The tool kit comprises of three components

1. The Book: Leadership Dharma, Arjuna the timeless metaphor
2. Interactive Games for personal alignment, role effectiveness, organization synergy and business effectiveness
3. Behavioural profile: Outline of your propensities, enablers and prevalent blocks along your heroic journey

“Myths do not come from a concept system; they come from a life system; they come out of a deeper center. We must not confuse mythology with ideology. Myths come from where the heart is, and where the experience is, even as the mind may wonder why people believe these things.” - Joseph Campbell

Many of the world mythologies studied and explicated by Joseph Campbell as well as the work of Carl Jung on the collective unconscious and shadow lends weight to the importance of working with personas, Epic heroes and discovering their meaning in one’s own life. We hope you will find this journey based on the Mahabharata fun filled and insightful.

A Gist of the book

Ranjan is an entrepreneur, a natural Bhīma. His organisation is stagnating. “In doing what I am doing, what am I really doing? How am I part of the problem?” he asks. By using the Mahabharata as a mirror, and through an intense dialogue with his wife Sanam and his friend Prof. Anantha Saptaparni, Ranjan discovers the seeds of the other Paandava heroes that lie within him. Like Arjuna he embarks on a quest: He identifies his heroic propensities, peers into his shadow self, unleashes his hidden potentials, recovers his sense of purpose, and the eternal spring of energy. Like the bow that must be drawn deeply, and aimed carefully to shoot a true arrow, Ranjan emerges with new reserves of strength connected to the wisdom that lies within him anchored in an expanded capacity to meet challenges and play effective roles.

Ranjan discovers how to “be the solution” and lead the organization. He learns how to help each of his teammates do the same, and together they renew and regenerate themselves and their organization.

"Are you an Arjuna in a Yudhishtra organization? Are your Bheema employees holding your Nakula organization to ransom?"

These analogies from the eternal epic Mahabharatha by Raghu Ananthanarayanan are both thought provoking and an instant problem solver for both start ups and large organizations alike!

• Who am I?
• Where am I?
• Why am I here?

We guarantee that you will answer these three quintessential questions that hold the key to Heroic action through this learning Kit.

The warrior and the archer are powerful archetypes and archery is an interesting metaphor. One has to bend the bow, tie the string, draw it back deeply aim carefully and synchronise with ones breath as one releases the arrow. A true warrior uses his weapons in the service of greater good. The parallels to leadership are striking:

• The bow is like one's body- it has to be in the peak of fitness so that it does not buckle down under stress
• The stringing of the bow is like anchoring oneself in ones intent
• The choosing the arrow is like focusing the mind on ones mission
• Drawing the bow is like awakening the mind of the meditator
• Taking aim is like focusing all ones energy on ones immediate target
• Releasing the arrow is like getting the timing just right

The set of tools that we are offering you are the product of a couple of decades of working with people helping them to realise and bring into action all of the above and therefore enhancing the individual’s sense of fulfillment and achievement. They have been used in many contexts: facilitating group learning, Coaching, Leadership and team building.

These games are not competitive in nature but are an invitation to explore one’s own potential at different levels. They are designed to be played either individually, when they trigger intense introspection; or in small groups when they encourage contemplative conversations. It is highly recommended that the player(s) share the outcome of the introspection with a TAO certified coach for further exploration.