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By:

Divyaa Advaani 

2 November 2024 at 8:58:38 am

Your First Impression Is Delegated

A prospective partner called your office last week. You do not know his name. You were not told he called. The phone rang four times before it was answered, he was asked to repeat himself, and he was promised a callback that arrived two days later as a message with no greeting. He formed an opinion of you in under three minutes. You were not in the room, and you will never know that opinion existed. Most founders believe their personal brand begins when they walk into a meeting. It does not....

Your First Impression Is Delegated

A prospective partner called your office last week. You do not know his name. You were not told he called. The phone rang four times before it was answered, he was asked to repeat himself, and he was promised a callback that arrived two days later as a message with no greeting. He formed an opinion of you in under three minutes. You were not in the room, and you will never know that opinion existed. Most founders believe their personal brand begins when they walk into a meeting. It does not. It begins at the first point of contact, and in any business of real size, that point is almost never the founder. It is the assistant who manages your calendar. The sales executive who sends the first proposal. The person who handles your WhatsApp, the receptionist, the coordinator who confirms the meeting. These people speak for you every day, in your name, using your reputation, and most of them have never been told what that reputation is supposed to feel like. Many are loyal, hardworking and capable. That is not the issue. The issue is that nobody ever showed them what a first impression of this founder should feel like. Here is what a prospective client experiences. They do not separate you from your team. They cannot. To them, the speed of a reply is how seriously you take them. The tone of the first email is the tone of your leadership. A proposal with a spelling error, a late response, a careless "will check and let you know" becomes evidence about the person at the top. If this is how the organisation presents itself while trying to win my business, they reason, this is how it will treat me once I have signed. And they never tell you. They simply go quiet. The deal that stalls after a promising first call. The partner who becomes "busy". The client who chooses a competitor and offers a reason that has nothing to do with the real one. Across a year, that is every enquiry that stalled, every proposal left unanswered, every introduction that never became a meeting. This is a personal brand problem, not a staffing one. A founder can spend years refining how they present in a room and still lose the room before they enter it, because the impression was formed by someone else, in a conversation the founder was never part of and never heard about. The founders who avoid this are not the ones with the most polished staff. They are the ones who have made their brand legible to the people around them. Their team knows how the founder speaks, what the business stands for, what warmth looks like in a reply, how a delay should be explained and how a client should feel in the first thirty seconds. The team is not following a script. They are carrying a standard, because someone took the time to define it. When did you last experience your own business the way a stranger does? Not a test call arranged with your team's knowledge. A real one. Send a first enquiry from a number nobody recognises. Notice how long it takes to be answered, what the tone is, and whether you would want to do business with whoever replied. Then ask yourself honestly whether that person sounds like you, and whether you would be proud to be represented that way. If the answer is uncomfortable, it is worth acting on now. Every week of that experience is a week someone forms a verdict about you without your knowledge. Your personal brand is not only what you say. It is everything said on your behalf. If you have a suspicion about how your business is being experienced before you ever walk in, that suspicion deserves a direct, focused brand consultation, not a casual chat. Book yours here: https://www.calendly.com/divyaaadvaani/founder-brand-audit — Divyaa Advaani, Personal Branding Strategist (The author is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries. Views personal.)

Can the SCO Islamabad Summit Improve Indo-Pak Relations?

Writer: Kaswar Klasra
Kaswar Klasra
Oct 6, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

SCO

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), established in 2001 began with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, evolving into one of the world’s largest trans-regional economic and security organisations. India and Pakistan joined in 2017.

The upcoming meeting in Islamabad has the potential to thaw relations between India and Pakistan. As Pakistan assumes the rotating chairmanship of the SCO CHG, it is set to host a series of high-level meetings, culminating in the October summit. For both nations, the SCO provides a neutral venue to engage in dialogue amid heightened global scrutiny.

Jaishankar’s visit is the first by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan since 2014. Over the last decade, relations have been hostile and marked by diplomatic disengagement, with the Kashmir issue remaining an intractable barrier to peace. Both countries have escalated their military postures and intensified their nationalistic rhetoric, especially following India’s revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

The upcoming visit to Islamabad may signal a shift in India’s approach toward Pakistan. It remains to be seen whether this trip is merely a diplomatic formality or if it has the potential to restart bilateral dialogue. The lack of confirmed meetings between Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterparts suggests that expectations should be tempered. Nonetheless, sending a senior official to Islamabad is noteworthy in the current geopolitical climate.

Pakistan is currently grappling with internal security threats, particularly in Balochistan and along the Afghanistan border. A recent surge in terrorist attacks has intensified Islamabad’s efforts to project stability before the summit. The deployment of the Pakistan Army, Rangers, and police under Article 245 of the Constitution to maintain order highlights the high stakes for the government. Successfully hosting the summit will enhance Pakistan’s diplomatic standing and help address some domestic challenges.

Engaging with the SCO remains essential for India to counterbalance China’s influence and carve out its sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific. The SCO’s focus on Central Asia allows India to strengthen its economic and security ties with Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan in key energy markets and security frameworks. However, Jaishankar’s visit may be viewed with scepticism, particularly as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares for key elections next year.

China’s growing presence in South Asia and its partnership with Pakistan complicate India’s strategy. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has deepened economic and military ties between Islamabad and Beijing. For Pakistan, China, an ally, provides diplomatic cover in international forums, financial support, and military assistance. India, however, is concerned about China’s expanding footprint in South Asia amid rising tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Himalayas.

Beijing will likely welcome the prospect of reduced hostilities between India and Pakistan, given its broader regional ambitions. A stable South Asia serves China’s economic interests, particularly in ensuring the security of its investments in Pakistan and its energy corridors passing through Central Asia. Additionally, as a founding member of the SCO, China has a vested interest in ensuring the success of the upcoming summit in Islamabad.

However, China’s ties to Pakistan make it a partial actor in the India-Pakistan dispute. Nonetheless, its economic clout and strategic interests make it an influential stakeholder in any potential thaw between India and Pakistan.

Following Western sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine conflict, Moscow has sought to diversify its partnerships by increasingly turning to Asia. The SCO summit presents an opportunity for Russia to deepen its engagement and expand economic and security ties in the region. However, its role as a potential mediator in South Asian conflicts remains limited. Participation in the SCO allows India and Pakistan to project stability and leadership. Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad, while symbolically significant, may ultimately fall short of sparking meaningful dialogue. However, it does create a window—however small—for diplomatic engagement, which could set the stage for future talks.

The SCO summit in Islamabad may serve as a litmus test for the future trajectory of India-Pakistan relations. Will pragmatism prevail over entrenched hostilities, or will this opportunity for diplomacy be another missed chance for reconciliation? For world capitals like Washington, Beijing, and Moscow, the outcome of this summit will be closely monitored for its regional implications and broader impact on global geopolitics.

In a world increasingly defined by power competition, climate change, and economic uncertainty, South Asia’s stability is critical. The upcoming SCO summit could reduce tensions between India and Pakistan. Whether this leads to concrete action remains to be seen, but the opportunity is there—and the world will be watching.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad. Views personal.)

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