner power flexibility (P4) and the innate value courage (V7) have the strongest correlation with crises management capability while managing professional crises.

The inner power tolerance (P3) and the innate value love (V3) have the strongest correlation with crises management capability while managing professional crises.

The inner power availability (P2) and the innate value love (V3) have the strongest correlation with the overall crises management capability.

Table 15.

Pearson Correlation Coefficients among All Inner Powers and Innate Values Together

	P1–P8 & V1–V8	CRISES
P1–P8 & V1–V8 (Group 1)	1	0.200248
P1–P8 & V1–V8 (Group 2)	1	0.795236
P1–P8 & V1–V8 (Overall)	1	0.335637

Source: Pillai (2013).

Major Findings

The Pearson correlation coefficient among the average values of 16 constructs (P1…P8, V1…V8) and across each of construct and crises are calculated. The proactivity among inner powers (P1–P8), the correlation between the eight inner powers and eight innate values (V1…V8), and the interactivity among the inner powers are established. The results show that

There is a positive correlation between the inner powers and innate values and the crises management capabilities.

There is a positive correlation between the inner powers and innate values

There is proactivity among the inner powers.

There is interactivity among the inner powers.

The above correlations are much stronger in group 2 (the group practicing Rajayoga for self empowerment).

The correlation coefficient among the four ‘being’ inner powers (P1–P4) together and innate values (V1–V4) together, the four ‘doing’ inner powers (P5–P8) together and innate values (V5–V8) together confirms the above observations in an aggregated manner. The correlation coefficient among all the eight inner powers (P1–P8) together, innate values (V1–V8) together, and the crises also confirms the observations in an aggregated manner. The correlation coefficient among all the inner powers (P1–P8) and all innate values (V1–V8) together, and the crises also confirms the observations in an aggregated manner.

The following hypotheses are proved:

Hypothesis 1: The inner powers and the crises management capabilities are positively correlated.

The Pearson correlation coefficients shown in Tables 10 to 12 proves that the inner powers and crises management capabilities are correlated. This proves the hypothesis 1.

Hypothesis 2: There is a positive correlation between the inner powers and innate values.

The Pearson correlation coefficients shown in Tables 10 to 12 prove that the inner powers and innate powers are correlated. This proves the hypothesis 2.

Hypothesis 3: There is interactivity and proactivity among the inner powers.

The Pearson correlation coefficients shown in Tables 10 to 12 prove the proactivity and interactivity among the inner powers. This proves the hypothesis 3.

Hypothesis 4: The ‘being’ and ‘doing’ powers are positively correlated.

The Pearson correlation coefficients shown in Table 13 prove that the ‘being’ and ‘doing’ inner powers are positively correlated. This proves the hypothesis 4.

Hypothesis 5: Self-empowerment technique ‘Rajayoga’ improves the inner powers, innate values and the crises management capabilities.

The average and minimum values of various inner powers, innate values and crises management capabilities are generally higher in group 2 compared to group 1 as shown in Table 9. The innate values and inner powers have a higher correlation with respect to crises in group 2 compared to group 1 as shown in Tables 10 and 11. The same is established between ‘being’ and ‘doing’ powers and correlation of aggregate powers and values as shown by Tables 12 to 14. This proves the hypothesis 5.

Conclusion

The role of self-managing leadership in crisis management is explored in this article. An empirical study is conducted to understand the effectiveness of the ancient self-management technique called Rajayoga in crisis management. It based on a sample survey among two groups—one group not practicing Rajayoga and the other group practicing Rajayoga. It is found that the inner powers and innate values have a positive correlation with crises management capabilities. Further, these capabilities and correlations are found to be stronger in a group of people practicing Rajayoga for self empowerment. The relationship between inner powers and innate values, the interactivity and proactivity among the inner powers, the relationship between the ‘doing’ powers and the ‘being’ powers are also confirmed through the study. Further research would include improving the reliability of the instrument used and conducting the research among people in more than one geographical location, people practicing other methods of self-empowerment techniques.

Footnotes

Appendices

Notes

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