Chakra Watch 4/ Where has all the love gone?

Chakra Watch 4: Survival, Pleasure, Power, Love, Creative Expression, Transcendence, Spirituality – these are the seven basic life themes, based on the seven major chakras in the human body, that drive all human behaviour.
News reports of more and more elderly people living alone or checking into old age homes. Reports of marriages breaking down more frequently and faster. Reports of heightened rudeness in urban life. More intolerance in relationships all around. Reports of children committing suicide because of parental pressure. While everyone is saying "I want to be accepted as I am, for what I am" there is increasing unwillingness to accept others as they are. There is not too much place for compassion in the workplace, with competence and competition getting celebrated. With selfishness, restlessness and aggression becoming virtues, nobody really believes that the meek will inherit the world any more…not even in India. And certainly not in the cricket field. To turn the other Gandhian cheek nowadays is considered foolish. Except in an occasional Munnabhai. India’s Heart Chakra is definitely weakening.
Heart Chakra or Anahata people have by nature, a selfless state of mind. More open to sharing and caring, more given to empathy and sympathy, careful not to hurt, generous and kind, they bring peace and calm to those around them. Harmonious relationships are very important to them. To them life is not a competition, certainly not at the cost of relationships. They are more able to give and more gracious and forgiving than normal. Look around and spot the person in your office who people tend to go to, to share their problems and ask for a shoulder to cry on; the person who goes out of his or her way to take up other people’s causes. Spot the person who has more patience with other people’s weaknesses, is the best team player, stays back to help others, and generally seems to have a lot of faith in the human race. Spot the person who is best at understanding other people’s problems, and the best at being genuinely happy at other people’s successes, and you’ld have spotted a strong Heart Chakra person. If in a roomful of boisterous 15 year olds, you find one whose heart is breaking for the pigeon caught in the balcony not knowing how to fly back out through the bars, then you know you have a spotted person with a good Heart Chakra.
Anahata brands bring harmony, calmness, generosity, grace, cooperation, unconditional love. Anahata brands offer payoffs like : helps me to maintain good relationships with others; helps me to accept others as they are; reflects my calm and peaceful nature; reflects my helpful nature; makes me face unfriendly situations with politeness ; brings out the kindness and compassion in me; makes others come to me for solace; reflects my sentimental nature.
The innocent charm of the Hutch ads, the heart tug of the Airtel grandfather playing chess, the reassurance of many finance and insurance brands , the ads that show sons and daughters taking care of their ageing parents, or the boys in the Surf and Lifebouy ads, appeal to the Heart Chakra needs in all of us. As does the spirit behind "Hum Hain Na" – be it the movie or the ads.
The most significant aspect of India’s changing Heart Chakra is our changing attitudes to the relationships in our lives. The key point is that the focus is on what we want from our relationships rather than what we are willing to give. The Power and the Glory, a Brand Chakras study on the global Indian showed that young Indians chasing power and fame put career ahead of family, and manage the situation by getting the family to buy into his vision for himself and explaining that they will all benefit from his success. Even friends and networking is important because "you never know when they will come in useful". Friend or spouse, the expectation is inspiration and support in the hunt for fame and glory, over compassion and solace. Mother India, a Brand Chakras study on mothers and children revealed that even mother’s love is not selfless any more. For all her effort, the mother wants her child to reach a position of power and influence – and tell the world that he got there because of her. While she may justify it as "I am saying all this for you only" , clearly she is judging her own success as a mother through the worldly success of her child. A study on Chakra Payoffs from matrimony revealed the dominance of Survival and Power Chakra payoffs in what young marriage prospects seek : security and stability Survivla Chakra payoffs; courage, optimism, control- Power Chakra payoffs. Interestingly, men tended to seek peace, companionship and emotional support more than women, while women focused a lot on freedom and money. As a talk show panel said the other night, money is sexier than even sex.
All consumer conversations around the payoff "helps me maintain good relationships with others" shows a strong "matlabi"(selfish) tendency. Even food brands that earlier said "so tasty that you’ll want to share" now prefer to say "so tasty that you want it all for yourself".
Perhaps the only anti-trend is the increasing value of social responsibility – but is even that genuine compassion or just one more way to get attention, build influence, and acquire a halo? Or an unconscious "prayaschit" (compensation for forgiveness) for lack of genuine kindness and compassion in our day-to-day relationships?
This post first appeared in The Brand Wagon, The Financial Express, May6, 2008

