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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.)

Great Expectations

Correspondent
Dec 5, 2024
2 min read

The Mahayuti coalition’s resounding victory in Maharashtra’s Assembly elections, securing nearly 240 of the 288 seats, marks a momentous comeback in the state’s political history. But with great victories come even greater expectations. The people of Maharashtra now demand not just governance but transformative leadership.


The alliance effectively unified disparate voter bases—OBCs, Marathas, and women—through a targeted narrative of welfare and development. Schemes like the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, offering Rs. 1,500 monthly assistance to women, resonated deeply, especially among the economically disadvantaged, creating a groundswell of support. Moreover, the coalition’s focus on rural infrastructure, exemplified by the construction of over 45,000 agricultural roads, showcased a commitment to improving farmer livelihoods. These efforts were bolstered by significant budgetary allocations to infrastructure.


While the electoral victory is monumental, governing a state as diverse and complex as Maharashtra demands more than campaign promises. Expectations are high across key areas like employment and social welfare. The promise of 2.5 million new jobs statewide and monthly stipends for vocational students has created hope among the youth. The government must now ensure that these pledges translate into measurable outcomes, particularly as economic challenges loom, including inflation and uneven industrial growth.


The coalition’s pledge to reduce electricity bills by 30 percent and expand renewable energy sources represents an ambitious agenda. The recent 6,600 MW power deal with Adani Power and Adani Green Energy underscores this commitment, but the government must ensure that such large-scale agreements translate into tangible relief for consumers. Rural voters will scrutinise the government’s ability to deliver long-term benefits. Beyond road construction, farmers need better access to markets, price stabilisation mechanisms and water resource management. The coalition’s focus on women and socially disadvantaged groups through increased wages for Anganwadi and ASHA workers and the continuation of the Maratha Reservation Act has set high expectations.


Devendra Fadnavis, with his deft political manoeuvring, remains the coalition’s cornerstone. Eknath Shinde has emerged as the undisputed leader of the Shiv Sena, while Ajit Pawar’s performance in Baramati has solidified his status as a rival to his uncle, Sharad Pawar. The leadership trio must now navigate the intricate dynamics within the alliance to maintain unity and focus on governance. Maharashtra’s electorate has handed the Mahayuti an unprecedented mandate. Delivering on promises, while setting the state on a path of sustainable growth, will determine whether this victory becomes a historical milestone or a footnote. Maharashtra has spoken decisively. Now, it is the new government’s turn to prove that its promises were not mere election rhetoric but a blueprint for a brighter future.

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