Be Empactful

Dr. Robert Cialdini speaks about 6 different aspects of Influence: Reciprocity, Authority, Consistency, Consensus, Scarcity & Liking.

How one is influenced in the workplace to be aware of spaces?

This might sound a bit tricky, theoretical, & academic in nature but that's how it influences us while the culture is being established for an organization.

Welcome to Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast, In this episode, we have Sashi, who is a Gender & Behavioral science professional & Social Scientist with expertise in sectoral research, CSR partnerships, gender, intervention, research, teaching at TISS along with 12+ yrs of experience.

We hear a lot of noise about diverse hiring, women in leadership positions in organizations, LGBTQ is to be made of something which brings in different conversations, biases, influences, thoughts, decisions, and so on.

It's under the broader discussion of D.I.E.&B where #Diversity leads to #Inclusivity to #Equity & creating a sense of #Belonging.

Diversity: We have been exposed to & grown with it in our entire life, which also impacts the ability to perceive and understand, & communicate what is going on. There is a certain privilege of these intersections, bringing in opportunities & exposure. As we come from various regions, belong to various genders, different labeled people, different qualities, thought processes, gender, class, caste, religion, and a lot of intersections keep on affecting us on an everyday basis.

To Inclusivity: What comes to your mind when you hear "good or bad", "right or wrong", "black & white", "male & female", & so on.

These binaries have such a strong impact on our minds that anything that is different becomes a challenge to accept.

LGBTQ - companies focus on hiring, grooming people & making them feel comfortable, they are not marginalized.

When the diversity is respected & heard, move forward together as a collective. That's where we become Inclusive.

Gender is a very marginalized subject and a very important space for addressing the new upcoming trend, "Giving a second chance".

People take a little break after childbearing - being a little mindful about the words we use and the plays we give them, engendering of micro & macro economic policies, have to be some kind of affirmative action for gender to make place for themselves.

Equity is transformational in a way of moving forward. Imagine breaking the bias and everyone getting a fair chance to grow in a professional & personal environment.

Diversity, Inclusivity, & Equity together bring a sense of #Belonging.

Belonging is a long haul & Differences are OK.

In a workplace, the difference to be seen is your strength. Bringing another point of view, How we can gel through it, navigate this minefield & reach our targets & achieve results, & respect each other's differences.

We love the product-We love the service-We love the company

or

We love the company-we love the product or service it produces.

or

something in-between...

All of us at least cherish that one product or service where we will get into a conversation with our friends and acquaintances, share our thoughts, experiences and also defend them in case we believe that the person on the other side is sharing which is not in sync with & that is called word of mouth.

Check out:

Royal Enfield - a brand that was revived from death or near bankruptcy as the owners of the motorcycles connected with its legacy, craved for its experience and look at how the One Ride & Himalayan Odyssey is making its mark.

Lego - We played with lego bricks as kids, and loved & cherished them, the 75 yr old company was bought back to life as it tapped into the community of its fans.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Be Empactful Podcast. In this episode, we have Mr. Abhishek Sagar, AVP Growth at Amura, a MarTech company where we discuss what it takes to build Brand Loyalty.

A sexual awareness brand increased its revenue from Rs. 6 Cr. ARR to Rs. 12 Cr ARR, as they felt connected to the brand and were purchasing the product even if there were alternatives available in the market.

An Electric Vehicle company invested in its vendors, subcontractors & stakeholders who amplified the word of mouth in a way where the end customers started talking about them as they were part of the experience & the loyalty clubs, they attended the one-day workshop along with Try Before You Buy programs.

A retail brand from the Middle East, Phygital - Physical + Digital aspect, the experience was unified that customer acquisition on e-commerce platform through anchor cohorts of products.

All these and some more examples with the takeaways:

- Brand Loyalty is different from repeated buying - Check why they are buying; is it just cheaper or they are loyal to the brand - Brand Loyalty is earned and it drives long-term revenues for the companies.

- Build Brand Loyalty, one single communication across all the platforms, that ties back to goal original memberships, communication videos & formats, core things that people remember when they are not seeing ads of these brands.

- Word of Mouth is a free advertisement tool, why not build a community of fans purposefully, everybody contributing to the growth flight.

Our listeners who want to connect with Abhishek & Amura Tech, check out the website: https://www.amuratech.com/

Abhishek's LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/abhishek-sagar-96660826

So,  let us know what you think leadership is all about and how easy or difficult is it to be a Leader in the business world. Reach out to us if you want to discuss, just share a thought or even a cup of coffee.