Chakra Watch 3/Of the Solar Plexus and Fire in the Belly: the Desire to Influence and the Drive for Power Is Driving the Indian Consumer Today

Of the Solar Plexus and Fire in the Belly: the Desire to Influence and the Drive for Power Is Driving the Indian Consumer Today

Chakra Watch 3: Survival, Pleasure, Power, Love, Creative Expression, Transcendence, Spirituality – these are the seven basic life themes, based on the seven major chakras in the human body, that drive all human behaviour.
Easily the most dominant mood of the day, India today is enjoying a heady sense of a possibility of dominating others, and a growing realisation of its superiority. Emerging from the power-deprived scenario of its pre-independence days, armed with a large young population, India discovers opportunism, materialism and a high degree of ambition. Developing and putting to use its agile, active and resilient mind, India is learning showmanship and projection of leadership skills. After years of believing in destiny, Indians are beginning to believe that there is scope to shape one’s own destiny. Brand India seen through Manipura, the solar plexus or Third Chakra Payoffs is a true reflection of what the country makes Indians feel today.
Centered in the solar plexus – the seat of power, ego, authority, self control and discipline, Manipura or Power Chakra brands reflect and/or enhance courage, self-esteem, persistence, leadership, good will and right actions, and aim to compensate for a lack of self-confidence and empowerment.
Power Chakra people are said to be clear principled, have control over their thoughts, have unending positive energy, are goal oriented, and have a great desire to influence others. They have typically attained a certain degree of safety and security in their life. They can be diplomatic, active or passive as the situation demands. Sentiments like "there is no place for pity" and "life is a race" are strong Power Chakra sentiments. Absence of power, on the other hand could lead to a lack of control over circumstances, an inability to assert, dependence on others’ acknowledgement, and an inability to congratulate oneself… "I don’t think I’ve achieved anything much".
The Power and the Glory, a Brand Chakras ™ study on the global Indian(young Indians interacting with the world daily as part of their work, who have lived abroad and returned) revealed a combination of Power Chakra, Creative Expression Chakra (throat) and Transcendence Chakra (third eye). Some typical power statements went like these: "I need personal professional growth because people should know me like they know Mukesh Ambani." "My work symbolizes my influence over others, I can see that my opinion counts and that I make a difference here" "My work reflects my highly competitive spirit, but often I'm competing with my own benchmarks..." "Power. You have people beneath you… people whom you can control…who will listen to what you say… I enjoy power… that is it."
Driven by positive self image, and high confidence in their own skills and talent, the young global Indian shows a pronounced eagerness to seize the initiative in any situation; a restless urge to be proactive in shaping his own destiny; a gleeful realization that the "Indian" badge is a significant advantage on the world stage and an impatience to encash this to the maximum; and an inclination to acquire larger than life status through career and money. In fact, a clear desire to play God, if not today, some day soon.
In a different way, the small town and lower SEC desire to become IAS officers and police officers that focus group discussions often throw up, is a clear indication of their search for power, as they see these professionals as symbols of great local power and influence. The police officer as hero is a dominant theme in tamil cinema, and news reports say that the IAS cadre is indeed attracting more candidates from small towns than the metros.
On the home front, the Brand Chakras ™ study Mother India showed that the seat of mother’s love too was moving to the solar plexus. Mothers showed a high degree of ambition on the social and materialistic planes. There is clearly heightened eagerness, laced with impatience, to be able to ride the crest of the "mother’s pride" emotion. They are today willing to assume responsibility for children seizing the opportunities in life, and are pushing their own limits as individuals in order to play an enabling role in children’s lives. Probably this explains why we tend to see more mothers behind the winning young idols in reality shows, than fathers.
Key brand payoffs that appeal to and arise out of Manipura people and their needs include payoffs like: reflects my clear principles, makes me look at life with a lot of courage, helps me achieve my goals, symbolizes or helps me build my influence over others, helps me to be decisive and clear, reflects my sense of ruthless ambition, helps me to be in control, helps me feel good about my achievements, and reflects my highly competitive spirit.
Examples would include apparel brands and accessories that reek of high corporate status, car brands that talk of horse power, corporate wars, political battles, the matriarch of many hindi movies including the foster mother in Jodha Akbar, and of course Tulsi and Parvathy – arriving after 18 years in an Arjuna-like chariot, or attacking the villains with Durga-like trisuls.
But the best example would be the business and news media brands of today, wanting to not just report news but actually create news, shape and lead public opinion if not policy itself.

