The NaMo Cycle

The electoral victory of Mr. Narendra Modi to the post of PM of India, is a historic occasion.  Narendra Modi has humble origins: his family was poor, as a child he sold tea in moving trains and railway platforms, he then became a loyal worker of BJP and RSS, and rose through the rank and file, by dint of hardwork, enterprise and tact, Mr. Modi has achieved matchless success.  Mr. Modi does not have hoary academic qualifications, nor does he make any claim to be an intellectual, yes, he is confident that he is smart and intelligent...

Another low-profile Gujarati billionaire pharmaceutical tycoon is Dilip Shangvi, who started Sun Pharmaceuticals in a most humble way and now, with the acquisition of Ranbaxy through share swap, his business entity is India's most valuable pharma entity.  Sun is now the fifth largest pharmaceutical company of the world and India's largest pharma company (both by sales revenues)!!

Both of above success stories do not have big time qualifications or other cerebral attitudes, yes, they are smart... undoubtedly!  They have all the popular leadership qualities: including, ability to lead people, have an empowering vision, create shared values, take courage, give confidence, and inspire/make ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  But do these two success people have a code or formula for their success?

The answer is YES!!

There is a formula and this "success magic potion" is based on a particular type of energy, which can be called as EMOTIONAL ENERGY.

Emotional energy

Energy is the capacity to do work.   And emotion refers to a strong feeling.  Enthusiasm, passion... are related to high emotional energy.  When people face daunting circumstances, they actuate and overcome such challenges thanks to their indomitable emotional energy, which drives them to work steadily and positively.

Emotional energy is a treasure.  It is something, which makes people work overnight to achieve some target, it is the driver for making things happen.  It is the force that makes lovers work for each others' welfare. Emotional energy is infectious.  When, Modi tapped the emotional energy of voters, most of them came out and voted, it increased voter turnout percentage to record levels!!

The root of achievement and success is emotional energy.  Verily, emotional energy is the true energy of success, life and happiness.

Unconditional self-love

Unconditional self-love (self esteem) is the source of emotional energy.  This helps us love oneself inspite of what we are, and this will in turn help us love others inspite of what they are, it helps in relationship management and for win-win relationships.  Unconditional self-love is a great trigger for having healthy relations with others.  

People like Mr. Modi and Mr. Shanghvi have firm devotion to work and success, yet what distinguishes them from others is the tremendous comfort level with oneself and ability to relate with others.  When a person is comfortable with oneself, it helps a person accept another individual unconditionally, and ensures communication (messaging) is effective.  

Communication and negotiation

Pharmaceutical business (managing issues and relationships with doctors, partners, peers, employees, subordinates, superiors, and other market operators) involves communication (messaging) and negotiation (bargaining, give and take, finalizing deals...) so that common ground is found and business transactions take place.  Communication and negotiation is not a one-off thing, it is a continuous process.  

The bedrock of communication and negotiation is the rocket fuel called enthusiasm: intense positive emotional energy.  Mr. Modi addressed five meetings in and around Tirumala (a temple town) without any food... he worked relentlessly in an indefatigable manner, the source code for this is unconditional self-love and the emotional energy resulting thereof.  

If a medical representative or pharmaceutical manager firstly loves him/herself, it gets translated into bumper emotional energy.  The MR or manager will find himself energetic and most importantly he or she will get the confidence to deal with people.  After all, people do business with people.  Communication and negotiation are the life-breath of business activities.  Success in business comes through these processes, which finally depends on unconditional self-love and the resulting emotional energy.

Change and progress

Business is done for positive change: progress.  The vendor wishes to offer his ingredients to the formulator, and the pharmaceutical formulator/marketer is looking for progress in sales through win-win relations in the market place.  Doctors and pharmaceutical intermediaries help the pharmaceutical marketer obtain progress (positive change).  This progress depends on self-esteem, emotional energy, communication and negotiation.

Progress is a satisfying experience.  It reinforces self-esteem, creating more emotional energy in the individual, this helps in communication, negotiation, change and progress.  The cycle of success goes on.

The above elements of success are summarised in the graphic depicted below the photo of Mr. Modi (top): The NaMo Cycle.

Greatest contribution

The greatest contribution of Mr. Modi is the magic he has done to the self-esteem of all Indians.  There is hope, and Indians are motivated to achieve thanks to modimagic.  Modinomics is not important it will follow, modimagic is crucial, it will rub on to all Indians, undoubtedly next decade: is the INDIA SHINING DECADE, thanks to modimagic.

Trigger for this blogpost

I was in Vietnam from 13.5.2014 to 18.5.2014, for professional duties, we missed the fervor of India election results.  But we enjoyed VietNam:

Enthusiasm, thy name is Vietnam

Vietnam was a very far-off and mysterious place in my mind's eye.  I did not know much about the people, culture or any other pattern there.  My Vietnam experience (13.5.2014 to 18.5.2014) was "fantabulificent".  The Vietnamese are very warm, hospitable and co-operative people.  They go the extra mile for making people comfortable, and there is no cheating...  The Vietnamese are hard-working and full of beans (enthusiastic).  In fact, their enthusiasm is infectious...

I specially thank: Ms. Li Thi Huyen Trang, Ms. Phuong, Mr. Le Ngoc Tien, and his manager (unfortunately I did not collect her name), Mr. Nham Thanh Tung and many others for facilitating me and my colleague during our stay at Vietnam for our professional duties.  God Bless Them All.  VietNam is now very near in my mind!!

