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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.)

Singh was committed to idea of accountability:RTI activists

Updated: Jan 2, 2025

Manmohan Singh

New Delhi: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who ushered in an era of transparency, accountability and democratic empowerment with the implementation of the Right to Information Act, was a little "uncertain about its impact" on government functioning, but was committed to the idea of "accountability and transparency", RTI activists and former information commissioners said.


Singh, a two-term Prime Minister who passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Thursday at the age of 92, implemented the RTI Act in 2005.


The Act gave citizens the power to seek information from the government for a payment of Rs 10, ending decades of secrecy in government functioning.


"He told me he was a little uncertain about the impact of RTI on government functioning. Normal scenes of bureaucracy. He was a true bureaucrat who understood the importance of secrecy in the government. So he was a little apprehensive, but he was committed to the idea of accountability and transparency," the country's first chief information commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, told PTI.


He said Singh was certain that the Central Information Commission (CIC) should be led by a person from the civil service for the simple reason that he would understand the functioning of the government and know what kind of information can be disclosed and what should be withheld.


Habibullah said there were agreements and disagreements, but Singh was unflinching in his commitment to accountability and transparency.


Aruna Roy, a bureaucrat-turned activist who was one of the key figures in shaping the RTI Act, said the statute would probably be counted as one of the most important ones because it caused a fundamental shift in the citizens' relationship with the State.


"In our many interactions with Dr Manmohan Singh on many of the legislations, including the RTI, he was always engaged and forthright about being committed to bringing in an era of transparency in India. He was diffident about having a provision for penalties against bureaucrats not complying, with an argument that the law was enough of a shock and a shift away from the prevailing culture of secrecy, and he was concerned about the bureaucracy having to face too much pressure. Nevertheless, finally, the law did have penalties -- although in a weakened form," she said.


Roy said irrespective of Singh's apprehensions, the Prime Minister's Office during his tenure was one of the best in replying to RTI applications and complying with the Act's requirements.


"His government initiated social audits in MGNREGA and was aware that transparency was an essential prerequisite to the more effective functioning of social sector legislations with a vast canvas, such as the employment guarantee, the right to food, the right to education and the forest rights Act. There can be no doubt that these landmark legislations empowered the citizens to realise their rights through transparency and RTI," she said.


Roy said by passing a strong RTI legislation, the UPA government brought in an era of consultation, deliberation and citizen monitoring, much needed in a democracy where the citizens' participatory fora were restricted to a once-in-a-five-year vote.


"Manmohan Singh did an outstanding job by bringing in the RTI Act. We will eternally be grateful to Manmohan Singh for bringing in one of the best Acts in the world. And he implemented it with reasonable effort. In implementation also, he did a fairly reasonable job," former information commissioner and RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi said.


Noted RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak said the Act was passed and implemented under Singh's first tenure as the prime minister, even though he reportedly expressed misgivings about the breadth and scope of the proposed transparency law.


"It was also during his tenure that the first attempt was made to amend the Act to keep file-notings out of its ambit. However, the true believer in democracy that he was, the amendment proposal was never tabled in Parliament due to vocal opposition from the civil society and the media. It was shelved despite being approved by the cabinet," he said.


Nayak said during his decade-long tenure as the prime minister, the largest number of guidance notes were issued to explain the details of the RTI Act for effective implementation as the Department of Personnel and Training was under his charge.


"Guidelines for implementing the proactive information disclosure scheme were issued in 2013 in two instalments. In 2023, the Supreme Court gave these guidelines its stamp of approval and made them enforceable," he said.

Noted RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj said the Act has initiated the vital task of redistributing power in a democratic framework.


"It is perhaps this paradigm shift in the locus of power that has resulted in repeated efforts by governments to weaken it.

-PTI

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