This post first appeared as an article in The Brand Wagon, The Financial Express, April 8, 2008

Chakra Watch 2/ In Pursuit of Pleasure: Laughter challenges, six-pack abs and exotic holidays

Chakra Watch 2: Survival, Pleasure, Power, Love, Creative Expression, Transcendence, Spirituality – these are the seven basic life themes, based on the seven major charkas in the human body, that drive all human behaviour
From a culture that was more preoccupied with the past and the future, and a background where denial of pleasure was considered noteworthy, India today is fully living in the “now”. Increasingly, Indians are reflecting an intense urge to milk maximum happiness from each living moment. At their own levels and in their own way, people in different sections of society are finding ways to live life more fully than ever before. “We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, might as well enjoy today” is a common refrain. And when asked to share good moments in focus group discussions, people often come up with smaller, “made-my-day” kind of joys than big, life changing moments.
Pleasure Chakra people are generally people who have had fairly privileged upbringings and wish to live life without feeling bogged down. Impulsive, excitable, they are in constant search for higher levels of materialistic living, curious living and rich experiences. There is a tendency to shrug off accountability and disregard commitments. The inability to control cravings and putting one’s own feelings ahead of others are some of the “imbalanced” traits of Swaddisthana or Pleasure Chakra people. They take pride in themselves and what they have and like to enjoy their belongings. Manipulation, selfishness, jealousy, greed, flaunting wealth have all come out of the closet and in fact there is a celebration of the seven deadly sins, as it were. Light hearted advertisements now reflect a “it’s fun to be bad” attitude.
The other big themes in this chakra are laughter, anxiety about attractiveness, sexuality, and luxurious living. And so is “physical creativity” or creativity of a lower order—say, beautiful homes as against higher order creativity like painting, sculpting, writing which would be Throat Chakra activities since they involve, in their own way, a larger search for truth. Little day-to-day acts of creativity, from candle making to puppetry are Pleasure Chakra activities.
Sexuality, the need for appreciation, the need to feel attractive and develop a magnetic personality are also Pleasure Chakra needs. Aneroxia, and the need for surgical intervention to look beautiful, imply an excess of Pleasure Chakra, while disinterest in sex would imply deficiency and an inability to derive pleasure. Clearly, seven-day beauty miracles, six-week skin solutions, Viagra, perfumes and deos that have the whole female population following you, six-pack abs and beauty diets cater to Pleasure Chakra needs! Romantic love is a Pleasure Chakra need as against universal love and sympathy which are Heart or Love Chakra qualities.
Swaddisthana brands therefore cater to anxiety about attractiveness and the need for escape. They add positivism, magnetism, and joy to living, and partner in the pursuit of pleasure. So key brand payoffs that appeal to and arise out of Swaddisthana people and their needs include payoffs like: creates the desire to try new things, makes me feel attractive, reduces my anxiety about attractiveness, brings me appreciation, fills me with vitality and joy, makes me laugh, helps me make people do what I want, permits me to be manipulative and devious, makes me happy with myself so that I don’t have to be jealous of others, brings me sexual pleasure, reflects my passionate nature, helps me enjoy life at every opportunity, and encourages me to experiment and try new activities.
All beauty brands, perfumes and deos, many apparel brands, FM radio, laughter shows, confectionery brands, ice creams and some foods which offer lip smacking taste (and not nourishment) would all be using Pleasure Chakra promises. Walls ice creams, Cadbury’s Temptations, juicy soft drinks come to mind. As also “I am worth it”—the feeling that I deserve to be happy. Breakaway weekends, exotic holidays, the desire to try everything from new foods to white water rafting are Pleasure Chakra activities.
Films like Devdas and love stories fall here, as would Jab We Met, and the whole genre of all those sweet, light hearted Hollywood romantic comedies. While a “message comedy” like Munnabhai would end up as a combination of pleasure (humour) with a combination of transcendence (third eye) because off its higher order point of view, with shades of Heart or Love Chakra qualities that it advises.
In a random population sample Brand Chakras™ survey of Indians in general, women showed a higher level of pleasure seeking, willingness to be devious, seeking appreciation, and jealousy at others happiness. Younger people recorded higher pleasure scores, as did people in Delhi and Mumbai. However Delhi-ites and Mumbaikars also showed a higher need to do a lot more in life before they can be happy with themselves, and would go to any extent to get their way.
Pleasure scores went up with income. Lower income people were predictably lower on pleasure and felt less deserving of being happy. Interestingly, people with income above a certain point felt more need to be jealous, devious, and more demanding of themselves before they can be happy. After all, figuring out whose plane is bigger and whose party was more extravagant, finding unique exotic holiday destinations every time, and searching for high end brands that cost the earth can be taxing!

