Modi's rise from a pracharak in 1971 to PM in 2014 is not just the story of a man who had in abundant measure qualities like grit, focus and ambition but also proof that the man with the "56-inch chest" possesses the leadership skills needed to draw out a grand vision and then organise, strategise and mobilise to win. If India was a corporation, Modi was ready to be its Executive Chairman. And his win can easily be a management case study for turnarounds and transformations.
Power of Focus
Gurus like Daniel Goleman say focus is a hidden driver of excellence and Modi is focus personified. He nurtured ambitions of being the PM ever since the BJP debacle of 2004, that is, after Vajpayee's defeat. "He patiently waited for his moment and worked towards it. Again, BJP's rout in 2009 renewed his resolve," says Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Modi's biography, Narendra Modi: The Man.
Modi's preparations were on much before he was declared the PM candidate in September, and as any turnaround specialist will tell you, speedy planning and implementation are the greatest driving forces in business. Modi's game was on before Congress could say Rahul.
Setting up Team Modi and firing them up was what gave the Modi campaign its edge. Apart from setting up a crack IT team, a team of white-shoe consultants, academics and i-bankers as volunteer strategists and topping it with innovations like holograms, Modi was ready for the big moment.
Team Modi was driven by data and details, about every galli and ganj in India, all connected seamlessly through IT. By the time Congress and regional parties, still caught in their formulaic election narrative, shifted their election gear, Modi Mobile was running full steam. "Right from the start of the campaign, BJP was executing across many dimensions and all this was by design," says Jayant Sinha, BJP MP from Hazaribagh and former CEO of Omidyar Network, India.
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Like in any turnaround situation, it was important to focus on setting the right agenda that would ensure buy-in from all stakeholders. In 1992, Bill Clinton won the Presidential campaign using the slogan, "It's the economy, stupid", and in 2014, Modi followed a similar theme reading the ground reality perfectly. "CEOs without an agenda are useless, but at the same time, CEOs with a lot of things on their agenda, are also useless. You must have a single agenda, the right one. Narendra Modi's agenda was economic development and caught the imagination of the country," says Vijay Govindarajan, Professor at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth. Marketing gurus like Al Reis and Jack Trout always place a premium on positioning.
Modi knew his target audience and what they wanted; India, like other emerging economies, has four key rising constituencies - the rural population, youth, middle class and diaspora. These are aspirational groups who don't go for the 'poor you' approach. "In this election, Modi unbound aspirations," says Janmejaya Sinha, Chairman Asia Pacific, Boston Consulting Group.
"When I heard Narendra Modi's 'acche din aane wale hain' line, it immediately reminded me of Coke's 'Open Happiness' campaign. Both are very aspirational. He did a good job in understanding who his customers were and targeting them accordingly," adds Vijay Mahajan of University of Texas, Austin.
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