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Leaders who adapt themselves to this generation of people joining an organization are in a better position to engage with them, groom them & lead the growth of the organization.

Welcome to Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast, In this episode, we have Mr. Ravishankar, CEO @ Ceresta BC, and Business Director, Oil & Gas, Alethe Labs, where we discuss the role of leaders in this dynamic business environment, where a leader has to adapt to the changing pace of technology, changing pace of people, expectations of people, background, qualifications & exposure of people.

Also, in this dynamic business environment, there are collaborations, mergers & acquisitions, roles of communication, and so on...

Ravi graduated from IIM, Ahmedabad in 1987, and over the three decades been in the Oil & Gas industry which is considered a traditional industry compared to the new-age industry such as IT & ITES, although now every industry is using CRM & ERP and there's a pressing need to adapt these to stay relevant & competitive in this dynamic environment.

According to Ravi, in the first two decades of his career, the change was slow and in the last decade, things have transformed very fast. In this challenging business environment, leaders who adapt themselves are in a better position to engage, groom, & lead the growth of the organization with the new-age talent to make the best use of talent and resources.

Mergers and Acquisitions have become common in the post-pandemic stage where resource optimization is something that is at the fulcrum of all acquisitions.

There will be natural shake-ups that would take place with the major agenda of a leader is to clearly communicate the decisions to make the people prepared for smooth transitions.

The hierarchy has to embrace these changes and complete transformation in the functioning of the organization.

Key Takeaways:

Create more leaders and not more followers - for percolation to trickle down to the last person in the team.

Enable Decision Making - By delegating the authority.

Enable more involvement of everyone in the decision-making process.

Ensure Learning & Knowledge on a continuous basis.

Communication is very important, especially during challenging times. Right communication keeps the team working together.

Community is about people with diverse backgrounds coming together for a cause and once it is mission-led - Everybody unites under one flag. Led by a leader creating the next rung of leaders.

For our listeners who wish to connect with Ravi, check out:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravishankar-sundaresan-89b6562a

So, let us know what you think the strategy is all about and how easy or difficult is it to be a Leader in the business world. Reach out to us if you want to discuss, just share a thought or even a cup of coffee.

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A couple of Days Ago YC wrote to its startup founders that the economic environment is going to be challenging in the coming months. You will have to increase the time horizon, if you are raising funds, you will have to wait for more time for clients to pay up once the work is done. It's going to be tough.

Now, it's all the more important for founders to rethink their #strategy in the new environment where resources are constrained & stakeholders are demanding accountability for survival.

Welcome to the Season 3 of Be Empactful podcast bonus episode, we are releasing this episode early so that everyone can make sense of what's going on in the business environment & plan for it.

One of the frequently asked questions by our prospective clients was: If we invest in strategy right now? How soon will we get our returns?

We now have a tentative model and a case study to share.

While working on a Marketing Strategy consulting with our paid client who is an 8-member strong team working remotely with an ambition to grow big?

What we figured out is that it is a challenging task to go through the strategy sessions, as the questions are deep, intense, and mindblowing that you have to literally work your brain muscles.

The stakeholders were asking for accountability and getting them to the sessions acted as a force multiplier as different perspectives were addressed.

With the 4-KYC framework report being ready?

We have told them to share it with their team members, use the insights from it to reach out to bigger clients on scale, and figure out a way to get them to do some community projects together to impact the industry building relationships to grow further.

ROI - Return on Investment of Strategy is nothing if you don't implement it and the culture change starts from the TOP.

Share the goal - Build the Roadmap - Finetune & navigate the journey with a simple thumb rule.

If the investment in (Strategy + Execution) is Rs. x/month for 12 months, Then the revenue should be anywhere between 24x to 12x at the end of the year.

It's a challenge & Are you up for it?

So, let us know what you think the strategy is all about and how easy or difficult is it to be a Leader in the business world. Reach out to us if you want to discuss, just share a thought or even a cup of coffee.

Follow our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-empactful-podcast/

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Brands messaging oscillate from FOMO to JOMO, Aspiration to Inspiration, or Guilt to Assurance.

Welcome to Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast, In this episode, Shiva dissects the power of branding & the message that it creates in the minds of people looking at it. They can be your audience, your consumer, the influencer, and something which has a long-lasting impact on the decisions.

