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By:

Divyaa Advaani 

2 November 2024 at 3:28:38 am

When agreement kills growth

In the early stages of building a business, growth is often driven by clarity, speed, and conviction. Founders make decisions quickly, rely on their instincts, and push forward with a strong sense of belief in their methods. This decisiveness is not only necessary, it is often the very reason the business begins to grow. However, as businesses cross certain thresholds, particularly beyond the Rs 5 crore mark, the nature of growth begins to change. What once created momentum can quietly begin...

When agreement kills growth

In the early stages of building a business, growth is often driven by clarity, speed, and conviction. Founders make decisions quickly, rely on their instincts, and push forward with a strong sense of belief in their methods. This decisiveness is not only necessary, it is often the very reason the business begins to grow. However, as businesses cross certain thresholds, particularly beyond the Rs 5 crore mark, the nature of growth begins to change. What once created momentum can quietly begin to create limitations. In many professional environments, it is not uncommon to encounter business owners who are deeply convinced of their approach. Their methods have delivered results, their experience reinforces their judgment, and their confidence becomes a defining trait. Yet, in this very confidence lies a subtle risk that is often overlooked. When conviction turns into certainty without space for dialogue, conversations begin to narrow. Suggestions are heard, but not always considered. Perspectives are offered, but not always encouraged. Decisions are made, but not always explained. From the outside, this may still appear as strong leadership. Internally, however, a different dynamic begins to take shape. People start to agree more than they contribute. This is where many businesses unknowingly enter a critical phase. When teams, partners, or stakeholders begin to hold back their perspective, the quality of thinking around the business reduces. What appears as alignment is often silent disengagement. What looks like efficiency is sometimes the absence of challenge. Over time, this directly affects the decisions being made. At a Rs 5 crore level, this may not be immediately visible. Operations continue, revenue flows, and the business appears stable. But as the organisation attempts to grow further, this lack of diverse thinking begins to surface as a constraint. Growth slows, not because of lack of effort, but because of limited perspective. On the other side of this equation are individuals who consistently find themselves accommodating such dynamics. They recognise when their voice is not being fully heard, yet choose not to assert it. The intention is often to preserve relationships, avoid friction, or maintain a sense of professional ease. Initially, this approach appears collaborative. Over time, however, it begins to shape perception. When individuals do not express their perspective, they are gradually seen as agreeable rather than essential. Their presence is valued, but their input is not actively sought. In many cases, they become part of the process, but not part of the decision. This is where personal branding begins to influence business outcomes in ways that are not immediately obvious. A personal brand is not built only through visibility or achievement. It is built through how consistently one demonstrates clarity, confidence, and openness in moments that require it. It is shaped by whether people feel encouraged to think around you, or restricted in your presence. At higher levels of business, this distinction becomes critical. If people agree with you more than they challenge you, it may not be a sign of strong leadership. It may be an indication that your environment is no longer enabling better thinking. Similarly, if you find yourself constantly adjusting to others without expressing your own perspective, your contribution may be diminishing in ways that affect both your influence and your growth. Both situations carry a cost. They affect decision quality, limit innovation, and over time, restrict the scalability of the business itself. What makes this particularly challenging is that these patterns develop gradually, often going unnoticed until the impact becomes difficult to ignore. The most effective leaders recognise this early. They create space for dialogue without losing direction. They express conviction without dismissing perspective. They build environments where contribution is expected, not avoided. In doing so, they strengthen not only their business, but also their personal brand. For entrepreneurs operating at a stage where growth is no longer just about execution but about expanding thinking, this becomes an important point of reflection. If there is even a possibility that your current interactions are limiting the quality of thinking around you, it is worth addressing before it begins to affect outcomes. I work with a select group of founders and professionals to help them refine how they are perceived, communicate with greater impact, and build personal brands that support sustained growth. You may explore this further here: https://sprect.com/pro/divyaaadvaani In the long run, it is not only the decisions you make, but the thinking you allow around those decisions, that determines how far your business can truly grow. (The author is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries. Views personal.)

Buried Twice Over

Darfur reels from a landslide even as war, famine and siege push Sudan deeper into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in recent decades.

Sudan’s western region of Darfur, long synonymous with man-made catastrophe, is now reeling from one of nature’s deadliest blows. The first day of this month saw a landslide obliterate the village of Tarasin in the Marrah Mountains, killing more than 1,000 people. Rebel commanders of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), who control the area, described the settlement as “completely levelled to the ground” and appealed for international help to recover the dead. The government in Khartoum, itself locked in a desperate civil war, promised to mobilise all possible capabilities. In practice, little aid is likely to reach the mountains, more than 900 km west of the capital.


Darfur is no stranger to tragedy. In the early 2000s it became the scene of genocide, as Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s Islamist strongman, armed the Janjaweed militias to suppress a rebellion. Villages were torched, women systematically raped and non-Arab groups targeted for extermination. The atrocities earned Bashir an indictment at the International Criminal Court. Two decades on, the actors have changed but the dynamics remain grimly familiar. The Janjaweed’s heirs have re-emerged as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary that turned its guns on Sudan’s army last year. Since April 2023 their conflict has dragged Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.


The siege of El Fasher, Darfur’s last city under army control, has become emblematic of that suffering. For more than 500 days the RSF has cut off the city, bombarding neighbourhoods and starving civilians into submission. Over 600,000 people have fled, while those left behind now subsist on leaves and animal feed. Forty-one health facilities have been destroyed, rape is used systematically as a weapon, and famine has already been declared in parts of the region.


Against this backdrop, Tarasin’s destruction is more than just another natural disaster. It illustrates how conflict magnifies the cruelty of nature. The Marrah Mountains, a volcanic massif rising more than 3,000 metres, have long been a refuge for civilians. Their cooler climate and higher rainfall offered shelter from the desert plains. Yet those very rains triggered the landslide that buried the village. The war has made rescue efforts all but impossible. Even in peacetime, seasonal rains in Sudan have killed hundreds annually, while floods last year collapsed a dam in Red Sea state.


The war itself is reshaping Sudan’s political geography. After losing Khartoum earlier this year, the RSF has sought to entrench itself in Darfur, where it retains ethnic ties and logistical networks. Capturing El Fasher would give it near-total control of the west and allow a rival government to emerge. The SLM/A, fragmented since its heyday two decades ago, has pledged to side with the army against the RSF. Yet such alliances are opportunistic, reflecting Darfur’s role as a battleground not just between Khartoum’s forces but among a kaleidoscope of local militias.


Since independence in 1956 Sudan has lurched from civil war to famine to dictatorship. In the 1980s drought and conflict devastated Darfur, sowing grievances that later fed rebellion. In 1989 Bashir seized power in a coup, promising order but delivering decades of misrule and economic collapse. When he was ousted in 2019, many hoped Sudan might finally escape its cycle of war. Instead, the uneasy power-sharing between the army and RSF unravelled into open conflict. Once again, civilians are paying the price.


While Ukraine and Gaza dominate headlines, Sudan’s war that has already displaced 11 million people - more than any other current conflict - has been largely forgotten. Appeals for aid are met with donor fatigue. Relief convoys are looted or blocked while safe humanitarian corridors remain elusive. Without pressure from regional powers such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, or from outsiders like America, there is little chance of halting the carnage.


Unless Sudan’s war is checked, Darfur will remain doubly cursed: condemned both by history and by nature itself.


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