top of page

By:

Divyaa Advaani 

2 November 2024 at 3:28:38 am

Presence Before Pitch

Walk into any business networking room and you will witness something far more telling than exchanged cards or polite handshakes. You will see personal brands at work — quietly, powerfully, and often unintentionally. The way a business owner carries himself, engages with others, and competes for attention in public spaces reveals more about future growth than balance sheets ever will. At a recent networking meet, two business owners from the same industry stood out — not because of what they...

Presence Before Pitch

Walk into any business networking room and you will witness something far more telling than exchanged cards or polite handshakes. You will see personal brands at work — quietly, powerfully, and often unintentionally. The way a business owner carries himself, engages with others, and competes for attention in public spaces reveals more about future growth than balance sheets ever will. At a recent networking meet, two business owners from the same industry stood out — not because of what they said, but because of how they behaved. One was visibly assertive, bordering on aggressive. He pulled people aside, positioned himself strategically, and tried to dominate conversations to secure advantage. The other remained calm, composed, and observant. He engaged without urgency, listened more than he spoke, and never attempted to overpower the room. Both wanted business. Both were ambitious. Yet the impressions they left could not have been more different. For someone new to the room — a potential client, collaborator, or investor — this contrast creates confusion. Whom do you trust? Whom do you align with? Whose values reflect stability rather than desperation? Often, decisions are made instinctively, not analytically. And those instincts are shaped by personal branding, whether intentional or accidental. This is where many business owners underestimate the real cost of their behaviour. Personal branding is not about visibility alone. It is about perception under pressure. In networking environments, where no one has time to analyse credentials deeply, people read cues — tone, composure, generosity, restraint. An overly forceful approach may signal insecurity rather than confidence. Excessive friendliness can appear transactional. Silence, when grounded, can convey authority. Silence, when disconnected, can signal irrelevance. Every move sends a message. What’s at stake is not just one meeting or one deal. It is long-term growth. When a business owner appears opportunistic, others become cautious. When someone seems too eager to win, people question their stability. When intent feels unclear, credibility erodes. This doesn’t merely slow growth — it quietly redirects opportunities elsewhere. Deals don’t always collapse loudly. Sometimes, they simply never materialise. The composed business owner in the room may not close a deal that day. But he leaves with something far more valuable — trust capital. His presence feels safe. His brand feels consistent. People remember him as someone they would like to work with, not someone they need to protect themselves from. Over time, this distinction compounds. In today’s business ecosystem, especially among seasoned founders and leaders, how you compete matters as much as whether you compete. Growth is no longer just about capability; it is about conduct. Your personal brand determines whether people lean in or step back — whether they introduce you to others or quietly avoid alignment. This is why personal branding is not a cosmetic exercise. It is strategic risk management. A strong personal brand ensures that your ambition does not overshadow your credibility. It aligns your intent with your impact. It allows you to command rooms without controlling them, influence without intrusion, and compete without compromising respect. Most importantly, it ensures that when people talk about you after you leave the room, they speak with clarity, not confusion. For business owners who want to scale, this distinction becomes critical. Growth brings visibility. Visibility amplifies behaviour. What once went unnoticed suddenly becomes defining. Without a refined personal brand, ambition can be misread as aggression. Confidence can feel like arrogance. Silence can be mistaken for disinterest. And these misinterpretations cost more than money — they cost momentum. The question, then, is not whether you are talented or successful. It is whether your personal brand is working for you or quietly against you in spaces where decisions are formed long before contracts are signed. Because in business, people don’t always choose the best offer. They choose the person who feels right. If you are a business owner or founder who wants to grow without compromising credibility — who wants to attract opportunities rather than chase them — it may be time to look closely at how your presence is being perceived in rooms that matter. If this resonates and you’d like to explore how your personal brand can be refined to support your growth, you can book a complimentary consultation here: https://sprect.com/pro/divyaaadvaani Not as a pitch — but as a conversation about how you show up, and what that presence is truly building for you. (The writer is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries. Views personal.)

The Battle Beneath the Breakfast Table

The tug-of-war over the leadership change in Karnataka’s Congress government may have quietened for now, but the uneasy calm hardly inspires confidence. The state, after all, has a had long tradition of mid-term political tremors which lends every rumour an unsettling plausibility. The latest spark comes from senior MLA B. K. Hariprasad, whose remark that the so-called ‘November Revolution’ will now be discussed after Makar Sankranti has reignited political speculation. The Congress finds itself mocked once again for its increasingly visible internal disorder.


