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Managing Work and People Without Harshness and a Domineering Attitude · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  There is an apocryphal story involving the mother, a sodic,
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  and a Bullock. The sodic complained that the
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  Bullock was being obstinate and not cooperating.
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  The mother asked the sodic to bring the Bullock so she could
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  observe it. After doing so, she indicated
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  there was nothing wrong with the Bullock.
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  She advised the sodic that the bullock's obstinacy was related
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  to something inward the sodic needed to address, and she
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  counselled patience, understanding, and goodwill.
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  The Sadiq and the Bullock both benefited.
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  The vital ego, when it is put in charge of a project or
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  supervising or managing the activities of people, frequently
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  tries to assert itself and exercise a form of power over
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  others, which can lead to some rough handling of others.
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  Particularly when this ego aligns with the mental nature
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  that believes it knows better than others what to do and how
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  to do it, there can arise a certain narrowness and intensity
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  that creates a difficult working environment.
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  This can take on a certain harshness and oppressiveness,
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  which in the long run is not helpful.
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  It is best to find ways to encourage, to support and guide
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  in a positive manner, and only to exercise anything more
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  intense than that when absolutely needed to preserve
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  the integrity of the project. This does not mean, however,
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  that individual variances and method are processed by
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  individuals need to be discouraged.
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  On the contrary, as long as the work is done, and done in a
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  reasonable fashion, these individual activities provide
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  those doing the work a means of gaining their own knowledge and
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  learning, growing and developing their own insights and power of
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  action. In many cases, one finds that
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  the people actually doing the work, with this amount of
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  flexibility and freedom of action, may find ways to enhance
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  and improve upon the work. And certainly the working
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  environment is more conducive to harmony and collaboration than
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  in a tightly controlled and discipline centered management
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  process. Srioro Bindo writes quote to
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  take advantage of what is good in others, keeping one's eye
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  always on that, and to deal tactfully with their mistakes,
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  faults and defects is the best way.
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  It does not exclude firmness and maintenance of discipline, even
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  severity, when severity is due. But the latter should be rare
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  and the other should not feel it as if it were a permanent
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  attitude. End Quote Reference Sri Oruvindu
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  and the Mother, Looking from within, Chapter 2.
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  Looking at Oneself and Others, page 47.