The Leader's Way: Business, Buddhism and Happiness in an Interconnected World

Citation

Latemore, G.M. (2010), "The Leader's Way: Business, Buddhism and Happiness in an Interconnected World", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 376-378. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011043401

A number of recent books have addressed the moral character of leadership, including Nair (1996) and Koestenbaum (2002). However, few attempt to do this as deeply as does The Leader's Way.

The principal author, the Dalai Lama, is undoubtedly one of the most recognised figures in the world. His co‐author, Laurens Van Den Muyzenberg is less well know but is listed as an international management consultant who speaks seven languages. The book arose out of Laurens contacting the Dalai Lama in 1991 and suggesting he consider a synthesis of Buddhism and communism. Between 1991 and 2000, Laurens met with the Dalai Lama every year. The Leader's Way is the result.

The book is structured in three parts: leading yourself; leading your organization; and leading in an interconnected world. The heart of the book is about a common denominator in business and Buddhism – happiness. As the authors assert, “A company that does not have happy employees, customers and shareholders will ultimately die” (Page 16). The Dalai Lama suggests that the leader's purpose is not just profit or jobs but happiness.

The integrating concept in the book is mindfulness. This concept is not just echoed in spiritual development (De Mello, 1992), but in leadership development (Boyatzis and McKee, 2005).

There are many “pearls of wisdom” in this book such as the “Six perfections” – generosity, ethical discipline, patience, enthusiastic effort, concentration and wisdom (page 36) as well as the “Eight worldly concerns” (page 80) – criticism, praise, failure, success, making money, losing money, being famous and not receiving recognition. The Dalai Lama suggests that happiness is found in avoiding such worldly concerns and instead, pursuing these perfections. The two most important principles for a leader to cultivate are' the right view' and “the right conduct”. The “right view” relates to the intention behind a decision; “right conduct” refers to the quality of the action taken as a result of a decision. Buddhism highlights the importance of seeing the way things really are and realising that nothing is permanent. The Dalai Lama stresses that the leader's way is to recognise the inevitability of change, the need for a sense of universal responsibility and the importance of combining an economic system with moral value (page 9).

Further, the Dalai Lama reminds us that it is helpful to look at the consequences of a decision from the point of view of others. He encourages leaders to train their minds through meditation, visualisation and breathing. This is helpful advice as most books on leadership seem to focus mainly on acquiring certain mental skills and displaying certain behaviour.

The authors are keen to point out that wealth, in and of itself, is not evil. The Buddha recognised entrepreneurship as a valuable activity but that it is important to share one's success. Further, the purpose of business (citing Peter Drucker) is not actually defined or explained purely in terms of profit. “Profits are a condition for survival, but their purpose is to make a contribution to the wellbeing of society at large” (page 110).

It is fascinating to realise that the Dalai Lama himself was initially inclined towards socialism but later saw free market capitalistic economics as more dynamic. He says, “For much of my life, I was attracted to the socialist or communist system because I understood its objective to be providing a decent standard of living and justice for all. [However] I did not realize at the time that it was a command and control system” (pages 173‐4). The Dalai Lama still remains concerned that the free market system tends to increase the gap between rich and poor. He says he would add “responsibility” to “the free market” to achieve freedom and prosperity for all. In similar vein, Muyenberg does well to remind us that even Adam Smith, that doyen of economic rationalism, assumes an “invisible moral hand” (page 176).

The book is at its best when describing global citizenship and when arguing for a responsible free market economy. This book is timely given the recent debacle of the Global Financial Crisis and the obvious absence of ethics among many Western capitalists. The Dalai Lama rightly argues instead that leaders need to take a long term, universal view when making their decisions. In acquiring wealth, the authors pose eight questions:

1. 1.

   Did you acquire wealth lawfully?

2. 2.

   Did your wealth provide happiness only to you?

3. 3.

   Did your wealth provide happiness also to others?

4. 4.

   Did you share our wealth with others?

5. 5.

   Did you carry out any good deeds with your wealth?

6. 6.

   Are you attached and infatuated by your wealth?

7. 7.

   Are you heedful of the dangers of wealth?

8. 8.

   Do you possess the insight that leads to spiritual freedom?

The Leader's Way has some expected ideas on meditation as one way of training the leader's mind; what was less expected were ideas on creating wealth – Buddhism supports the proper acquisition and use of wealth. Apparently, the Buddha never praised or advocated poverty but he did praise the protection of human rights and diversity.

The final words of The Leader's Way are sobering and timely – “Freedom is precious. Freedom that leads to happiness depends upon responsible actions by people as individuals and as members of organizations. Leadership that acknowledges universal responsibility is the real key to overcoming the world's problems” (page 184).

While the references are few, they are appropriate. The index is useful, albeit brief. What was unclear was the mix of font styles and sizes. Like The Monk and the Philosopher (Revel and Ricard, 1998), this book is the result of extended conversations, so it flows like a good narrative. Surprisingly, the overview of Buddhist principles was too cryptic – there were 35 principles outlined with quite confusing indenting. The rich message of the book also suffers a little with poor structure. It is indeed highly readable but one has to read a lot of text and dialogue to discern their key message. The duality of font styles for the Dalai Lama and Muyzenberg certainly help as do the headings, but the book still needs more summaries and a clearer layout. While the co‐authors acknowledge their editor for “logic and flow”, accessibility could have been enhanced.

Could one dare to write a negative review of a book written by the Dalia Lama – a Nobel Peace Prize winner and one of the world's best known leaders?! Thankfully, The Leader's Way merits a positive review and is a helpful addition to the literature on leadership.