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The courage to make decisions in crisis situations, the courage to be wrong to not judge others, leads to great results in the end. The vedantic parable of Ram and the story of Krishna remind us that even they made several decisions during crises which we can easily question. Yet eventually, victory was with them, and with those who listened to them.
Personally, they exemplified the highest virtues of existence even while living as human beings. Constantly setting an example for us, that where there is the right intention infused with courage, there is nothing to fear. Victory is with those who are both courageous and have values.
Crisis is defined in the old texts as a dark place, a dark situation, which can always be made luminous by the light of our own being. So basically, if a person is firmly rooted in values they can always grow out of crises. And the deeper the roots, the stronger does the tree become. So in fact crisis moments are an opportunity to dig your roots deeper, into a value system. Error in human beings primarily arises because we are not rooted enough. Hence, we do not really know how to grow out of the situations that seem full of trouble. And what is being rooted? Rootedness means you are completely immersed in the feeling that all things are born out of a greater power, and belong to a greater power. That is the divine attitude - to see oneness in diversity. And if you are rooted in this way you are able to look at all circumstances as only different manifestations of the same energy, of which all things come. And which permeates all things.
So we are to change our vision from looking at a crisis as something totally alien to us, something we cannot deal with, and instead look at it as something which is simply a part of this eternal and universal divine play that is taking place in existence. Then, you find yourself moving away from fear and coming closer to your own sources of courage. Your mind becomes joyful, and you have the capacity to be joyful even in the midst of any circumstance. Because you can look at things with the eye of awareness, with the eye of bliss, and are able to deal with reality it is. So it simply depends on your level of awareness.
Do not become identified with the circumstances. During any moment of extreme joy, success or failure, be even. The problem with people is that they start identifying with the circumstances, and in that very identification with circumstances they lose their inner rootedness to reality. So in the next moment, when something unfavorable happens to them, they also identifying with the problem, and identifying with it they lose their objective judgment to deal with it and to transcend it.
Spirituality basically implies having a certain simplicity, clarity and state of non identification with whatever circumstance comes your way. This is the one thing which leads to courage. This is the one thing which leads to wisdom and purity of insight. Success is never far from failure, and failure never far from crisis. Yet it is our ability to look at it which has real importance.
Be uncontaminated by circumstances, and they will cease to have power over you. Being uncontaminated means that in the deepest core of your being nothing should be able to hurt you. And this ability only arises if you have a feeling of detached freedom from whatever is going on in the outer world. Yes, be completely dynamic in the outer world of action, of materialism. But within yourself have the ability to just to see that it is the way the mind deals with things which determines outcomes.
If you truly want to be happy, nothing can stop you from being happy. Joy and sorrow are a part of creation, part of being. There is no need to be miserable when faced with crisis, and this ability to see that it is always a choice is when you begin transcending and start moving towards success, instead of simply being manipulated by outer circumstances and forces.
There are very few people who are not manipulated by things on the outside. Who believe in themselves well enough to remain rational, to remain full of energy and bliss. It is said that the only true prayer is that which arises out of a heart full of gratitude. So begin by being grateful for whatever it is you have. Try not to have a complaining attitude towards things. Through acceptance comes the ability to deal with things, through rejection we carry on in the cycle of identification. Serenity, silence and success always go hand in hand. He who knows this knows the art of moving out of the grip of circumstances, and starts referring instead to one his own inner being in an objective manner.
A leader must have this objective ability to understand that no matter whether it is bright or dark, whether there are favorable or unfavorable circumstances, he always has the ability to sign to shine his own inner source of inner light unto the circumstances. And so doing, create a luminosity on the path that he's walking on and having others walk on. In other words the leader is to become more involved with his intrinsic life energy than to get affected by what material existence brings his way. Man has a tendency to brood and over-ponder about circumstances, and that is his biggest weakness. He often loses the ability to flow dynamically, with all the strength and courage of his being, because of this obsession with material circumstances. This needs to be overcome.
Vedanta is a going back to one's inner resources. Vedanta says that there’s no material circumstance which cannot be overcome and transcended. Real strength is of the inner, and not so much of the outer. This is an essential principle to understand when it comes to leadership.