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By:

Divyaa Advaani 

2 November 2024 at 3:28:38 am

Knowing Everything. Growing Nothing

There is a particular performance that most accomplished founders have been giving for so long they no longer recognise it as a performance at all. Every conversation is an opportunity to demonstrate expertise. Every room is a stage for what they already know. Questions feel like exposure. Admitting uncertainty feels like weakness. And so they perform knowledge confidently, fluently, convincingly even when genuine curiosity would serve them infinitely better. Even when the person across from...

Knowing Everything. Growing Nothing

There is a particular performance that most accomplished founders have been giving for so long they no longer recognise it as a performance at all. Every conversation is an opportunity to demonstrate expertise. Every room is a stage for what they already know. Questions feel like exposure. Admitting uncertainty feels like weakness. And so they perform knowledge confidently, fluently, convincingly even when genuine curiosity would serve them infinitely better. Even when the person across from them could teach them something that would change how they lead, how they decide, how they show up. The performance is exhausting for everyone in the room and quietly destroying the brand it was designed to protect. I know a senior professional multiple boards, businesses built and advised across decades who does something most people at his level would never do. When he reads something that teaches him, he says so. Publicly. Without the carefully managed caveat of "of course I already knew this." Just a clean, direct acknowledgement I learned something from this offered openly in a room full of peers, without any concern for what it might do to his image. The effect on everyone watching was immediate and unmistakable. His credibility did not shrink. It grew. Because the room understood instinctively what most founders take years to learn — a person secure enough to say "I am still learning" is someone who has never stopped growing. And people who have never stopped growing are always the most worth being in a room with. This is the single most underused brand signal available to any accomplished founder. Not the polished pitch. Not the curated profile. The willingness to not know. The confidence to say so openly, in a room where knowing is the primary currency of respect. Here is what the performance of expertise is actually costing you — and this is the part nobody says out loud. When you are only ever the expert, you stop being interesting. When you stop being interesting, people stop seeking you out. When people stop seeking you out, your brand begins to contract not dramatically, not visibly, but consistently until the rooms you are invited into start to reflect the ceiling you placed on yourself by deciding you had nothing left to learn. The most magnetic personal brands I have worked with belong to founders who are as genuinely curious as they are knowledgeable. They ask questions that reveal depth rather than assert it. They acknowledge learning without managing the optics of doing so. They make the people around them feel that their perspective is genuinely valued not processed and filed away. And because of that, those people become advocates and connectors in ways that no amount of performed credibility ever generates. Now the question that matters and answer it honestly. When did you last publicly acknowledge learning something from someone you did not expect to learn from? When did you last say in a room of your peers that you did not know something and were genuinely glad to now? If you are struggling to recall a recent example, that absence is not a neutral data point. It is a direct signal about the brand you have been building and the ceiling you have quietly and unknowingly placed on it. Intellectual humility is not softness. It is the most sophisticated brand signal a serious founder can send. It says — I am secure enough in who I am that I have no need to perform it. If that question sits uncomfortably with you, good. A Founder Brand Audit is a focused consultation call where we examine the gap between the brand you are currently projecting and the one that would genuinely serve your next level. This is the beginning of a specific investment in yourself. Five slots open each week. Book your call here: https://www.calendly.com/divyaaadvaani/founder-brand-audit Divyaa Advaani, Personal Branding Strategist (The writer 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.

 
 
 

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