This post first appeared as an article in brand wagon, The Financial express, Mar 4, 08

Chakra Watch1: What do mothers, action movies and energy drinks have in common?

Survival, Pleasure, Power, Love, Creative Expression, Transcendence, Spirituality: these are the seven basic life themes - based on the seven major chakras in the human body - that drive all human behaviour.

Seeing India through the seven chakras

Whether it is the student who is stressing about admissions. Or teenage girls with typical vulnerabilities of their age who are trying to reconcile the gap between what they actually are and the bold media portrayals of women today. Or lower SEC mothers who are pinning their every hope on their children to bring them better futures. Or the thousands of Indians striving to learn English so that they are not left behind. Large numbers of Indians are on self-preservation mode, looking for security, stability, grounding – these are the Muladhara, or Survival Chakra people.

These are the people who were particularly restricted in the past and had diminished self-images but have caught attention by their determined effort to redefine goals, raise the level of persistent efforts and have managed to raise their lifestyles and self-esteem despite inadequacies. Witness the endless stories on the rise of Indian women, the rise of small town people and the rise of the lower SEC. Rags to riches, sudden fame and wealth through hard won contests and revival or comeback stories capture public imagination.

People in this chakra are – naturally – deeply worried about the future. They are of two types – the Anxious Survivor and the Buoyant Survivor. While some remain anxious, get bogged down, and feel an inability to get out of circumstances, others are buoyant and lively with more faith in their abilities, and drive themselves to come out of adversities unscathed. Most consumers in this chakra are conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, tend to set manageable goals and hope that persistent effort in place of brilliance will see them through. Anxious Survivors choose stagnancy over risk, and find security in maintaining the status quo. They need the cushion of certainty and predictability, even if it is limiting. Buoyant Survivors, on the other hand, are determined to climb out of their current situation and are in search for positions of power and influence, almost with a vengeance. These are people who feel more pressured to keep pace with change and are not willing to accept things as they are. The “do tharah ke log” that the famous Bunty aur Babli dialogue described so evocatively.


A recent JWT Brand Chakras™ study, Mother India showed that many mothers are in survival mode, but the fact that they want their children to reach high positions of power and influence and make them famous, shows that they are wanting to move up to the Power Chakra. These are mothers who feel their husbands are unlikely to improve their lives any further, and pressured by fast upgrading neighbours and relatives, are pinning their hopes on their children to lift them from a life of oblivion and transform their fortunes. Children by nature are said to be in survival, as in the early years we are still learning our way around the world.

Muladhara brands can cater to these emotional needs with brand benefits and promises that enhance the will to live, offer energy, fearlessness, stability, freedom from drudgery, bring abundance and physical strength, and support the urge to survive. Brands offering physical strength and love of outdoors operate in this space.

Thumbs Up and Mountain Dew would be examples here, as well as health food drinks, energy foods, immunity and health protection or illness prevention brands. Insurance is mostly a survival benefit, with its promise of security and stability in case of misfortune. The diffident girl of the earlier fairness cream commercials, and some of the teary, self effacing characters in the soaps who never speak up and are forever victims of circumstance are excellent examples of Anxious Survivors or a deficient Survival Chakra. On the other hand, the WWF characters with their extremely well developed bodies and driven by aggression are examples of excessive Survival Chakra.

Action movies too operate in this space, in a totally different way. Malamaal Weekly, Gangster, Provoked, even Chak De for example appeal to our survival intincts, (as against Guru which clearly celebrates the journey of an individual from the Survival Chakra to the Power Chakra).

Therefore, key brand payoffs that appeal to and arise out of Muladhara people and their needs include payoffs like: fills me with a will to win, reflects my spirit of persistence, helps me to face difficult situations, makes me feel energetic and dynamic, and makes me feel safe and secure.

The interesting thing of course is that even the rich and famous – CEOs or cricketers, not to mention the Parvathis and Tulsis of our serials or our politicians or corporations struggling in the market or facing hostile takeovers - fight survival battles, even if it is at a totally different level and of a totally different kind!

