Lessons for today's leaders from 2,000-year-old Tamil couplets
Today's business leaders face a surplus of books but a drought of insights. There are, quite literally, thousands of books available on the topic of business leadership—a search for "books on leadership" on Amazon typically returns over 70,000 results.
In the pursuit of new books and newer insights, leaders shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the fundamentals of leadership—setting a vision, formulating the strategy to achieve it, and selecting the right group of people—have remained the same for thousands of years. This is because leadership is rooted in understanding human behavior, which hasn't changed despite the technological advances and societal changes over the centuries.
This is why turning to works of literature whose wisdom consistently inspired leaders from previous generations can be rewarding even for the leaders of today.
The text we'll be referencing here is believed to have been written over 2,000 years ago in the southern Indian language of Tamil, which consists of 1,330 maxims in the form of couplets. It's titled Thirukkural, and was authored by Valluvar.
Seven seas inside an atom
But why Thirukkural in particular? Its 133 chapters, each based on a particular topic and comprising 10 kurals, or couplets, each, cover the whole gamut of the human experience—from ethics to education, from renunciation to romance, from diplomacy to domesticity.
Thirukkural's broad scope, non-sectarian nature, and emphasis on values like morality, reason, and equality allowed it to transcend regional boundaries and find a global audience. With translations available in more than 60 languages, it's one of the most translated non-religious ancient texts in the world, comparable with works like The Art of War by Sun Tzu and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
The appeal of Thirukkural also transcends time, garnering admirers from antiquity to modernity. An ancient Tamil poet, believed to be a contemporary of Valluvar, wrote that each kural "squeezes seven seas into an atom" to describe the fusion of profundity and pithiness. (The fact that she not only imagined an atom centuries before it was described by physicists, but also used it as part of a metaphor in her poetry, is indeed fascinating!)
In modern times, Leo Tolstoy—the towering figure of Russian literature—quoted Thirukkural in his 1909 manifesto, A Letter to a Hindu. What's more, reading this manifesto on nonviolent resistance deeply moved Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who went on to become a similarly towering figure of the Indian independence movement.
"There hardly exists in the literature of the world a collection of maxims in which we find so much lofty wisdom."
— Albert Schweitzer, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, about Thirukkural in his book Indian Thought and Its Development (1935)
Thirukkural on leadership: 10 curated couplets
We've curated 10 couplets from Thirukkural and grouped them under three broad topics: the qualities of a leader, selecting the right person, and warnings for leaders. These couplets were written for the monarchs of antiquity, but they speak directly to leadership in a modern business setting—be it CEOs, managers, or team leads.
While our English translations remain as faithful as possible to the original text, we've opted to render the term "king" as the gender-neutral "leader" to illustrate the relevance of these couplets to today's business leaders.
Qualities of a leader
1. காட்சிக் கெளியன் கடுஞ்சொல்லன் அல்லனேல்
மீக்கூறும் மன்னன் நிலம். (Kural 386)
Transliteration:Kaatchik keliyan kadunchollan allannel meekoorum mannan nilam.
Translation: A leader who is easy to access and free from harsh language will be celebrated throughout the land.
Insight for leaders: When a leader remains approachable to employees irrespective of hierarchy and refrains from anger or arrogance while responding to feedback, employees feel psychologically safe to report errors early and stay committed to the organizational vision. It's advantageous for leaders too, as they can spot frictions before they snowball into crises.
Also read: Why our CEO encouraged employees to hide their identities
2. செய்வினை செய்வான் செயன்முறை அவ்வினை
உள்ளறிவான் உள்ளம் கொளல். (Kural 677)
Transliteration:Seivinai seivaan seiyanmurai avvinai ullarivaan ullam kolal.
Translation: Any leader who accomplishes a task will always begin by consulting the one who knows how to accomplish the task.
Insight for leaders: Unilateral decisions can be rife with cognitive biases and erroneous assumptions, as no leader can be an expert in all fields. By consulting with domain experts, wherever they might be in the organization, they can mitigate risks better and ensure the initiative achieves its intended goal.
3. அஞ்சாமை ஈகை அறிவூக்கம் இந்நான்கும்
எஞ்சாமை வேந்தர்க் கியல்பு. (Kural 382)
Transliteration:Anjaamai eegai arivookam innaangum enjaamai vendhark kiyalbu.
Translation: Fearlessness, charity, knowledge, and vitality—these four are the hallmarks of a leader.
Insight for leaders: For modern leaders, fearlessness is the courage to stay the course during a crisis, charity is the spirit of prioritizing the team’s growth over personal gain, knowledge is the pursuit of learning about industry shifts and emerging trends, and vitality is the capacity to sustain momentum across the organization. A leader who balances these four traits will possess both the practical and the emotional skills to lead with impact.
