How hard it is to do the right thing ?

Satya was 7 years old when his grandfather told him stories from the Indian Ithihasa — Ramayana.
He fondly remembered hearing the story of Vibheeshana.
Vibheeshana, the brother of Ravana always supported what was right. He always warned Ravana to stop pursuing Sita, the wife of Ram. Ravana ignored him always. Vibheeshana remained as the only sane voice in Ravana’s kingdom. However, there came a time when Ravana’s son Indrajit ridiculed Vibheeshana in the middle of Ravana’s court, which prodded Vibheeshana to leave his brother and join Ram.
As Vibheeshana approached Ram’s Camp looking for refuge, he was stopped by the monkey soldiers of King Sugreeva. Vibheeshana informed his intention which was then passed on to Ram.
Ram called Sugreeva, all the senior ministers in Sugreeva’s court, his brother Lakshmana and Hanuman for counsel. All of them except Hanuman advised Ram not to accept Vibheeshana. Their argument was “If he could leave his brother with whom he has lived his life so far, he could leave us in the middle of the war or maybe he has come as a spy. So, don’t accept him”.
Before proceeding further, Satya’s Grandfather stopped here to take a break.
What Ram did is known to everyone who knows Ramayana. But Satya’s grandfather made it a point to tell the “why” behind that decision.
It was almost 35 years later when Satya confronted a situation where his grandfather’s take on Ram came to help him.
Satya had grown to become the CEO of a software company, Inflex, that he co-founded. Inflex had grown into a multi-million-dollar company with its presence across the globe.
One day, the HR Manager had called a meeting for handling an urgent issue. Shiv, who was the Head of Sales of US Operations had misbehaved with one of their female staff.
The meeting included Keshav, the HR Manager; Sanjeev, the Head of Operations, and Satya.
“What happened exactly?” Satya asked.
Keshav explained, “Shiv has been accused of sexually harassing a girl”.
“Is there proof?” Satya asked the HR Manager.
“Yes”, said Keshav.
“Then what is the point of calling this meeting?” Satya asked.
Sanjeev answered, “Well Satya, you know Shiv has been the top performer in the company. He is the Kingpin of our growth in US. Almost 40% of the business we generate in the USA comes through Shiv”.
“So?” Satya’s voice reflected sternness.
“I don’t think we should take action against Shiv especially in this situation as he may leave us and we will suffer”, said Sanjeev.
“I agree with him”, said Keshav, the HR Manager.
“We can dig the file of this lady to get some loopholes and throw her out. We then issue a warning to Shiv to deter him from such actions in the future”, said Keshav.
“That to me sounds like a win-win”, said Sanjeev.
Satya thought for a minute, and his Grandfather’s face came to his mind.
“Go as per our Policy”, Satya pronounced his verdict.
“You mean sack him?” asked Keshav.
“If that is our policy, we go by it”, said Satya.
Sanjeev interjected, “I hope you remember that Shiv is also your relative. You need to face your ire from the family members”.
“Let us do what is right”, Satya left the room without uttering anything further.
Satya had remembered his grandfather’s words, “Ram considered everyone’s version but decided to go ahead in taking Vibheeshana in his team. You may wonder why?”
“One of the Values that Ram lived by, is to provide refuge to anyone who came to him seeking his help. Ram was never concerned about their intention. He had to uphold his value despite any consequences. It was a risk, but he had to do the hard thing which was keeping up with his values. So, Ram embraced Vibheeshana in his team”.
Satya said to Keshav, “Never mind that we lose Shiv. We may struggle for a few months. But we have to stand for our value. No one can take advantage of their position to harass anyone in this company. I would uphold our company values and culture above anyone. People say that it is hard to do the right thing. I don’t agree with that statement. If you have clarity about your values in your life, it is never hard to do the right thing”.
The company suffered a considerable loss of revenue for a few months but stood for its value. Satya faced ire from his family members but remained firm on righteousness.
When the fire is covered with smoke, all you need is a gush of wind to clear the smoke to see the fire. When your decisions are based on values, even when the situation looks murky, all you need is just a thought a breezing thought based on your value to clear the doubts surrounding the intellect to get clarity.

When your mind is clear on your values, it is not at all difficult to do right thing amidst any tough situations.