This post first appeared as an article in The Financial Express, Feb 5, 08

Games Mothers Play: what the "Mother India "study tells us about a mother's strategies

Shine... and make me shine

(This appeared as an article in The Sunday Express, Nov 18, 07)

Enabling and empowering, coach and companion, event manager and project manager, motherhood has moved beyond protection, nurturance, compassion and selflessness. The child is now a project and a mission, and industriousness, determination, passion and planning are the dominant traits. The seat of motherhood is moving from the heart to the solar plexus, and children today are not just a responsibility but also an opportunity.

Whether she is conscious of it or not, whether she admits it or not, one of the fundamental shifts in motherhood in India in recent times is the fact that children have become a key way by which mothers judge themselves. While earlier it may have been her relationship with her in-laws, her cooking and housekeeping abilities, or the support she lent her husband by looking after the home and freeing him to focus on his work, the climax of her own life is now linked to the peaking of the child’s glory. While earlier her message to her child may have been “be good, be safe”, today it is “shine and make me shine”. This could be academic or in any area of talent that she and her child have together chosen to build. The children too are taking the roti- kapada-makaan for granted and are looking to the mother to give them the head start they need in life and ensure that they remain focused. “Though I will be happy if my son praises my cooking, I will have greater happiness if he gets good marks in his exams… my greater responsibility is to take care of my son’s studies than cooking” says the mother. “If my future turns out to be bright, then my mother will get great happiness...she will get respect in society she will be able to walk around with her head held high,” echoes the child.

And now that she is putting her heart and soul into shaping their destinies, she is demanding credit for the success and acknowledgement for her efforts. “Right from the time my child was born, I have only brought him up. I have devoted my entire life for my child’s growth. I have melted my life into that of my child. I have moulded my child according to what I wanted, hence the child’s future has become this way. 90% of the child’s future achievement is mine,” says the mother. “The full credit of my sister going to UK for her higher studies goes to Mom… she has been running up and down organizing all papers, doing everything herself. If a child gets 100% marks, then 40-70% will be the result of the mother’s efforts” echoes the child.

Children are conscious of the contribution that their mothers make in their current lives by donning the roles of organizer, guide, enforcer, and friend. While there may be the usual squabbles over food, outings and social activities, and the usual temptations of friends, play and television, children do indeed look to their mothers to give them courage, inspiration, help them set and achieve their goals and fill them with a will to win. Mother is both cushion and launch pad, giving new meaning to the famous line “mere paas maa hai”! “For my son to be an IAS officer, both myself and my son will have to put in the efforts. It will happen only if I am after him with all my support. Other wise he will go here and there to enjoy. I will have to ensure that he remains focused through out and is not distracted from this aim,” says the mother. “Because of her mother’s love, she says no… she does not want us to get spoilt, she does not always allow us to do what we want” echoes the child. Though, “itna tenson nahin lene ka” is also something they’d like to say to the mothers, children in fact seem to be defining success in terms of living up to the mother’s expectations.

Changing mother-child relationship: from passive supporter to active visionary and manager
From children as duty to children as a way of realizing her own potential.
From wanting her child to do well to wanting her child to be famous and reach a position of grand power and influence.
From living for the moment to constantly thinking of and shaping the future.
From leaving it to her husband to plan the child’s future to taking it into her own hands and playing a central role.
From just being happy if her child does well to wanting public acknowledgment for her role in it.
From unsureness of what awaits her in her old age to a clear staking of claims to the fruits of success.

Games mothers play: In the effort to best utilize this opportunity she seems to have three key strategies.

One, co-opting the child, creating a shared dream through smart smelling of own dreams for the child or accepting the child’s own desires or reaching a consensus. “I am saying all this for you only”. Of course. But underneath that is “You better do well and make me feel my efforts were worth it.” “What has not been possible for us, children have to achieve, then our names will be well-known…everyone will say look at this person, what her child has done. Children should bring us respect and honor. Though we know that we should not be having hopes in our children, in reality we cannot help having these hopes” says the mother. “After all her effort, if I don’t do well, my mother will say I’m a waste,” echoes the child.

Two, inculcate a deep sense of obligation in the child in order to be able to legitimize future demand for sustenance. “On becoming bigger, children definitely realize how much hard work the mother has put in, how much care mothers have taken in their matters. They will have the realization that they should also in return care for their mothers as much,” says the mother. “She has struggled hard for us and she wants the returns,” echoes the child.