On one end, it's FOMO - Fear of Missing Out, that makes you anxious, you want to fit in, and there is always a curiosity that something is missing...

On the other end, it's JOMO - Joy of Missing Out, as attention span is reducing with so much noise around that how much to tune in and what to tune out becomes very important in holistic well-being.

When brands share the messaging:

- If you are not using this product: you won't become successful, your kids are missing out on something critical, this is so much essential, and so on.

To the other end is Inspiration:

- Dove - it feels good

- Mountain Dew - Darr ke aage jeet hai - Victory ahead of Fear

- Surf Excel - Daag Ache hain - If you get dirty by doing something good, It's good as the dirty patches could be cleaned

- Coca-Cola - Joy of Giving - It feels good.

Products or Services are created by People & it is used by People, At the end of it is the human connection. In this case, the personalities use their influence to shape thoughts decisions & actions.

From the movie personalities to innovators to entrepreneurs and statesmen.

Rajnikant - Thaliva - has a cult following such that with one request there are countless people jumping in with resources.

Sonu Sood - used his stardom to mobilize resources and create that impact.

Sonam Wangchuk - Innovator who is working at the grassroots to bring that change and the impact created by it is being shared by other personalities through storytelling.

Anand Mahindra & Ratan Tata, are creating an impact through their actions where they are leaving an impact on everyone's mind.

These are some examples of how personalities have become brands among themselves and are using it to drive change & impact.

Branding & Marketing go hand in hand that need to be inclusive where we are addressing folks from diverse backgrounds with religious, language & regional diversity, and orientation.

DEIB - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

This might sound simple, but a variety of experiences, resources, biases & other factors have impacted the behavioral patterns of individuals, and impacting the collective now is becoming much more critical.

Breaking the Bias in messaging and meaning it to the core in letter & spirit is more critical to amalgamating everyone into it.

Airbnb did it. A couple of jewelry brands in India did it.

Some campaigns had to be taken down but nevertheless, it's a start to cater to people with special needs, varied sexual orientations, physically challenged etc.

It's a start & we would say a great one.

FOMO vs JOMO

Guilt vs Assurance

Aspiration vs Inpiration

Brands have the power to influence & use this power to make people more inclusive incorporating the DEIB.

So, let us know what you think leadership is all about and how easy or difficult is it to be a Leader in the business world. Reach out to us if you want to discuss, just share a thought or even a cup of coffee.

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A financial institution started by lending Rs. 5,000/- per month to women entrepreneurs in rural India as a part of CSR activity & now it lends Rs. 30,000/- per month to these women to scale their business.

Imagine 6 times growth over a period of time.

So investing in #community is good for business & good business.

Welcome to the Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast. In this episode, we have Rajashri, Co-Founder of Impactree Data Technologies, where we discuss the journey of being an Activist, then working as a CS in the legal firm then coming to a decision point that led to Jagriti Yatra, and now building an organization which is using data to build in transparency, storytelling & impact.

With an aim to impact 5 million people by 2027 and a subset of it will be 15 lakh, women-entrepreneurs & family-led enterprises in rural India as a tribute to her late mentor Prema Gopalan.

The community became a key enabler and played the role of a critical partner in the ecosystem.

Rajashri calls herself a Recession Entrepreneur, as there was almost no work flowing in her team, and finally to her which led to submitting an application to be part of Jagriti Yatra with a promise that if the application is accepted she would quit the job.

That's exactly what happened, the application to Jagriti Yatra was accepted today Impactree Data Tech is Impact Partners in the program.

Jagriti Yatra is that transformative train journey and a space for young entrepreneurs to realize that "you are not alone", where you travel & stay on a train and stations to interact with entrepreneurs and become more realistic about what your goals could be such that if someone wakes you up from your deep sleep, you should be able to share your business idea in two sentences.

After running a couple of programs for 1,000 women entrepreneurs in the retail & clean energy space and scaling it across Africa & Indonesia, there is a realization from ideating, running, and reporting the data with action points. Implementing things at scale becomes a challenge that the solution becomes irrelevant when it is implemented 3-4 months down the line.

At Impactree there are systems in place where the donors get transparency whether they want to align these programs to integrate them into businesses or align as a charitable vertical in their organization.

Make Connections, Visibility of Data, Ease with which stakeholders can use & see it has been a real crucial change which has allowed stakeholders to innovate in the pipeline, not make CSR only another compliance tickbox.

