Sadhguru: When most people talk about business, they usually talk about the mega-corporations that have grown both in India and internationally. But India’s commerce hums beyond the world’s economic situations because there are many family businesses, individual entrepreneurs and family-owned enterprises where there is a very strong business sense.

Asking these businesses to move on to the next step without the necessary tools and know-how is not fair. As a part of providing them with these tools, we thought we would bring the best minds in the field to offer hands-on knowledge on scaling up.

They have the necessary commitment, they have the fire to run the business and they have the know-how, but they are not able to move from being a proprietary business to a larger possibility. They have everything in place. The fundamentals are really good. But scaling up is something many of them struggle with. The INSIGHT program is essentially about helping these businesses scale up. 

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Suppose you are swinging on a trapeze bar – unless you are sure you can catch the other bar, you will not let go. It is unfair to ask someone to let go when they are not sure whether they can catch the other bar or not. Of course, there is a risk involved in those few moments of leaping, but it is a calculated risk. 

The program is an effort to help people gain the necessary insight to see where the other floating bar is – and it is not really so much of a risk as they think. Having a stagnant business is also a great risk. Everything works well only when something is succeeding and growing – that is when you can keep people together and focused. If it stagnates, there will be all kinds of problems that everyone faces at some point or the other. 

Why is Insight Essential for a Leader?

Asking these businesses to move on to the next step without the necessary tools and know-how is not fair. As a part of providing them with these tools, we thought we would bring the best minds in the field to offer hands-on knowledge on scaling up. 

The most basic tool is insight. That means you have some insight that others do not have – you are able to see something that others are not able to see.

The most basic tool is insight. That means you have some insight that others do not have – you are able to see something that others are not able to see. Otherwise, you are a contrived leader who has somehow gotten up there, and you will always be worried that you will fall down. Leadership means you are sitting on a perch. If you sit on a perch and you cannot see any better than others, you will become a joke. 

 

Once you sit on a perch, you must be able to see something that others are not able to see. It need not necessarily mean that you are able to do something better than someone else, but you are able to see better than someone else. Once you are able to see something that others cannot see, however clumsy you may be, you still become a leader. People will still look up to you because you are seeing something that they cannot see. This is most important.

Editor's Note: Here's a rare chance to imbibe and explore the science of scaling up your business at "INSIGHT, the DNA of Success" - an annual, 4-day business leadership intensive program. This year's program includes key resource leaders such as Kishore Biyani, Founder and Group CEO of Future Group; Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola Cabs; and Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog. Don't miss the opportunity! Register for the INSIGHT 2018 program.