4 Lessons From The UP Results For Us...

UP has SPoken! Neither the then incumbent BSP nor the potential competitor Congress managed to succeed; the SP prevailed! I can’t delve into details of intricate political moves as I’m not qualified enough. So let’s focus on something else.

The Samajwadi Party winning by such a large margin was a huge surprise; it caught a lot of politicians and analysts off – guard. But, obviously, there had to be reasons. This is a case more of the BSP losing the election than the SP winning it.

Mayawati’s and Congress’ losses offer a lot of lessons for Corporate Inc. Some of them are elaborated below:

1.      Be genuine: - Hollow actions and words are easily seen through. The media may have hyped Rahul Ghandi’s visits to various areas in UP. But it was not enough for people to believe that RG was genuinely keen on working towards the upliftment of troubled areas in UP.

If your efforts don’t display genuineness, you can kiss a secure future goodbye. Genuine interest for growth of your organization is a must for success.

 

Rahul Gandhi? NO! Mayawati? NO!

2.        Look at the larger picture: - Mayawati, her sycophants and the Congress were busy slinging mud at each other, while the Samajwadi Party maintained its business friendly image. Congress pointed fingers at Mayawati’s corruption while the latter kept playing the Dalit card, refuting the Congress, etc. In the end, they both lost out mainly because they failed to see the bigger picture. The picture which promised hope and growth to business and common man in UP, something the SP did very well.

If you focus on only what your competition is doing, you’ll lose sight of the bigger picture (i.e. what value you can add for your customers). The cat takes the fish while monkeys are busy fighting over it.

3.       Complacency hurts: - Mayawati didn’t care to acknowledge rampant criminal and safety issues, let alone address them.  She wouldn’t focus on betterment of the state; instead she thought she was invincible! The BSP spent public money on elephant statues, parks and money garlands. These actions pleased barely anyone. As a result, someone who thought she could run for PM couldn’t even hold onto a position in her state.

No business is insulated from the future. Keep your eyes on current happenings, possible future trends and keep improving. Else your business / organization will see its end just like a million other across the world.

4.       Actions without results are meaningless: - Rahul Ghandi worked hard on cultivating a good image of the Congress in a state which has historically not been very kind to them. But those actions failed to yield a positive result. While the entire country touted RG’s moves a masterstroke, the end result was (as expected) the opposite. Likewise, Mayawati’s building of statues, offering to split UP into 4 parts and claims of the dawn of the Dalit age failed to instill confidence in people and business.

If your actions don’t yield results, they’re not the right way forward. It’s important to go back to the drawing board and study your moves. Build on the ones which succeeded, correct the ones which failed… but most importantly IMPLEMENT YOUR NEW ACTION PLANS! Staying mired in the same sandpit will get you nowhere.

The UP elections have been a big slap on Congress’ and BSP’s faces. Many of their moves warranted their loss in the State. What remains to be seen is whether Sonia Ghandi and Mayawati care to learn their lessons. If not, parties promising growth will keep reaping rewards (read ‘seats’) in State elections while these women will continue to sulk!

Many organizations are guilty of committing the same mistakes as these political parties. For the sake of sustenance and success, they must steer clear of these close minded moves, be open to new ideas, be adaptable, maintain integrity, bring in fresh blood (like the Samajwadi Party has) and be assertive. These are prerequisites for succeeded in the cut – throat competitive world of today and tomorrow.