In one of the cases the financial services organization was able to ensure two things:

1) Able to impact the community better through the CSR programs, because they were lending in that particular community by supporting the women to move up the entrepreneur value chain.

2) Reduce default rates by 8%, Move the women on ticket size they were lending to Rs. 5,000 a month, now they are lending 20-25k a month

The result is that women have established enterprises, which make economic sense to the community & to the corporates to add value to businesses in rural India through CSR.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajashri-sai-4a2b2230

Does anybody have anything to contribute? This is the worst ever statement to be made.

Rather look at actively engaging with the quietest people in the team.

Welcome to Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast, In this episode, we have Mr. Vivek, Co-Founder, Impactree Data Tech.

A heuristic is a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems & make judgments quickly & efficiently. These rule-of-thumb strategies shorten decision-making time and allow people to function without constantly stopping to think about their next course of action.

Whether it is good or bad, that's very subjective. Since our minds operate in a similar way and the best way to make the most of it is to figure out a way where it's a win-win situation for everyone.

In common terms, we call it Bias. Something which we have a preconceived notion.

There are two sets of Biases that operate among individuals while they are working professionally in a team or interacting socially.

The First one is Confirmation Bias - where we have the tendency to confirm, recall or interpret the information which we believe in.

And, the second one is Group Think Bias - where we tend to agree with whatever is the general consensus as we have the fear of being the odd one out in the team.

Biases are not going to get over soon.

So, How do we get over it? By building in the systems & processes with checks & balances in place to be followed in letter and spirit.

Understand the fact that the internal team of an organization is it a startup, growth-stage company, or an established enterprise has different dynamics as every individual has varied skillsets and they work at a different frequency... Obviously, there is a discussion about Skills vs Potential...

Every individual adds a different dynamic to the operating team...

There are three checkpoints while building the team:

i) When they are recruited during the interview process?

It starts with the culture & whether the individual will fit the culture or not.

Unless you don't understand "How the team operates?" You won't be successful.

As the basic ingredients needed to become a high-functioning team. It is not only Skill Sets, Attitudes, whatever.

But Also, Expectations are to be set in stone & customized per person to person in the team with milestones & objectives to be rigorously reviewed.

It's a fact that an individual joins the company as an Individual Contributor & then is promoted and expected to lead teams.

Everyone is on a learning curve and it takes time to build & develop Trust. So build in checks & balances to validate this Trust.

A mentor becomes critical in this scenario as there is someone with whom this can be brainstormed & debated to put everything in order to figure out a way where the team is extremely agile and delivering on the objectives.

Here are the key takeaways:

The role of leadership in driving company culture

Remember the time when you made your first sale? How did you feel about it?

You surely must have gone through a plethora of emotions. Be it the pre-sales anxiety or the post-sales celebration, the memory of this first experience is treasured by every marketer. This episode of our podcast will take you back to your first sales experience.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Be Empactful Podcast. In this episode, we have Mr. Abhishek Sagar, AVP Growth at Amura, a MarTech company.

Quick introduction: Right after graduating from IIT, Abhishek founded his first startup. In the process of learning and building things from scratch, he met his

mentor from IIM Ahmedabad, who shaped his career in many ways and continues to be an integral part of it even today. Her mentorship was instrumental in creating a customer-centric culture in the startup, formulating its processes and scripts, achieving a broader customer outreach and tackling every challenge head-on.

Another mentor who guided him through his journey was an investor in Infosys, a well-known Indian IT company. The nuances & nuggets of knowledge that he provided proved to be invaluable. Carrying these learnings ahead, Abhishek has transformed into a successful leader himself!

You can also get a glimpse of these learnings through this episode. Abhishek will share his valuable insights on digital marketing, various platforms used, the

importance of leadership, company culture, core values, and constructive feedback.

Here are some key takeaways from the podcast:

- The digital space has evolved remarkably in recent times. And the need for strong leadership is felt now more than ever. Leaders are indispensable to an individual’s transition into a successful professional. Along with strong leadership, an organisation also needs to re-evaluate its culture as it impacts the retaining and hiring processes. Furthermore, having knowledge of various digital engagement platforms can make wonders happen!

- For any organisation to be successful, developing a unique culture is vital. It defines the branding of the organisation. The podcast elaborates on various types of cultures that an organisation can have depending on its business goals.

