UdyamGita

As a business owner, one can act as a mentor and guide the team toward meeting goals. Or the entrepreneur can also perform his duty as per his roles and responsibilities, based on the need of the hour, dirtying his hands by doing the right things and keeping his mental state balanced. Both approaches can help organizations reach their goals. But the latter is the better way to achieve success.

When one only mentors, the guidance may come without a true understanding of ground realities. Many times, it remains theoretical knowledge. At times, this leads to underestimating or overestimating the capabilities of the team sitting across the table, without active involvement. This approach also creates higher dependency on the team members, their maturity, dedication, and smartness. The risk of failure is higher, or progress toward the goal becomes slower.

Whereas, when an entrepreneur is directly involved, he understands all the pieces that need to come together. He has greater clarity about his team and their capabilities. He can foresee adverse situations and tackle obstacles instantly. As he becomes a role model, the team shows higher dedication and becomes more goal oriented. As he acts like a guiding lamp and drives the organization toward achieving goals collectively, a sense of belonging also develops among employees.

An entrepreneur can move into a mentor only role when he has achieved expertise in managing teams, has all the tricks of the trade at his fingertips, and has built a strong team that can execute tasks smoothly under his guidance.

The hands on entrepreneur works with a completely balanced mindset and operates without attachment, whether to actions or results. For actions, he knows what needs to be done to move toward the goal and therefore gets it done. He is neither overly happy about good actions nor upset about strict or unpopular decisions, because he knows they are taken only to achieve the goal. He is completely detached from outcomes, neither proud of gains nor ashamed of losses, as he understands that gains and losses are part of the entrepreneurial journey and are stepping stones toward growth. He does not drive the organization with selfish motives, but with the intent to serve customers, and through that, his people and the system around him.

Krishna resolves Arjun’s dilemma with precision. He does not reject renunciation; He reframes it. Renunciation is not the absence of action—it is the absence of attachment. Between stepping back and stepping in, Krishna points to a higher synthesis: act fully, remain inwardly free.

Business Insight

In business, both approaches can move an organization forward:

• Mentor-only mode: guiding, advising, reviewing from a distance.
• Hands-on mode: executing, fixing, building—getting your hands dirty when the moment demands.

Both can succeed. But Krishna’s insight is clear: hands-on engagement with inner detachment works better—especially in formative and turbulent phases.

Pure mentoring risks theory overpowering reality. It can lead to overestimating or underestimating team capability, slower progress, and high dependency on individual maturity.

Hands-on leadership, by contrast, builds situational awareness—the founder sees the puzzles as they are, anticipates blocks early, and responds instantly.

Leadership Lesson

Karm Yog in entrepreneurship is active leadership without emotional entanglement.

The hands-on entrepreneur:

• Acts because the action is required—not because it is pleasant or popular.
• Is steady in praise and criticism, gains and losses.
• Leads by example, becoming the living standard for discipline and dedication.
• Builds belongingness because the team sees commitment, not command.

Only when the founder has mastered execution, built a capable team, and embedded culture deeply does stepping into a mentor-only role become effective—and even then, it remains a choice, not an escape.

Key Takeaways

• Renunciation is not withdrawal from work; it is withdrawal from attachment.
• Hands-on leadership creates clarity, speed, and credibility.
• Mentoring without ground truth risks slow progress and misjudgment.
• Detached action keeps founders balanced through success and failure alike.
• True Karm Yog is serving the goal, the customer, and the system—without ego.