Three, making the child believe that she – and only she - can help him achieve this. If only he listens to her, everything will be all right! In this, whether she will admit it or not, she is distancing the father from this co-creation of destiny. “Like during the exam days, I teach my daughter. I stay up late in the night, may be around 12, to teach her so that we can cover as much as we can. At that time, my husband will be sleeping. Then I get up early in the morning so that my daughter can revise her portions. My husband will still be sleeping at that time. It is the mother who worries that the child is exerting very much for the exam and hence the child must be having healthy food. Husband does not think about these things,” says the mother. “Study is mainly mother’s responsibility. Dad is already having many tensions on the work front” echoes the child. “Fathers say how much ever the child has studied, that is enough. They ask us not to put too much pressure on our children. If fathers have switched on the TV, they will not even switch it off because it is a distraction. They will ask why we are after the children the whole day,” says the mother. “I can enjoy more with my father, not with my mother. My mother thinks more of what is really good for us and is less inclined to agree to various things,” echoes the child. Children seem to feel that mothers do not feel the pressure to win their love by indulging them blindly. Mothers have greater knowledge of their reality and are in a better position to take decisions, and are able to retain their sense of balance better when it comes to judging the merits of their various demands. Mothers exhibit tempered aggression that is a constructive tool in chiseling their future lives. It is a resilient bond with the mother, which can absorb bursts of short-term bitterness. Highly strict or eagerly anxious to indulge, the relationship with fathers is not so multi-textured. Mothers, on the other hand seemingly position fathers as the ultimate authority but the subtle marking of destiny creation as her territory cannot be missed!

Like all behaviourial trends, the mother’s changing worldview is also being driven by some key factors in the environment: the impression that there is a goldmine of opportunities waiting, that merit and hard work can bring glory, that her children belong to a generation that is intellectually sharper and emotionally more mature, and that it is a big bad world out there. She is afraid. Afraid that her children will miss out on the future if she does not take it into her hands – today.

And in doing so, she has redefined mother’s love to mean “tough love” and a steeling of the heart.

This means: an intimate tracking of the child’s activities; retaining control while appearing to be democratic; having adult-like conversations; using emotional elasticity – sometimes accommodative/ sometimes strict, sometimes liberal/ sometimes conservative; cultivating the ability to express love as much by denying as by indulging; as well as balancing immediate happiness with long-term welfare. “Mother is both friend and enemy,” says the mother. “Mother is like popcorn, soft from inside and hard from outside,” echoes the child!

And finally, ensuring the child’s spiritual initiation and pleading with the larger divine force to work in favour of her child – but letting her child know that it is her prayers that is going to do the trick! “We are not always with our children. We cannot go everywhere with them. This is about having indirect presence, influence even when we are not there. Like during exam times, we hope that through our prayers, we can ensure that they never get nervous…that they are able to remember what they have studied,” says the mother. “It’s all because of my mother’s prayers,” echoes the child!
_______________________________________________________________________

Employee engagement: What "The Power and the Glory" study tells us

Harness the power of karma yogis
(A version of this appeared as an article in The Economic Times, Nov 16, 07)

Beauty packages for diwali, karva chauth on office terraces, weaving in sports and games into work lives and presence on Second Life… increasingly, employee is consumer and employee delight is part of talent recruitment, training and retention. But is it making any real difference? Are organisations missing the woods for the trees in the search for employee engagement?

A Towers Perrin study in 18 countries (including India), among 90,000 workers reports that only one in five employees were engaged. The study defines engagement as the degree to which workers connect to the company emotionally, are aware of what they need to do to add value, and are willing to take that action. Higher engagement led not only to retention but also increased profits. And, most importantly it was senior managers that drove employee engagement, (not just feel-good HR activities). India, incidentally, emerged the third most engaged country, next to Mexico and Brazil!

So what exactly do leading edge employees in India want? The Power and the Glory, a recent JWT Brand Chakras study on the global Indian, revealed the complete centrality of work is worship. But these new age karma yogis are clear: work is worship, but only at the altar of power, fame and money.

Four very clear desires and demands emerged.

One: Work is an avenue of creativity and innovation, therefore organisational backing of ideas is imperative. This needs to be seen in the light of: a) growing unwillingness to work for others and need to get credit for one’s own work and not give it to the company; and b) a disdain for large organizations even though they work in them, and a belief that individuals and the wisdom of the crowds is faster on the innovation curve.