- The organisation should also be built keeping transparency and a clear mission statement in mind. That way, the key stakeholders become the brand ambassadors and the community becomes the growth engine for your business.

With many other interesting insights like these, you can build and grow your organisation to reach exceptional heights.

Our listeners who want to connect with Abhishek & Amura Tech, check out website: https://www.amuratech.com/

Abhishek's LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/abhishek-sagar-96660826

So, let us know what you think leadership is all about and how easy or difficult is it to be a Leader in the business world. Reach out to us if you want to discuss, just share a thought or even a cup of coffee.

Join our Facebook Community at: https://facebook.com/beempactful

Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/beempactful

M = DxP

M - Motivation

D - Dreams & Desires

P - Probability of fulfillment of desire through the job or profession they are into.

This might sound like a Mathematical Equation containing Probability but it is not scary as it sounds.

Welcome to Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast, In this episode, we have Mr. Prantik Panigrahi, CEO, Vipran Enterprises.

He's India's first 3VQ Facilitator as well as a Licensed Psychogeometrics Facilitator among other different hats he wears as a Leadership Coach training folks on various aspects of human behavior leading to growth both personal & professional.

3 VQ stands for Three Vital Questions & Psychogeometrics is used to decode personality traits all mentioned on www.praantik.in.

From what we have as an understanding of Leadership, Influence & Convince all are used synonymously in our daily conversation.

The context & etymology is different.

Leadership is about shaping the quality of character both internal and external.

Influence is about the unseen flow of power

&

Convince is about explaining to the people and viola you are a leader.

That's where M = D x P

A leader will tell you "What to THINK?" & not "How to THINK?"

3 Key Takeaways

- Leadership is about giving, Leading others by Heart & Leading yourself by the mind (P)

- A good leader becomes a very strong Brand Ambassador for their company (S)

- The aura that the leader emits & the kind of personality they imbibe is passed on to the people fostering great community. (V)

For our listeners who want to connect with Prantik Panigrahi, check out :

website: www.praantik.in

Instagram link: https://instagram.com/praantik_panigrahi?utm_medium=copy_link

Facebook page link: https://www.facebook.com/PraantikPanigrahi/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/praantik-panigrahi-psychogeometrics-3vq

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​Happy Employees make Happier Workplaces.

Happier Workplaces are Good for Business.

It is not counterintuitive but a realistic scenario as happiness will be reflected in productivity, personal lives, and social interactions.

Welcome to Season 3 of Be Empactful Podcast. In this episode, we have Mr. Rajeeva Ranjan, Founder of the Business Culture Club.

He's a veteran in the real sense, first served as an officer in the Indian Coast Guard for 14 yrs, and his second innings as an entrepreneur ran successfully Viraj Clean Sea Enterprises for 25 yrs, hung his boots, and now working on coaching & program with a mission to help 100,000 SMEs across India to grow their business using culture as a tool.

Strong company culture attracts talent and it helps in retaining them.

HyperVerge is an example of the same: https://medium.com/co-learning-lounge/hyperverge-the-game-changer-in-deploying-a-fraud-detection-solution-at-scale-using-cutting-edge-ai-f2a981e466c2

Building culture starts right from the TOP and it seeps down to the bottom of the organization. From a strong point of conviction by the founders to the team members saying that I am here to run the Business.

If the culture is not instilled, it will come on its own natural culture and that will be disastrous as it will be the natural culture of the individual who is working there.

What is an entrepreneur's #value, #mission to prove that's where the Culture starts and it seeps in?

If the new team member finds that the owner is interested in money & not ethics then naturally they will not follow any ethics.

The second line of command is where it comes to play.

So, set the culture for ourselves, follow it ourselves, mean what we say i.e. Walk the Talk and make sure that it is being nurtured to the bottom.

Training & making SMEs understand the nuances of culture & Second level is consulting on culture audit to identify gaps & provide solutions with an idea to make Workplaces happier with Decision Makers understand that a Happy Employee is more productive.

3 Key Takeaways

- Conflicts at the workplace are Natural. Becoming self-aware makes it easier to bring the culture and sustain it even in a conflict situation.

- Culture is important for the brand to grow.

-Great Culture spreads the goodness around with other folks in the ecosystem who would want to work with you leading to exponential growth.

For our listeners who want to connect with Rajeev Ranjan, check out:

Business Culture Club Private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businesscultureindia/?ref=share

& Ranjan Sirs Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeevaranjan2022

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