UdyamGita

While running a business, everyone is nice and supportive during good times. When times become tough, the team undergoes tremendous stress and each person starts behaving differently. There are chances that a group of people may plan to sabotage your business by joining hands. Different people may join them at different points in time. At the same time, you will still have a core group of loyal people standing with you.

Always keep an eye on people’s behaviour during tough times. Observe who aligns with whom and what is driving their decisions. Is their behaviour due to personal issues, or due to a grudge against you or your business? Are they acting alone, or are they trying to influence others negatively to strengthen their side? Identify who remains loyal and who turns against you during difficult phases. This gives you clarity on whom you should rely on. Developing this skill is very crucial, as it helps you handle people based on their actual driving force.

Many times, groups of people, be it employees, vendors, partners, or investors, may leave your side and join competitors, or they may themselves become your competitors. When you are fighting a war against your own people, it needs to be handled differently, because everyone knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Until you clearly know who is aligned with whom and the reasons behind it, you cannot deal with them effectively.

Loyalty is the most basic quality needed among people when you run a business. Testing it, observing it, and keeping an eye on it is extremely crucial in any business.

Standing between the two armies, Arjuna deepens his observation. He does not merely want to see who has assembled for battle, but why they have come. His words are precise and revealing: he wishes to observe those who have chosen to fight on the side of the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra, driven by the desire to please him.

This is no longer a military scan—it is a moral and motivational assessment. Arjuna is trying to understand alignment, intent, and loyalty before the conflict begins.

Business Insight

Good times hide intentions. Tough times reveal them.

In business, when things are smooth, most people appear aligned. Pressure changes that. Stress exposes motives. Some remain committed. Some withdraw quietly. Others may actively shift sides—toward competitors or even against the organization itself.

Arjuna’s approach offers a critical leadership lesson: observe behavior under pressure. Watch who aligns with whom. Understand whether decisions are driven by personal challenges, fear, resentment, opportunism, or genuine disagreement. Equally important, notice whether individuals act alone—or attempt to influence others and form factions.

This clarity helps leaders decide who to rely on, who to engage, and who to distance from critical decisions.

Leadership Lesson

The hardest battles in business are often fought against people who were once on your side.

Employees, partners, vendors, investors—when they turn into competitors or adversaries—carry deep knowledge of internal strengths and weaknesses. These conflicts require a different strategy than external competition.

But strategy without clarity is dangerous. Until a leader clearly understands:

• who is loyal,
• who is neutral,
• who is opposed, and
• why they are acting that way,

any response will be reactive and inefficient.

Loyalty is not blind obedience; it is alignment during adversity. Great leaders don’t assume it—they observe it, test it, and manage it consciously.

Key Takeaways

• Pressure reveals alignment: Tough times expose true motivations.
• Observe behavior, not words: Actions under stress speak the loudest.
• Understand the “why” behind defection: Motive determines response strategy.
• Internal conflicts are different battles: Former allies require different handling than external rivals.
• Loyalty is strategic capital: Identifying and nurturing it is essential for long-term survival.