What I learnt from Sachin Tendulkar style of management: Be a CHILD

As the year 2012 comes to an end, the biggest news for Indian cricket is the retirement of its God – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Since Cricket has attained the status of being the largest religion in India, there has been only one undisputed God for the past two decade.

This page is my personal ode to SRT and what I’ve learned from him in my day to day management. I have devised an acronym for his style in tune with his image of The Little Master. Sachin’s baby face always hid his age and is the perfect reflection of the passion and enthusiasm he bought in the field whether its playing with greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev or encouraging youngsters like Kohli, Raina. So my management learning from Sachin is to be a C.H.I.L.D.

Commitment: 100% commitment every game for the past 25 years. Commitment of staying fit. Commitment for every role and responsibility. Middle order play or opening for the country. Bowling last over in crunch situation.

Honesty: Expectation of billions of people, million dollar endorsements, rise of Indian cricket stature, multi crore deals in IPL: SRT has witnessed every commercial aspect of the game. However, I don’t think there is any other non controversial cricketer of his status in World cricket. Crowds worship him, media loves him. There are few people who you see and know that this guy is the Sachha insaan. And SRT has been honest to his team, his game, his country. Umpire and officials of the game will always know that SRT won’t lie. Typical example is the Harbhajan-Hayden issue.

Integrity: To me Integrity is opposite of hypocrisy. SRT never seemed to be biased about anyone, he played his responsibility. I don’t think of him as a cricketer of Mumbai, especially when regional biases exist among greatest of players. Wasim Akram quotes “Opposition bowlers priced his wicket as premium, but after sometime even the Indian team started believing that his wicket is the backbone of the entire team.” I don’t remember a single match he has played feigning injury, turning up for his club and not for the country.

Leadership: Sachin might not have been a successful captain of India, but he has always been the leader of his skill. He has always been a thought leader, be it promoting himself as an opener in ODI or bowling 6 different deliveries in an over. It’s known that his presence in the dressing room is an inspiration. It’s a privilege to have someone in a Corporate team. He could have easily retained his captaincy, but had no qualms in following his heart.

Dedication: 25 years in the world of fitness is itself a feat. And he has done it by adapting his skills with changing challenges. Focussing on strengths and never opting for short cuts. Many felt that he still has 2 more years of cricket at the highest stage, but he chose what his heart said. And his final quote: It has never been about Sachin Tendulkar, it’s always about India.

Salute SRT for displaying and teaching me perhaps the best style of management in the most aggressive competitive and unforgiving world of business – being a CHILD.

Joypratip Sengupta is a marketing professional working for the largest telecom operator in the world. He is a specialist in the diverse and competitive Indian telecom market with over 100 million mobile subscribers. You can follow him at twitter/joypratip

Mobile:The new secret formula of hit Bollywood songs

 

Bollywood New Releases with Mobile phones in song lyrics

Today morning, i was driving my car and listening to a local radio station. I realised that 3 out of top 5 chartbuster songs of Bollywood for the week have a peculiar similarity. All the 3 songs have at least one phrase containing “mobile phone” in the lyrics.  

 

Hit Song No. 1: Fevicol Se, Movie Dabangg 2 (pipped to be a Rs 200cr+ grosser)

“Haaye main toh kab se hoon ready taiyar
Pata le saiyan miss call se
Mere photo ko seene se yaar
Chipka le saiyan Fevicol se

Fevi Fevicol se Fevicol se
Nain hum ladayenge baby doll se
Ho laundiya patayenge miss call se
Bat-ball se, Cinema hall se
Are marriage-hall se, Overall se”

 

Hit Song No. 2: Bhawariya, Movie Khiladi 786 (Rs 100cr+ grosser)

“Mujhe samajh ni aata kaise dooriyaan mitaaun
As tere liye main ye geet likhta jaaun
Din raat hi main inhe gungunaaun
Phone me photu dekhu teri baari baari
Jee karda main aa jawaan maar ke udaari”

Bollywood movies and its songs are integral to Indian consumers. For a marketer, Bollywood is a mirror to ongoing and future trends of Indian culture, fashion, linguistics & things people will adopt. Hence, I was very interested to check out whether this new word is really becoming an integral part of Bollywood lyrics and what are its implications? By doing a smart Google search on upcoming hit songs, I found that two more songs also contain the word ‘mobile’.

Hit Song 3: Do Nishaniyan, Movie  Jhootha Hi Sahi

“Ek dor se bandhi kaise do kahaniyan, ek taar se jurr gaiin kaise yeh do zindaganiyan
is phone ke saaz par meri aawaaz bhar mujh pe hansti hai khamoshiyan”

 

Hit Song 4: Oye Boy Charlie, Movie Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola

“Oye boy oye boy CharlieTune dil ki baazi maar li. O my baby babyTera chakkar chala jalebi Aadhi raat bulata hain
Phone on pe jo oo hmm hmm.., Warna gandi gungi telphone pe aa jo oo hmm hmm”

 

Analysis of the lyrics and the inclusion of mobile in them gives the following insights.

 

1. Most of the songs are rustic and portray the importance of mobile as the mode of connect

2. Mobile is an important element of romance especially for the fairer sex

3. Mobile is not only used for voice, but also for value added services like mms, social networking

 

Reminiscing some old Bollywood hits i still remember the nasal voiced songs “mere piya, ho mere piya gaye rangoon
kiya hai wahaan se teliphoon” and the very hummable “Telephone dhun mein hasne wali” in the film Hindustani.

 

As a telecom marketer in India, my constant challenge is how to make mobile relevant in rural belt and for women. I have some learning of mobiles becoming a new gift item in marriages for the newly wed bride to stay connected with her paternal home.

 

Bollywood has lapped up this evolution in its songs. Is Hollywood listening??

 

 

 

Joypratip Sengupta is a telecom marketer with specialisation in the diverse Indian market. His twitter handle is joypratip