Who's the man

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Mr. Handa on Entrepreneurship

The man's a motivational Guru. The sort that can groom entrepreneurs. I was lucky to hear him a total of 5 hours the past 2 days.
What's the mantra for entrepreneurship? It's leadership, negotiation and delegation. Let's consider each one.
King Akbar of the greater Indian subcontinent, 500+ years ago, was illiterate. His navratna cabinet included the greatest musicians, philosophers and strategists of his time. His grandson, Aurangzeb, on the other hand, was well versed in many languages. He translated multiple texts to arabic/farsi himself. Aurangzeb killed his brothers for the throne. While the Mughal empire grew and prospered under Akbar, it disintegrated with Aurangzeb's rule. If you get the gist, Akbar was a leader, his grandson wasn't. Leaders can motivate ordinary people around them do extra-ordinary things.
Mr. Handa's first lessons in negotiation were learnt in his bus journeys from college to back home. He stood in the aisle hanging on to the support for the entire 2 hours because he couldn't find place to sit. Some trips later and he smartened up. He began asking the seated passengers to scoot to the side and make place for him. Initially, he felt guilty for the inconvenience he caused his co-passengers. But soon his skin grew thick, because what was important, he realized, was that he get his job done.
Delegation is the tool to grow from a small company to a large industry. The former requires a hands-on approach, hard work, wearing many hats, close control, while the latter requires building a team and being able to trust them with your baby.
These are the three essentials of business we just can't learn in business school.

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