We are proud to cover TiE events for TheRodinhoods.
This was an event organized by TiE Mumbai at ISDI, Indiabulls One Centre (Elphinstone Road).
Speaker was Anil Thomas (Co-founder, Mustardseed).
Step back for clarity.
The session focused on addressing issues which cause entrepreneurs to get stuck in their personal and professional lives. The reasons, Anil explained, are within. It is silly to point at and pin the blame on the world outside. Our misplaced pride, ego and intense love for our project blinds us to our own mistakes. Stepping back, disengaging yourself, helps provide clarity.
Learning & Growth go together.
Being an experiential learning session, Anil asked us to take part in an exercise that involved two participants being in a cross loop made of ropes tied to hands – which reminded the participants of interlinked metal rings. Freeing each other was thus a challenge. However, Anil pointed out, the ropes are flexible and a simple pull + tug did the trick.
It was our mind playing games again.
We limit our thinking by our beliefs. We fail to learn, breed jealousy and stick to stubborn ideas. We close ourselves to the outside world, resisting change. We hold on to past glory and familiar situations even as they slide through our fingers and from below our feet. That’s when we stumble and we fall, and we get bruised and we end up blaming the world again. To what end?
If things got to change for you, you got to change.
Anil discussed how BlackBerry faced business losses due to arrogance and failing to change with times. Samsung dismissed a young market entrant and ended up losing market share to them. On a much smaller level, people running traditional businesses do get stuck on the old way of doing things. While young entrepreneurs are often early adopters, the late laggards face the heat.
Regret of the past and routine of the present is a trap.
We spend time following the routine, while failing to realize that time is running out. We measure our compensation against time spent, but fail to realize that we get compensated for the value we add as opposed to the time we invest. Value comes from being humble, listening to other people, gaining insights, being creative, being proactive and implementing change.
Entrepreneurs need not run their business, but build it.
Business owners need to delegate with time. Their core job involves identifying competent people, empowering them and stepping aside. With delegation – comes depth, humility and bandwidth. Business owners can then focus on boosting and building their business, instead of micro managing day-to-day operations. This helps in detachment and understanding of the bigger picture.
Your single biggest ally is your momentum.
We need to keep on meeting people, learning and upgrading our skills. Accelerate your learning every single day. Listen more. We need to keep on ensuring that our team does the same, which leads to growth of the business. You will have all the resources you need if you are resourceful enough. Hire leaders and people better than you. Be aware of your own development, for we start doing counter-productive things when we don’t know we’re running on a plateau. What got us here will never take us ahead.
Be ruthless with yourself.
Entrepreneurs are very lonely, but only if they believe themselves to be. Love yourself and rejoice in the identity of being. Spend time with the people you love, have a home to go back to. Be frank and constructively critical of yourself, thus aiding self development. Let go of people filled with negativity (energy vampires). Know which employees and customers to fire. Hire and fire wisely. Unsuccessful people justify, complain and blame. Successful people act with clarity and purpose.
This was an amazing session and I look forward to more.
There’s nothing stopping us. Let’s win over the world 🙂
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About the Author: @sushrutmunje
I build Hammer and Mop – specializing in marketing, service and operations. I’m a published poet and a writer. Startups excite me. Have been a part of speaker panels and given guest lectures at business schools, been a speaker at Youth to Business Forums (powered by AIESEC) and I sit on Unltd India‘s selection board once in a while. Contributing as a business writer at TheRodinhoods – creating content, interviewing inspiring entrepreneurs / intrapreneurs / professionals and covering events.
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Editor’s note: In case any of you are interested in covering any startup event in your city; give sushrut@rodinhood.com a shout!
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