Be on High Alert

Acharya Chanakya was probably the first person to have systematically defined Vigilance as a very important part of management.

According to dictionary, Vigilance means the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible dangers and difficulties. In general terms an organization must protect oneself from external threats as well as internal mismanagement.

At an external level, an organization has to be on alert from competitors. For this organizations use what they call as intelligence networks, which uses market intelligence to get valuable information. However, being ALERT internally is much more important and effective. The problems within the organization is much more difficult owing to the fact that they deal with their "own peoples". For example, dealing a revolt with own son is far more difficult than any other.

Acharya provides us a guide to handle internal problems. He says The leader should constantly inspect his work, men being inconsistent in their minds.

It is the primary responsibility of the leader to continuously check all the activities and data in his organization. He needs to be highly alert about his employee’s movements. He has to keep the employees focused on their work by giving them targets and deadlines. Also there is a need to monitor their activities as human mind is very fickle and has a tendency for laziness if targets are not set. There is also a need for inducing a fear of punishment if the target or deadline is not met.