The most logical thing Mr. Modi is doing is cementing communication with neighbours'.  It is the most practical and logical thing to do.  Mr. Modi will create such vibrations that our business relations with near-by countries and other developed economies will succeed beyond the word: success.  It is modimagic at work: The World Is Calling India!!

Thanks for reading this blogpost: the trigger for this post was my VietNam experience and modimagic.  I hope readers will benefit from The NaMo Cycle.  It is applicable to all!!  Thanks for reading this blogpost, please scroll down to read other blogposts, please recommend this blog to your acquaintances, click on older posts wherever required to read older posts.

Success through persuasion

The concept of success comes when an aim or target or purpose is established.  When individual(s) experience or accomplish the target, we say there is success: this is the concept of success in a very simplistic manner.  All kinds of knowledge concepts and skill aspects come into play for experiencing success.  One of the important necessities for achieving success in today's world, is persuasion.

Persuasion is getting people or target audience/person(s) to agree to your terms...  as per this link, persuasion is a process, which involves changing a group's or individual's attitude (behavior) towards some idea, event, object (product/service) ... Persuasion is influencing.  Persuasion includes a sales pitch.  Persuasion is a part and parcel of regular business activity.  To succeed in business activities, persuasion is vital.

The above book: The Persuasive Manager by M M Monippally (IIM Ahmedabad) is certainly a handy guidebook to improve persuasion practices.  Through the above book, we get to know the importance of persuasion at peer level, and when communicating with bosses, superiors, subordinates, vendors, customers, influencers/opinion builders (like doctors in pharmaceutical marketing) and other associates.

Nevertheless, to understand persuasion in action, one has to read the truly inspiring book: THE INSPIRING JOURNEY OF A HERO, by Ms. Priya Kumar - this authoress is a motivational speaker and business person too.  Ms. Priya chronicles through a ringside view, of the life of Shri Om Prakash Munjal (Chotte Bauji), and what stands out in her chronicles, is the importance of persuasion for professional life.  Success of Shri O P Munjal, who is an architect of Hero group (today he is the Chairman of Hero Cycles - the world's largest manufacturer of bicycles), is a story of tireless persuasion.

Conviction

The root source power of persuasion is conviction.  It is a self-belief with intense commitment that the product offered is genuinely going to help you (ie., the prospect or customer).  The conviction is seen in the body language, perseverance, passion for the business activity (which gets displayed), voice, the talk and intensity in the eyes. 

On page 47 of the book on Shri O P Munjal, the authoress narrates an incident early in the work life of Shri O P Munjal, where a potential customer insults and shoos away Shri Munjal, in the morning.  The irrepressible Shri Munjal comes back in the evening to the same shop, and convinces the prospect, and gets a large order too. 

The genesis of such a never-say-die attitude is from a conviction that the product and business service offered is so good that it creates dogged determination in the business person.

Growth

Persuasion succeeds when it is associated with growth.  Every persuasion creates change.  This change should create growth - forward movement.  When the prospect or customer is convinced that the change preposition being promoted, helps in securing a robust future for the prospect, and that there is good advancement, then the persuasion succeeds. 

The importance of expansion is beautifully explained on page no. 105 of The Inspiring Journey of a Hero.

True persuasion goes beyond competition

Conventional marketing wisdom involves focusing on competitors (direct and indirect), then working out strategies and ground-level tactics, to outwit the competition and gain market share.  On page 110, a competitor 'friend' of Hero Cycles, describes how Hero Cycles achieved market leadership based on their vision, unity of purpose and activities rather than targeting competition. 

Persuasion involves recognition and reward system

Persuasion is not giving mega gifts or bribing people to obtain targeted behaviors.  It is more about a genuine recognition of good behavior and work.  On page 124, there is a beautiful example of how Shri Om Prakash Munjal would use a Rs. 10.00 note (just a tenner) to appreciate and encourage good work persuasively.  This 10 rupee note, in fact has higher perceived value as chotte bauji ka note, a highly valued gift by workers and other employees.

Persuading through sense of ownership

Instilling a sense of ownership on various assignments or targets among the participating employees is a key approach of persuasion.  In the persuasive style of leadership, Shri O P Munjal, helps employees buy-into the target, and work out the ways themselves to achieve the budget.  This empowering approach where people get to own the targets and find ways to achieve them, is an interesting approach of persuasion.  (Page nos. 132 and 133).

Persuasion involves modeling

Being what is preached is a major method of persuasion.  Shri O P Munjal lives the values he advocates, in fact, people learn about him through his actions.  His sense of time discipline, activity standards and no-nonsense commitment helped even prevent labour union strikes (page no. 138). 

In persuasion process, modeling helps particularly influence peers and definitely subordinates. 

Persuasion is a win-win process

Persuasion involves creating happiness (not upset feelings) among all participants.  Giving unexpected rewards to associates or employees helps persuade or influence (page nos. 127, and 151 to 153).

Commitment to relationships gives fillip to the persuasion process

Dealers and their promotional behavior is vital for success of Hero Cycles.  Shri O P Munjal having understood this fact, went the extra mile to keep his dealers happy, thereby persuading them to work better for Hero Cycles in the market (page nos. 86, 98 and 99).

Persuasion is the life-breath of success in professional activity.  Persuasion is the life-breath of doctor conversion.  This needs to be done through a value system.  Persuasion is an answer to overcome price wars in the intensely competitive pharma market.  Persuasion helps improve perceived value of the pharma offerings of a pharma company.  The dimensions of the persuasion science and art - are many, while the books cited above do help in getting tips for practice of persuasion, there is another article here from Forbes that gives more tips.

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