IS Mr. STEPHEN R.COVEY INFLUENCED BY THIRUKKURAL?
Dr. S. N. Soundara Rajan, PGDM(IIM-A) & Mrs. Shanthi Nachiappan, M.B.A., M.Phil

“The  Seven habits of highly effective people” , the book written by Stephen R Covey,  is as an International Best seller on Personality Development.   Every Management educator/ trainer/ speaker worth his/her salt has quoted Stephen Covey in their lectures. Leading Western Management  Trainers and CEOs  of top Companies showered praises on the author.

Mr.Tom Peters said  “Few Students of Management and Organisation and People have thought as long and hard about first principles as Stephen Covey.

In the book, he offers us an opportunity not a how to guide.  The opportunity is to explore ourselves and our impact on others and to  do so by taking advantage of his profound insights.  No doubt, it is a wonderful book that could change our life.

All the 7 habits listed by Mr.Covey and many more  were found in the Tamil Veda, the Universal Veda,  the Divine Book Thirukural written by Thiruvalluvar 2000 years before. This review articles attempts to trace out the couplets in Thirukurral which reflect the Seven Habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey.

COMPARISION OF THIRUVALLUVAR’S KURAL WITH STEPHEN COVEY’S  7 HABITS:

1.PRO-ACTIVITY  DEFINED:

Pro-activity means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human-beings we are responsible for our lives. Our behaviour is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.  We can sub-ordinate feelings to values.  We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.    Look at the word responsibility  - “ response – ability “ – the ability  to choose your response.  Highly pro-active people recognize the responsibility.

This idea has been brought out by Thiruvalluvar  in the following Kural Nos.595,619,& 666  :-

“THE LOTUS RISES WITH THE WATER, AND A MAN AS HIGH AS HIS WILL.” ( 595)

“EVEN IF FATE WILLNOT, EXERTION WILL PAY THE WAGES OF EFFORT  “ (619) 

“ALL ONE AIMS AT CAN BE GAINED IF ONE IS BUT FIRM.” (666)

2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND:

“WHAT LIES BEHIND US AND WHAT LIES BEFORE US ARE TINY MATTERS COMPARED TO WHAT LIES WITHIN US”. -   OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
 

Begin with the end in mind is to begin today with the image, picture or paradigm of the end of your life as your frame of reference of the criterion by which everything else is examined.  Each part of your life – today’s  behaviour,  tomorrow’s behaviour, etc can be examined in the context of the whole, of what really matters most to you.

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear  understanding of your destination.  It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

Now let us see how Tiruvaluvar explains this concept:   (kural nos. :67,69,236,463,467)

“THE GOOD ONE CAN DO ONE’S SON IS TO PLACE HIM IN THE VAN OF LEARNED MAN”. (67)

“ A WOMAN REJOICES AT THE BIRTH OF A SON - EVEN MORE WHEN HE IS PRAISED”.  (69)

“ BE BORN, IF YOU MUST, FOR FAME: OR ELSE BETTER NOT BE BORN AT ALL.”  (236)

“IT IS NOT WISDOM TO LOSE THE CAPITAL FOR THE SAKE OF INTEREST.”  (463)

“THINK AND ACT; TO ACT AND THEN TO THINK IS FOLLY.” (467)

3.PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST:

“THINGS WHICH MATTER MOST MUST NEVER BE AT THE MERCY OF THINGS WHICH MATTER LEAST”
GOETHE.

Effective management is putting first things first.

Time management:

Time management can be captured in a single phrase:

“Organise and execute around priorities”.

Thiruvalluvar stressed the importance of putting first things first in the following kurals ( nos.: 483,484,485,489)

“WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR RIGHT MEANS AT THE RIGHT TIME.” (483)

“THE WHOLE  WORLD IS HIS WHO CHOOSES THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE”.  (484)

“ WORLD-CONQUERER BIDES HIS TIME UNPERTURBED”.  (485)

“WHEN THE RARE CHANCE COMES, SEIZE IT TO DO THE RARE DEED”.(489)

4. THINK WIN/WIN:  

The abundance mentality, on the other hand flows out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security.  It is the paradigm that there is a plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody.  It results in sharing of prestige, of recognition, of profits, of decision making. It opens possibilities; options alternatives and creativity.

