Understanding Guru Nanak's Management- The Art of Managing Through Religion

About the Book The arena of management and religion has been an important and inseparable part of human life since the beginning of time. Both had and still have their own importance and somewhere they get interlinked at times. Religion and Art of Management both teach a person to manage: Religion teaches to manage one- self spiritually whereas by using the Art of Management, a person manages his day to day life, socially as well as economically. Life of Guru Nanak Dev provides a lot of material to learn from. The decisions he took, the path he followed to make his ideology reach the masses, and that too only by discussions and debates, the power he displayed to stand strong in the face of competition, and against those who were erroneous in their actions. All these provide a platform for a deep research and study. Studying the incidents from his life in combination of the management tools can help the upcoming managers to manage their professional lives with ethical business practices while at the same time achieving great heights for their career and their organizations.

About the Author DR. PUNPREET SINGH is a well-known name in the sociopolitical arena. He has completed his Doctorate from Zoroastrian College OIUCM, Colombo along with Masters in International Business from Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK; PGDCA from YMCA, Delhi; and Green Belt Six Sigma from Indian Statistical Institute.

Along with this he has undertaken Multimedia Authoring and Interactive Media from Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK. He is certified in Advanced Digital Marketing Programme and organizes trainings and workshops for corporate as well as individual clients in Quality Analysis, International Business, Stress Management and Team Management etc.

He is the Founder Trustee of Helping Hand Charitable Trust (Regd.), an NGO working for the upliftment, education and betterment of Women and Children. Also, working for educating masses about Environment conservation etc. He is also. the President of Sikh Ekta Manch, an NGO working for upliftment of minorities.

A life member of Indian Red Cross Society and founder of "Jobs For Sikhs", a project working to bridge the gap between Employers & Job Seekers.

He is the proprietor of "The Mystic Solutions", a company dealing in services and products related to home decor, wellness and clothing sector.

He has completed his Basic Mountaineering with merits from Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling.

Foreword It is my honour and pleasure to write this foreword for this book, on Guru Sahib, by a dear friend, Dr Punpreet Singh. Sikhism is the youngest and the fifth largest religion of the world. The Sikh Gurus spoke of women empowerment and women equality as early as the sixteenth century. The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev ji, preached sau kyon manda aakbije jit jamme rajan, meaning "Why should we talk ill of her, who gives birth to kings?"

The three tenets of Sikhism, namely Naam japo meditate the Lord's name with the purpose of eliminating ego, greed, attachment, anger and Just from our personality, Kirat kare-earning an honest, pure and dedicated living by exercising one's skills, abilities, talents and without dependency on anyone, and Vand chbake-share what you have and consume it together as a community. These in my opinion are the lessons for a contemporary society that can eliminate many of our social evils.

Another important message given by Guru Sahib was of time management the need to maintain a balance between our faith, family and work. Time management is relevant for contemporary times, where at times most of us devote extra time to either our work, our family, or our faith at the expense of others.

Together let us take care of this planet and everything within - as everything and everyone is the creation of "Ik Oankar"- Almighty God. Every day when each of us Sikhs visits the Gurudwara, we pray for the entire humanity by reciting the holy words sarbad da bhala.

Preface The arena of management and religion have been an important and inseparable part of human life since the beginning of time. Both had and still have their own importance and somewhere they get interlinked at times. Religion and Art of Management both teach a person to manage Religion teaches to manage oneself spiritually whereas by using the Art of Management, a person manages his day to day life, socially as well as economically. The new upcoming managers of today have adequate knowledge of practical utilisation of various management tools in their line of trade, but somehow they lack the serenity of religious thought. The combination of both, practicality of using management tools along with using the religious way of thought is seen lacking in these managers.

The motive of writing this book was to make the young entrepreneurs and managers to understand the importance of interlinking of both the subjects, and also to understand the importance each of these play in one's decisions, especially in those decisions which affect lives of many, and in the running of organizations which are worth millions of rupees. I think one can learn a lot from the life of Guru Nanak Dev. The decisions he took, the path he followed to make his ideology reach the masses, and that too only by discussions and debates, the power he displayed to stand strong in the face of competition, and against those who were erroneous in their actions. All these provide a platform for a deep research and study.

**Contents and Sample Pages**