top of page

By:

Divyaa Advaani 

2 November 2024 at 8:58:38 am

She Knew In Three Lines

She knew within the first three lines. The message was polished, well-structured, and covered all the right points. But there was something about it the cadence, the phrasing, the absence of anything specific to their previous conversation that felt assembled rather than written. She read it twice. And then she made a quiet decision. Not a dramatic one. Not an angry one. Just a small, irreversible recalibration about who this person actually was and whether she wanted to continue the...

She Knew In Three Lines

She knew within the first three lines. The message was polished, well-structured, and covered all the right points. But there was something about it the cadence, the phrasing, the absence of anything specific to their previous conversation that felt assembled rather than written. She read it twice. And then she made a quiet decision. Not a dramatic one. Not an angry one. Just a small, irreversible recalibration about who this person actually was and whether she wanted to continue the conversation. She never said a word. She simply moved on. This is happening in boardrooms, inboxes and WhatsApp threads across every industry right now. Founders who have handed their voice entirely to an algorithm and called it efficiency. Responses that arrive with perfect grammar and zero personality. Follow-ups that reference nothing specific from the last conversation. Proposals that could have been written for anyone. And on the other side of every one of these interactions, a human being who notices even if they cannot immediately name what feels off that there is nobody home. AI is not the problem. Let that be said clearly and without ambiguity. The founders who are using AI well as a thinking partner, a drafting tool, a research assistant are gaining a real and meaningful advantage. The problem is the founder who has outsourced their presence entirely. Who lets the algorithm speak on their behalf without adding a single word of their own. Who has confused efficiency with identity and does not yet understand that they are not the same thing. Here is the personal branding consequence that almost nobody is talking about honestly. When you let AI represent you without your voice running through it, you are not saving time. You are erasing yourself. The warmth, the specificity, the particular way you think and respond and engage — these are not decorative qualities. They are the substance of your personal brand. They are what makes someone choose you over the equally qualified person they also met last week. Strip them out and you have not streamlined your communication. You have quietly removed the reason someone would want to communicate with you specifically. Deals are being lost this way every single day. Not loudly. Not with feedback. Just quietly, in the moment someone reads a message and feels the complete absence of a person behind it. They do not reply with "this feels AI generated." They simply stop replying. And the founder never connects the silence to the message that caused it. The most powerful personal brands I work with use AI the way a skilled writer uses an editor — to sharpen what is already there, never to replace what never showed up. They use it to organise their thinking, improve their structure, catch what they missed. And then they put themselves back into it. One specific observation. One genuine reaction. One sentence that could only have come from someone who was actually present and paying attention. That one sentence is the difference between a message that converts and one that gets filed under "probably AI, move on." You cannot build a human brand through a machine. You can use the machine to build faster but the human must always be driving. Always thinking. Always present enough in every message, every response, every interaction to remind the person on the other side that there is a real person here who sees them, values them and chose to engage with them specifically. That is not a workflow. That is a brand. If this landed somewhere uncomfortable, a Founder Brand Audit is a focused consultation call where we examine what your brand is currently communicating and where the human has quietly gone missing from it. This is a specific and intentional investment in yourself, not a free conversation. Five slots open each week. Book your call here: https://www.calendly.com/divyaaadvaani/founder-brand-audit (The author is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries. Views personal.)

BJP Boost

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

As the dust settles over the recent Assembly elections, the BJP, defying anti-incumbency prediction of political Cassandras and exit polls, is set for a historic third term in Haryana. This will buoy the party after its underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls. The Haryana outcome not only reinforces the BJP’s foothold in national politics but also presents a counter-narrative to the INDIA bloc’s post-election fervour.

Despite the bogey stoked by lingering farmer protests and discontent surrounding the controversial Agniveer scheme, the BJP strategically diversified its approach, relying not solely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s star power—evidenced by his reduced number of rallies—but also on a ground-level consolidation of anti-Jat votes. The Congress’s over-reliance on the Jat community backfired, rallying other groups against it. Interestingly, the Dalit vote, which the Congress anticipated would tilt in its favour, has not completely abandoned the BJP.


At the forefront of the BJP's campaign was Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, whose relatively short tenure allowed him to distance himself from the decade-long rule of the previous administration. By introducing measures to benefit the backward classes, including a significant income limit increase for OBC employment from Rs. 6 lakh to Rs. 8 lakh, the BJP effectively shifted the narrative in its favour. Their mantra of ‘bina parchi, bina kharchi Naukri (promising jobs without bribes) resonated with voters.


The BJP’s rejuvenated team, led by key figures such as Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state leaders, has seemingly addressed concerns that arose following its poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections. The incorporation of new candidates in place of established leaders provided a fresh face that contrasted sharply with the Congress’s decision to recycle incumbents.


In contrast, in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference, in alliance with the Congress, having crossed the majority threshold, reclaimed its historic dominance and is set to form the government. Here, the BJP’s performance in the first Assembly election held after the abrogation of Article 370, fell short despite its strenuous attempt to position itself as a proponent of development.


The electorate’s apparent rejection of hardline factions like the PDP reflects a nuanced response and win for democracy. Notably, the results have shown a significant rejection of separatist candidates, including those from Engineer Rashid-led Awami Ittehad Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, who failed to make a meaningful impact in the polls.


The BJP’s emphatic victory in Haryana redeems its Lok Sabha misstep but also signals a broader political resurgence, giving the party renewed vigour to march into future contests like the crucial Maharashtra Assembly election.

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page