The abundance mentality takes the personal joy, satisfaction, etc. (kural No: 245)

“OUR WIND-BLOWN WORLD ATTESTS THAT GRIEF NEVER  AFFLICTS THE KINDLY”.  (245) (kural No: 231)

“THE ONLY ASSET IN LIFE IS FAME THAT COMES OF CHARITY”. (231)

5. SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND THAN TO BE UNDERSTOOD:

This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication. (Kural No:420)

“ WHAT MATTERS IF THEY LIVE OR DIE WHOSE TASTE IS IN THEIR TONGUES, NOT EARS?”  (420)

EMPATHIC LISTENING:

“Seek first to understand” involves a very deep shift in paradigm. We typically seek first to be understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They are either speaking or preparing to speak.

Empathic ( from empathy) listening gets inside another person’s frame of reference. You look out through it, you see the world the way they see the world. Kural No 250

“WHEN YOU THREATEN A WEAKER THAN YOURSELF THINK OF YOURSELF BEFORE A BULLY”.  (250) 

ON UNDERSTANDING ONE’S MIND:

For understanding one’s mind the listener should not listen to the words spoken alone but watch the gestures.
KURAL NOS. : 701, 705.

“ HE IS A JEWEL ON THIS SEA-GRIT EARTH WHO CAN READ A THOUGHT WITHOUT BEING TOLD”. (701)

“WHAT USE ARE EYES THAT CANNOT READ A MAN’S THOUGHTS ON HIS FACE”  (705).

6. SYNERGIZE:  

I take as my guide the hope of a saint:

in crucial things, unity-

in important things, diversity –

in all things, generosity.

What is synergy?

It means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It means that the relationship which the parts have to each other is a part in and of itself.   It is  not only a part, but the most catalytic, the most empowering, the unifying and the most exciting part.  

SYNERGISTIC COMMUNICATION:  

“When you communicate synergistically, you are simply opening your mind and heart and expressions to new possibilities, new alternatives, new options. Kural No: 91, 97, 200.  

“ THOSE ARE SWEET WORDS WHICH MEN OF VIRTUE SPEAK MINGLING LOVE WITH SINCERITY”.  (91).

“HELPFUL WORDS YOKED WITH COURTESY BREED JUSTICE AND STRENGTHEN  VIRTUE”. (97).  

“SPEAK WORDS WHICH ARE USEFUL, NEVER THOSE THAT ARE VAIN”. (200)

7. SHARPEN THE  SAW:  

Sharpening the saw is personal  P.C. It’s preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have – you.  

It’s renewing the 4 dimensions of your nature- physical, spiritual, mental and Social/emotional                         

PHYSICAL :( EXERCISE, NUTRITION, STRESS MANAGEMENT)

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL : (SERVICE, EMPATHY, SYNERGY, INTRINSIC SECURITY)

SPIRITUAL :  (VALUE CLARIFICATION AND COMMITMENT, STUDY AND MEDITATION)

MENTAL     :  ( READING, VISUALIZING, PLANNING, WRITING)  

Sound motivation and organization theory embrace these 4 dimension or motivations.

It means exercising all 4 dimensions of our nature, regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways.  
 

1.PHYSICAL:  
The physical dimension involves caring effectively for our physical body – eating the right kinds of foods, street management, etc.  Kural No:922.  
 

“DRINK NO WINE, OR LET THEM DRINK IT WHO DO NOT CARE WHAT WISE MEN THINK”  (922)

ABSTINENCE FROM FLESH:  
Kural No : 255,257  
 

“ NOT BEING SWALLOWED IS LIFE; AND HELL WILL SWALLOW THE MEAT-EATER”. (255)

“KNOW MEAT FOR AN ANIMAL’S SORE THAT IT IS, AND YOU WILL NOT EAT IT.”  (257)

The highly successful business Maharajahs of this ancient land are Marwari Businessman like  Dhirubhai  Ambani, Rahul Kumar Bajaj, Aditya Vikram Birla, Ram Prasad  Goenka, etc. This successful business community -Marwaris  were Teetotallers and pure vegetarians. CRISIS MANAGEMENT: KURAL NO:621, 625.  

“LAUGH AT MISFORTUNE – NOTHING SO ABLE TO TRIUMPH OVER IT”.  (621)

“THE MAN WHO CAN DEFY CEASELESS TROUBLE TROUBLES IT”. (625)

THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION:

Renewing the spiritual dimension provides leadership to our life. The spiritual dimension is our core, our center, our commitment to our system. It’s a very private area of life and a supremely important one. It draws upon the sources that inspire and uplift us and tie us to the timeless truths of all humanity. And people do it very, very differently.  

Kural Nos. 3,10.  

“LONG LIFE ON EARTH IS THEIRS WHO CLASP THE GLORIOUS FLOWER-EMBEDDED FEET”.  (3)

“ THE OCEAN OF BIRTHS CAN BE CROSSED BY THOSE WHO CLASP GOD’S FEET, AND NONE ELSE”. (10).  

