In the second chapter of Gita Lord Krishna said,
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
that means, “You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.”
And this is where most of the people got confused. If I do not have any expectations then how will I get motivated to do something
For e.g., As a product owner, If I do not expect that my product should grow to whatever level, why would I put my efforts into that.
So Arjuna asks the same question to Lord Krishna, “If I should not keep any expectation about my kingdom then why do you urge me to jump into this war?”
What Karma-Yoga says is, Everyone must engage in some sort of activity in this material world. In short, do actions. You can not run away from your duties or actions. But those actions should be selfless actions that are performed for the benefits of others.
Because in chapter 3, verse 13, Lord Krishna said,
यज्ञशिष्टाशिन: सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषै: |
भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् || 13 ||
That means, The spiritually-minded, who eat food that is first offered in sacrifice, are released from all kinds of sin. Others, who cook food for their own enjoyment, verily eat only sin. (source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)
In our business, every day we should be generous and gracious to the people we work with. Also, we should build a socially responsible business, which means being aware of the company’s impact on workers, consumers, and the environment around it. That means happier employees, who builds better products and ultimately happy customers.
A business can make lots of money, be successful, and grow for years but it should be still giving back to society, providing services, and improving the community around it.