With only a handful of states under its control – besides Karnataka, the Congress holds Himachal Pradesh and Telangana - the party can ill afford such public squabbling. Its dismal performance in the recent Bihar elections, where it won a mere six seats despite contesting around sixty, has already raised serious questions about its political relevance. In such circumstances, the Karnataka power struggle not only dents the party’s credibility but raises a larger question: why should voters trust a party perpetually consumed by its own feuds?


Root of the Crisis

The current turmoil is the legacy of the Congress high command’s indecision after the 2023 assembly elections. With a clear mandate in hand, the Siddaramaiah vs. D. K. Shivakumar battle for the Chief Minister’s post unfolded almost immediately. The two leaders had jointly campaigned, suppressing their longstanding differences. But their alliance was less a meeting of minds than a tactical truce brokered by the high command for electoral survival. And once victory was secured, with the Congress winning 135 out of the 224 Assembly seats, the race for credit and power became inevitable.


Shivakumar, the party’s master organizer, had accurately predicted the Congress tally months before the election. Siddaramaiah brought experience, a mass base, and the OBC identity that anchored Congress’ caste strategy. Between them lay two competing pathways to revival: Shivakumar’s one was rooted in organisational muscle while Siddaramaiah’s in welfare populism and caste arithmetic. Yet the compromise - Siddaramaiah as CM, Shivakumar as Deputy CM and state chief - was always a band-aid. Whether there was an unwritten promise to rotate the CM’s post remains the mystery that fuels today’s unrest. This vagueness is precisely what has widened the fault lines.


By November, when Siddaramaiah’s government completed two-and-a-half years, the leadership-change conjecture hit its peak. Matters intensified when Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra publicly suggested Minister Satish Jarkiholi could be his father’s political successor - a remark widely seen as confirmation that something was brewing.


Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, himself from Karnataka, has also found his leadership questioned over his inability to defuse tensions swiftly. Some even floated the improbable idea of Kharge stepping in as Chief Minister, citing his Dalit identity as a political advantage. But age and circumstance make such speculation unlikely.


In a bid to signal unity, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar recently hosted each other for breakfast, sending out carefully crafted images of harmony. After all, Indian politics has long relied on visual choreography - garlands, shared meals, joint roadshows - to mask subterranean and internecine warfare. But the truce appears fragile. Shivakumar’s recent trip to Delhi despite his claim that it was merely for organizational work, has only deepened the suspicion that the matter is far from settled. Congress is visibly unsure whether elevating a Vokkaliga CM will upset its delicate caste arithmetic.


Internal Turbulence

The Congress’ refusal to settle internal disputes swiftly is baffling. The party’s past is full of warnings: In Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma walked out after feeling sidelined and eventually became the BJP’s chief ministerial star. In Madhya Pradesh, unresolved tensions between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia cost the Congress its government and crippled the party for years.


In Rajasthan, the running feud between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot paralysed governance for months and nearly handed the BJP an unearned return. In Punjab, the elevation of Navjot Singh Sidhu over Amarinder Singh triggered a chain reaction that first felled the Congress government and then hollowed out the party’s once-formidable base. Even in Maharashtra, chronic infighting between rival Congress satraps weakened the party to the point where it ceded political space to both the BJP and Sharad Pawar’s rivals


From Rajasthan to Punjab, similar scripts of factional indulgence have ended in strategic self-sabotage. If the Congress does not wish Karnataka to follow the same script, it must act decisively. The BJP watches Congress’ internal rifts more keenly than Congress itself, and Karnataka is no exception. Shivakumar’s recent recital of RSS prayer lines in the assembly—before proclaiming his loyalty to Congress set off alarms illustrating that he cannot be underestimated. The BJP knows his value. Does the Congress?


Complacency today could prove catastrophic in the 2028 Karnataka election. For a party struggling to rediscover its national purpose, losing its most important southern fortress would be nothing short of a strategic calamity. The Congress must choose: resolve the contradiction or watch it explode.

(The writer is a political commentator. Views personal.)

Comments

bottom of page