Religious leader David O.Mckay taught, “The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul”.  If we win the battles there, if we settle the issues that inwardly conflict, we feel a sense of peace, a sense of knowing  what we are about. And we will find that the public victories – where we tend to think co-operatively, to promote the welfare and good of other people, and to be genuinely happy for other people’s successes – will follow naturally.  

THE MENTAL DIMENSION:  

Most of our mental development and study discipline comes through formal education. But as soon as we leave the external discipline of school, many of us let our minds atrophy.  We don’t do any more serious reading, we don’t explore new subjects in any real depth outside our action fields, we don’t think analytically, we don’t write – at least not critically or in a way  that tests our ability to express ourselves in distilled, clear and concise language.

Education – Continuing education, continually honing and expanding the mind – is vital mental renewal.  It is so valuable to read broadly and to expose yourself to great minds.

“ The person who does not read is no better off than the person who can’t read”.

Kural No: 397,398.

“WHY DOES ONE STOP LEARNING TILL HE DIES WHEN IT MAKES ALL LANDS AND PLACES HIS?”. (397)

“THE LEARNING ACQUIRED IN ONE BIRTH HELPS A MAN IN SEVEN” . ( 398)

THE SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL DIMENSION:

The social/emotional dimension focuses on habits 4,5,6 – centered on the principles of interpersonal leadership, empathic communication and creative co-operation.  The social and emotional dimensions of our lives are tied together because our emotional life is primarily, but not exclusively, developed out of and manifested in our relationships with others. Man is a social animal so the ethic is

“EARN THY NEIGHBOUR’S LOVE”

Thiruvalluvar talks about love like this :  Kural No : 72, 74.

“ THE LOVELESS GRASP ALL; WHILE THE LOVING WITH THEIR VERY BONES HELP OTHERS”.  (72)

“FROM LOVE, DEVOTION COMES; AND FROM THAT UNSOUGHT PRICELESS ENLIGHTENMENT”.  (74)

THE UPWARD SPIRAL :

Renewal is the principle – and the process – that empowers us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement.

Moving along the upward spiral requires us to learn, commit and do on increasingly higher planes.  We deceive ourselves if we think that any one of these is sufficient. To keep progressing, we must learn, commit and do – learn, commit and do – and learn, commit and do again.

Thiruvalluvar says this concept beautifully in this following kural :  (No: 391)

“LEARN WELL WHAT SHOULD BE LEARNT, AND THEN LIVE YOUR LEARNING”. (391).  

CONCLUSION:

Has Mr.Stephen Covey referred Thirukkural when he wrote his famous book?  Was he influenced by the foresight and thoughts of Thiruvalluvar and picked up the Seven Habits out of the wealth of wisdom quoted in Kural? If he did, one would have expected him to acknowledge the fact. But his book does not carry any acknowledgement or references of Thirukkural.  Perhaps, Mr.Covey’s thought process is his own, but the thoughts were already expressed by Valluvar twenty centuries ago.

Let us not forget that India was the centre of Excellence for Knowledge and Wisdom centuries ago, rich with the scripts upanishads, Vedas, epics and the teachings of great saints like Valluvar, Buddha, Mahavir and others.  The West captures our concepts better and presents them in a manner suitable to the market.

Whenever a Westener writes something, we go ‘gaga’ over it and quote them in our talks and notes. But when something more is available in our own land, we ignore. We must understand the importance of our own ideas and respect them like the Japanese and Chinese.

It is imperative that Management thoughts and Personality development concepts are extracted from our rich collections and our youngsters are taught the Indian Management concepts. Academicians, intellectuals and Universities should come forward to initiate such exercise. Our youngsters should read our saints advice, assimilate and practice in their personal and professional life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Thirukkural – Thiruvalluvar – English Translation Rev W.H.Drew and Rev.John Lazarus – Asian Educational services – Chennai 1996.

2. Thiruvalluvar – The Kural – P.S.Sundaram – Penguin Books –1990.

3. The Seven Habits of Highly effective People – Powerful lessons in Personal change – Stephen R.Covey – Simon and Socuster – 1994.  

AUTHORS

Dr.S.N.Soundara Rajan,PGDM(IIM-A)  &  Mrs.Shanthi Nachiappan,M.B.A.,M.Phil
Director,                                                        Assistant Professor,                                      
V.C.M.C.S, Chennai –600 066.                    V.C.M.C.S.,  Chennai – 600 066.
e-mail: snsrajan@yahoo.com                     e-mail: thinsha@yahoo.com

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