Corporate lessons from Professor Narendra Modi!

This general election of India will be remembered for a lot of things. The sheer number of rallies, players and acrimony that the people saw during this election is no short of a record in itself! But, if there was one thing consistent, then it was the way in which Narendra Modi and his team led their campaign. Already, there are talks that management students, like those in the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad), may get their dose of ‘Modi-nomics’ and ‘Modi-management training’ that will help these budding managers in the future. This indeed is one of the firsts in this country, but yes, it is true that his zealous election campaign holds several lessons for the corporate world. Here are the top ten lessons to learn from India’s the-then aspiring CEO and Professor of ‘management’ Narendra Modi:

1.)    Place the right man at the right job: Modi really knew what man to place where, so, Amit Shah known for being an excellent strategist went to the most difficult place, Uttar Pradesh. Uma Bharti was not to go to Madhya Pradesh, her original turf, but was instead shoved to work hard in the challenging demography of Jhansi and her rhetoric for Hindutva and Ram Temple were to be subdued to make way for development slogan of Modi. Same was the case with his choice for Amethi, Smriti Irani. He pushed her to make Rahul Gandhi’s sweat it out in his home turf and thus inflicted tremendous injury to his campaign and for the first time, it seemed like a serious fight for Gandhis. Not just that, Modi also made it a point to keep the sycophants away while dealing with detractors within his own party (Read Sushma Swaraj and Lal Krishna Advani) softly but deftly.

2.)    Know your challengers and deal accordingly: Despite the fact that Arvind Kejriwal was hogging the limelight, Modi refused to either challenge or engage in a debate with him, this way he channelized his energy only on one task and that was to demolish the ‘khandaan’ or the first dynasty of Indian politics, the Gandhis. He ‘chose’ to not speak about Arvind Kejriwal because he knew that his base was extremely weak. Even the organizational skills put on display were more on ‘internet’ than on ground, as AAP itself was filled with several supporters who themselves had in earlier instances admired Modi (AAP leader and Bollywood starlet Gul Panag.) In short, Kejriwal was rightly judged to be of no threat and was sized up with the jibes of AK49, while Rahul and his battery of supporters faced his most scathing attacks.

3.)    Resourcefulness: Modi debated hard and to every allegation that came from the Gandhi camp, thwarted it with dangerous jibes that raked numerous controversies. So when he was called ‘Hitler’ and ‘Feku’ by Rahul, he in turn called him ‘Shehzada’ or ‘Prince,’ when Gandhis spoke about authoritarianism, they were reminded of the ‘angry politics’ and the ‘high-handedness’ of late Rajiv Gandhi and of even Rahul Gandhi (just the mention of his act of tearing up the ‘nonsense’ ordinance was enough to stop Rahul in the tracks.) When Mani Shankar Aiyar derided him by calling him ‘Chaiwala’ or ‘tea-seller,’ he made it his clarion call and used it to connect with the masses. In short, he gave the message that he was one of the ‘common men’ and that he was being targeted because he was not elite. He also mocked Sonia Gandhi when she spoke of secularism and stopped at nothing to show that he had an answer for everything.

4.)    Be smooth with target fixation: He initially focused on Rahul but as soon as he saw that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was emerging as a threat, he immediately took on Priyanka with zest, and to keep her on the back-foot, he fixed his barbs on ‘damaad ji’ (Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra) for his alleged shoddy land dealings with the real estate mogul DLF. In this way, he was able to highlight that it was not just Manmohan Singh, but the entire Gandhi family who benefited the most when plundering was underway.

5.)    Power dressing and team player: His crisp dressing showed a no-frills attitude and endeared him to the masses. He neither underdressed nor overdressed on any occasion. His cotton kurtas, and zero accessory look cut his figure as a grassroot and a hardworking politician and also proved that he was able to connect with the people respectfully and needed no gimmicks. Further, just like Indira Gandhi did in the past, he too showed that he was willing to accommodate the plural culture of India and be a team player when he wore headgears, pagdis and shawls that were offered to him by the people wherever he went.

6.)     Confidence, research and the art of selling a mirage: No one saw loss him at a loss of words, no one saw him fumbling or fidgeting with scripts. Yes, he goofed up several times (some instances: Jawaharlal Nehru didn’t attend the funeral of Sardar Patel, China spends 20 percent GDP on education and economic growth rate during NDA rule was 8% and several others) but he still did not show any signs of nervousness. He spoke like a pro and matched the oratory of ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee but what was indeed exceptional was his easy-to-connect approach with general public. He met them and listened to them intently and calmly, his team would silently take notes of the woes of public which would then be utilized in his rallies later. The research helped him talk about the lack of sanitation facilities and also about the tribal rights. He went to areas that were seldom touched. In short, with confidence he hit the right notes at the right time and inspired his team and the general public at the same time to believe in his dream. His ‘achche din aane waale hain’ or good days are going to come, Gujarat model of development and his promise to clean the Holy Ganges, as he did in the case of River Sabarmati, struck a note with the masses already simmering due to misrule, corruption and insensitivity of the ruling UPA government. Such was his roaring popularity that people were willing to pay (Rs. 5) just to see him talk!

7.)    Utilizing media and experimenting with technology: As a prime ministerial candidate, he was always sure of getting due coverage, but what also helped him was his love-hate relationship that both revolted and also attracted the media. He would chide and also gloat on the publicity but still managed to show that he was not arrogant. His interviews portrayed him as a serious and a thinking man who always weighed his words. No allegations of ‘paid media;’ he was respectful, but he didn’t stop at highlighting that the media had been unfair to him. Like in his interview with Arnab Goswami, he smartly told him to go and do research on state of Bangladeshi Hindus for a few months before passing on a judgment. What also added to his aura was his non-dependence on traditional media to voice his opinion. His page on Facebook had more likes than several big media outlets combined together and similar was the case with his Twitter handle as well. He used technology to reach out to more people and connected with youth and elderly with ease. Google hangouts chats, 3D Hologram projections and several hundred pages dedicated to him on Facebook made him look like a David going out to slay the Goliath of misrule and added to his persona.

8.)    Business, Business and Business: Despite the obvious hostility showed to him by governments of the US and Europe, he never ridiculed them and chose to stay quiet. China and Japan were the first ones to reach out to him and now even USA, UK and the rest are towing their line and are busy in extending a red carpet welcome to him. But what is important to note is, that Narendra Modi, has not allowed the slights on his persona to come in the way of business which in itself is the best lesson for any corporate. He clearly understands that business has its own terminology and own conventions, mixing it with ego can only make India the next North Korea and not the world power that Modi has promised Indians.

9.)    Work pays, have faith: This is one of the best and easiest lesson by Professor Modi. Do the work and keep your wits and strengths with you. In the end, all of it would pay!