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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.)

India Strikes, Targets Hit

Writer: Commodore S.L. Deshmukh
Commodore S.L. Deshmukh
May 7, 2025
3 min read

India’s calibrated military response to the Pahalgam massacre signals resolve without reckless escalation.

A security personnel keeps vigil at Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib following Operation Sindoor in Patna on Wednesday. Pic: PTI
A security personnel keeps vigil at Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib following Operation Sindoor in Patna on Wednesday. Pic: PTI

The barbarous atrocity wherein Pakistan-sponsored terrorists slaughtered more than 25 persons, mostly innocent Hindu tourists, in Pahalgam on April 22 was a cowardly terrorist attack. No matter how much Pakistan may deny it, the ISI’s imprint was unmistakably present. The attack provoked a wave of collective anger and grief in India. Pakistan’s motive, which was to promote the selective killing of Hindus, was aimed at tarnishing India’s global image and send a fanatical message to provoke a strong reaction from India. It had hoped to create mayhem by exploiting Hindu-Muslim religious sentiments.


Such well-planned attacks, which call into question national security, cannot go unpunished. As emergency measures, India initiated several actions: suspending the Indus Water Treaty, cancelling visas of Pakistani nationals, reducing diplomatic relations, and closing the Attari-Wagah border.


But that was certainly not enough. Simultaneously, India launched diplomatic efforts to build international pressure on Pakistan by seeking to return it to the FATF grey list and to craft a befitting response that the global community would see as proportionate, yet effective. The objective was to act decisively without triggering a reckless response from Pakistan. This required proper planning at the level of government and armed forces, the deployment of appropriate platforms and weapons, and the protection of Indian citizens. The civil defence drill conducted nationwide was a step in the right direction.


A befitting reply came in the form of Operation Sindoor, executed on the intervening night of May 6 and 7. The operation appears to have been meticulously planned, involving all three services. The Indian Army maintained a close watch on the borders; the Navy ensured maritime vigilance; and the Indian Air Force delivered a deterrent strike on Pakistani soil. The goal was to inflict damage on terrorist infrastructure and hurt Pakistan’s morale. The Indian Air Force appears to have achieved its objectives.


The selection of platforms and weapons depends on the mission. For Operation Sindoor, the Dassault Rafale was ideal, equipped with Meteor beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles, an advanced electronic warfare suite, and superior radar and communication systems. Rafale’s Thales RBE2 AESA radar and frontal stealth capability enabled pilots to operate with superior situational awareness and under high-pressure conditions.


India used a variety of high-precision, long-range weapons, including SCALP cruise missiles, HAMMER precision-guided bombs, and loitering munitions—giving it flexibility, accuracy, and the ability to strike selectively. The MBDA SCALP (or Storm Shadow) is a long-range, air-launched cruise missile designed for deep precision strikes. HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range), developed by Safran Electronics & Defense, is an air-to-ground system designed for medium-range tactical missions against both stationary and mobile targets. Loitering munitions, often referred to as ‘kamikaze drones,’ provide surveillance, target identification and precision engagement.


Using these systems, India targeted nine locations within Pakistan, including a Jaish-e-Mohammed base in Bahawalpur and a Lashkar-e-Taiba base in Muridke. These strikes specifically targeted key terror bases and training facilities - organisations long involved in attacks on Indian soil. By relying on advanced precision weaponry and real-time intelligence, the Army, Navy, and Air Force coordinated their efforts, carefully avoiding Pakistani military installations.


Reflecting on the action, the Indian Army declared: “Prhaaraay SnnihitaaH, Jyaay PrshikssitaaH – Ready to strike, trained to win.” It asserted that justice had been served.


In support of Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of External Affairs said it was essential to bring the perpetrators and planners of the April 22nd attack to justice. The MEA noted that, even 15 days after the attack, Pakistan had taken no verifiable action to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on its soil or in areas under its control. Instead, it had resorted to denials and counter-allegations. Intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terror modules indicated that further attacks were imminent. India, therefore, had a compulsion to both deter and pre-empt.


India has delivered a restrained yet clear message to Pakistan. Whether it is enough for Pakistan to learn a lesson remains uncertain. Given its past behaviour, India must remain fully prepared, not just for Pakistan’s provocations, but also for the strategic games of the China-Bangladesh-Turkey trio.


Jai Hind.


(The author is a retired naval aviation officer and defence analyst. Views personal.)

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