My Prime minister a master strategist; and he is NOT an MBA

"Mind is never a problem but mindset is. - Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime minister of India

I believe you're reading this post because you're horribly disappointed, sick-and-tired of your employer/recruiter/friends/colleagues (basically everyone) suggesting that for being a good strategist you need to have an Ivy-league MBA. Sounds familiar?

Hon'ble PM of India, Mr Narendra D. Modi, a master strategist

Let me today break the myth by sharing with you a mint-fresh story of our Prime minister, Mr Narendra D. Modi, who has probably put the best strategists to shame by his master-stroke. If you're an aspiring business leader, you don't want to miss this one.

My story today is about a men's suit. Really, a suit? So what's with this "Suit-Strategy" that I'm emphasizing on. Let's find out, shall we. Just for the record, this post has got nothing to do with politics, sounds interesting? Read on..

Our Prime minister won an unprecedented election in May 2014, beating all possible predictions, analysis, rhetoric etc and transformed the political dynamics of the world's biggest democracy. His inspirational "Tea seller-to-PM" story is now immortal.

Recently, India invited the Hon'ble President of the United States, Mr Barack Obama to New Delhi and hosted a never-seen-before affair of bilateral ties between the two great nations. Mr Modi chose to wear a specially designed suit while greeting the US president. This outfit was gifted to him by one of this many admirers and apparently costed a Million rupees in Indian currency (That's a little over USD 15k on a fair conversion basis) The suit has the prime minister's name woven in it and that apparently was a "big deal" !

The controversy suit :)

So, was that really a big deal? Well, this is where the fun begins.

India's federal opposition parties are so devoid of issues that believe it or not, in a recent state election, Mr Modi's USD 15k suit became a key electoral issue! What? Really? Are we serious? Yes, I am and it's just sad. We are becoming a country where affluence is considered a taboo and poverty, an achievement.

Mr Modi is not a quitter and that's exactly where he came up with his Master-stroke.

In order to silence his critics, he declared to auction his "suit".Pretty smart, wasn't it? What could the opposition possibly say now?

The good news is: Mr Modi's strategic thinking has fetched a whopping sum of 43 Million in Indian currency after an interesting three day auction. That's roughly USD 700k ! Yes, a diamond-merchant bought the suit for USD 700k...all cash ! The venue of the auction was smartly chosen to be a city called "Surat", the diamond business hub of India and not Delhi, Bombay or any other Metro city. The result: Absolutely fabulous.

Mr Modi has announced that the proceeds of the auction will go towards cleaning up the world's most sacred river, Ganga (or Ganges, as the British termed it)

In one-single master-stroke, our prime minister did the following:

1. Silenced his opposition
2. Compelled his critics to look for another issue to attack him
3. Generated money for a cause to save a great river
4. Evoke respect from all walks of the society
5. Establish that he could give away his personal belongings for nations' cause

My conclusion: Strategist don't necessarily need to sit in air-conditioned boardrooms & formulate ideas. They perhaps can come from any part of the system, not compulsorily an "MBA institute". Even a street vendor, a local bakery, a fast-food joint, a car repair shop or a newspaper seller can inspire you with a unique idea that will help you sell better, grow faster and achieve higher. So, look around you, understand your business, study your customers (Read: Talk to them) come up with a better offering (not necessarily cheaper) and be humble enough to always keep your "Customers-first".

For the record, Mr Modi does not have an MBA !

Looking forward to your comments and feedback. This article was originally published on my LinkedIn page: Click Here

Follow me on Twitter: @vishalg82

‘Thank You’ and ‘Sorry’; My greatest takeaways from America

If you’re wondering what’s the big deal about these two words, believe me you’ve landed just at the right post and I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading about what I call my two greatest takeaways from America.

Is it a cultural thing, or personal? I can't say for sure. Our life is all about the“expressed” and the “implied”. A mother loves her kids, parents earn a living for the family, teachers and professors impart education, so on and so forth - All these are examples of “implied” deeds that we assume people have to do for us. Thus, whether we express our gratitude or not, it’s assumed we’re thankful.

Hold on, wait a minute! Do you think this is enough? Adequate? Sufficient?

I thought so, just before I landed on the shores of America and boy! What an incredible aspect of life was I missing…and how!

As a youngster, filled with dreams in my eyes I landed in Los Angeles, one of the most beautiful places on the planet. (By the way, if you’re in LA right now, feel blessed!)

My cultural shook-up started when the immigration officer at LAX checked my papers, asked a couple of questions, passed a smile and said, “Welcome to America, Thank you, next in line please”. It’s been exactly ten years but I have the incident fresh in my mind, etched for a lifetime I guess. So, what was wrong with me? Any guesses?

I thought, aren’t government officials always meant to be grumpy? Cranky? When was the last time I heard a officer say ‘Thank You’ even though I actually didn't do him a favor by landing up at his door at 2:30 in the night. Especially, in India, we rather have a heart attack than hear a thank you from an official.

That’s when I realized I was up for a real change (Read: Cultural shock) and the next two years that followed, transformed me for good!

For every small gesture, for even the tiniest of help extended, I heard Americans express gratitude. That’s when I realized that we needed to get rid of ‘implied’ and ‘assumed’ and start expressing, start acknowledging and stop complaining. Expressing our happiness if someone does something for us, isn't difficult at all, believe me.

A smile costs nothing, but its healing power is remarkable. If you’re thankful towards someone, say it with a smile! If you feel you’ve hurt someone, intentionally or otherwise, say ‘Sorry’! It’s the most powerful human emotion that you can exhibit and the greatest of grudges calm down on hearing this pleasant word.

My parents visited me and were quite surprised to see the changes in me. I returned back to my country a transformed personality.

Life has changed; Saying ‘thank you’ to the taxi driver, the guy who fills up my gas tank, the waiter at my favorite Chinese restaurant, my car mechanic, that helpful co-worker helping me with the lousy photocopier machine, the housekeeping lady at the hotel etc etc; All of this has become a habit. A lot of times people turn back and look at me in disbelief, because they don’t expect to be acknowledged for doing their jobs properly. I hope this changes, and soon.

It’s important, very, very, very important. Especially in the corporate world, it’s critical for us to be thankful towards our peers, mentors and associates. There’s no sweeter voice than a “Thank You” when you’re heading home from office. Teams that stick together for longer hauls exhibit such professional traits and eventually achieve results.

The same way, expressing ‘Sorry’ doesn't make you look small, infact, it makes your personality more appealing, acceptable and charming. Apologizing makes you stronger from within and outside. It tells people that you realize your shortcoming, accepted it, corrected it and moved on to the next challenge.

I hope to be a successful corporate professional and my takeaways will help us all in this thrilling journey.

A big "Thank You" for reading my post.

You can find me on Twitter: @vishalg82 or visit my LinkedIn page here