Selecting the right person
4. குணம்நாடிக் குற்றமும் நாடி அவற்றுள்
மிகைநாடி மிக்க கொளல். (Kural 504)
Transliteration:Gunamnaadi kutramum naadi avattrul migainaadi mikka kolal.
Translation: Before judging a person's suitability for a task, a leader evaluates their merits and flaws to see which is greater.
Insight for leaders: Since no candidate can be perfect, a leader should weigh a candidate’s core strengths against their weaknesses while hiring for a given role. If the candidate's merits prove to be a significant competitive advantage for the role, and their flaws are manageable, the leader may proceed to hire with confidence.
5. வினைக்குரிமை நாடிய பின்றை அவனை
அதற்குரிய னாகச் செயல். (Kural 518)
Transliteration: Vinaikkurimai naadiya pinddrai avanai adharkuriya naaga cheyal.
Translation: Once convinced of a person's competence regarding a task, a leader will train the chosen one on the means to accomplish it.
Insight for leaders: Conviction in a hire isn't enough—the leader must invest in specific training to align the person’s talent with the organization’s requirements. Once trained, the leader should avoid micromanagement and empower the new employee with autonomy and trust.
Also read: Are you hurting team morale? The hidden dangers of micromanaging
Warnings for leaders
6. இடிப்பாரை இல்லாத ஏமரா மன்னன்
கெடுப்பா ரிலானுங் கெடும். (Kural 448)
Transliteration:Idipparai illadha emaraa mannan keduppaa rilaanginum kedum.
Translation: A leader with no one to criticize them will be ruined even with no saboteurs around.
Insight for leaders: Every leader needs internal critics who are empowered to point out errors and blind spots in the former's thought process. Leaders who surround themselves with sycophants and don't brook dissent will eventually get trapped in echo chambers. With no one around to point out flaws in their decisions, leaders may end up causing themselves and the organization irreparable damage—and they'd have only themselves to blame.
7. அமைந்தாங் கொழுகான் அளவறியான் தன்னை
வியந்தான் விரைந்து கெடும். (Kural 474)
Transliteration:Amaindhank kozhugaan alavariyaan thannai viyandhaan viraindhu kedum.
Translation: A leader who isn't amenable to those around them, doesn't know their limits, and remains in awe of themselves will go to ruin swiftly.
Insight for leaders: These three traits—not being collaborative with teams, failing to be objective about their limitations, and overindulging in self-admiration—are traits of narcissistic leadership. Leaders who prioritize long-term sustainability will do well to avoid these traits and place the organization's wellbeing over personal greatness.
8. தேரான் தெளிவும் தெளிந்தான்கண் ஐயுறவும்
தீரா இடும்பை தரும். (Kural 510)
Transliteration:Theraan thelivum thelindhaankann aiyuravum theeraa idumbai tharum.
Translation: Trusting the incompetent and doubting the competent will bring unremitting sorrow to a leader.
Insight for leaders: Discernment is a key attribute for successful leaders. Without discernment, leaders can end up empowering those who lack the skills necessary for their roles and discourage those who come with expertise. Misplaced trust leads to operational inefficiency while misplaced suspicion leads to talent attrition, both of which result in a dysfunctional state of affairs within the organization.
9. எண்ணித் துணிக கருமம் துணிந்தபின்
எண்ணுவம் என்பது இழுக்கு. (Kural 467)
Transliteration:Enni thuniga karumam thunindhapinn ennuvam enbadhu izhukku.
Translation: A leader should begin an endeavor only after having thought it through. Thinking after embarking on the endeavor is a disgrace.
Insight for leaders: Leaders must always take the time to assess the consequences of their decisions. Without meticulous planning, decisions can backfire, and when they do, performing a postmortem analysis is a wasteful endeavor because it can't recover the collective time, capital, and effort that was squandered.
Also read: Why it takes time to fail fast: The paradox behind lasting business growth
10. உருவுகண்டு எள்ளாமை வேண்டும் உருள்பெருந்தேர்க்கு
அச்சாணி அன்னார் உடைத்து. (Kural 667)
Transliteration:Uruvukkandu ellammai vendum urulperuntherkku achchani annaar udaithu.
Translation: A leader should never underestimate a person based on their apparent position. That person could be the equivalent of a tiny linchpin that holds together a large, rolling chariot.
Insight for leaders: In any business, no employee exists in isolation—every role, no matter how small, is essential to its everyday functioning. While some roles end up being more visible from the outside, every employee's output is contingent upon the invisible support of others. A successful leader recognizes this interdependence and would never estimate the value of an employee based on the position they hold or how visible they are, but appreciate their contribution in maintaining the business's health.
Thirukkural can be a source of inspiration for not just leaders in corporations but also for teams working on delivering the best possible customer experience. Here are five lessons that modern customer experience teams can learn from these ancient couplets.