Two: Work must help to “build my name larger than the organisation”. Careers should provide adequate scope for personal evolution and growth, even while offering monetary rewards. And must, sooner rather than later, bestow a larger-than-life status, leading to social and professional influence and clout.

Three: Work must lead to opportunities to be part of the Indian badge on the world stage. Work is part of their celebration of living, and a keen desire for enriching experiences. So they expect continuous broadening of horizons, skill enhancement, early positions of power and responsibility, and opportunities to ride the crest of technological advances – so that they can evolve a larger world view. Through work, they “want a name for boosting the country’s economy” and satisfy the thirst to play a role in the global impact India is going to have; create jobs, wealth and technology.

Four: Eventually, enriching spiritual and emotional experiences – so that they can “give back”, positively influence others’ destinies and be put on a pedestal. They feel a certain responsibility to make India a better place. Twenty eight year olds are already talking of “going back to my village and doing sericulture”. Or “I’m earning two lakhs a month as a surgeon, so I give free medicines on Sundays at home. My patients say I’m God. I tell them no, but they can put me next to him.”

On his part, his personal strategies are in three large areas. One: invest intellect and energy in work, seize the initiative in any situation, be open minded and adventurous with respect to exploring career opportunities - not letting geographical boundaries or cultural differences come in the way. Two: get spouse and family to buy into his vision of his career; spell out the rewards at stake for them – compensation for not making them the fulcrum of his life. “My wife must actively help and support the search for glory. She is second to career, and she knows it and it is to her advantage, because my success will brings her also greater social respect’. Equally, working women want husbands to “be a source of inspiration” in their own similar quest. Three: cultivate the power of networking by shrewd choice of friends and contacts because “ you never know when they’ll come in handy”.

Underlying all this, are two fundamental shifts in corporate life.

The first is a reduction of distance to the leadership. Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar, in his book The Indians, cites the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) study as confirming that “what younger managers in India most dearly wish for is a reduction in the power distance between the leader and the led”. He goes on to draw a curious parallel in the transition of father-son relationships in middle class family life – from the formality and restraint of the authoritative joint family patriarch who struggles to express his love for his children to the more involved playmate of today, available to both sons and daughters.

The second is a greater demand on the leadership for inspiration, collaboration, communication, and nurturing. Again, Sudhir Kakar points out the basic Indian tendency to idealize the leader, avoid realistic evaluations and ignore his weaknesses. But not any more. Young global Indians too are revising their expectations of their leaders. The JWT Brand Chakras study showed that younger people like to use their talent to have a hold on their leaders, while older managers say dealing with younger people is one of their key challenges.

Will Indian senior management move quickly to harness the power of the new age karma yogi? Or absorbed in their own worship, expect mehendi, kickboxing and film screenings to do the trick?

MOTHER INDIA: FROM CHILDREN AS RESPONSIBILITY TO CHILDREN AS OPPORTUNITY

Highlights from a Brand Chakras study
on Mothers and Children:
The insight mining exercise was done in eight centers -
Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Trichur
and covered SEC A, B mothers with children between 8 and 16
through group discussions, and depth interviews with pairs of mothers and their children.

The Indian Mother-and-Child is now a team with a shared vision, with mothers actively believing they can shape their children’s destiny for mutual benefit,Enabling and empowering, coach and companion, event manager and project manager, motherhood has moved beyond protection, nurturance, compassion and selflessness. The child is now a project and a mission, and industriousness, determination, passion and planning are the dominant traits. The children too are taking the roti- kapada-makaan for granted and are looking to the mother to give them the headstart they need in life and ensure that they remain focused.

Other shifts include: from living for the moment to constantly shaping the future; from child’s success to shared glory; and a clear staking of claims on the eligibility for the fruits of success.

Emotional elasticity, reasonable adult-like conversations, retaining locus of control while appearing to be democratic, love that includes toughness and a steeling of the heart, are some of the mother’s strategies.

Children in return are conscious of the contribution that their mothers make in their current lives by donning the roles of organizer, guide, enforcer, and friend. While there may be the usual squabbles over food, outings and social activities, children do indeed look to their mothers to give them courage, inspiration, help them set and achieve their goals and fill them with a will to win. Mother is both cushion and launch pad… giving new meaning to the famous line “mere paas maa hai”!

They seem to be defining success in terms of living up to the mother’s expectations.Though, “itna tenson nahin lene ka” is also something they’d like to say to the mothers!

All mothers showed a strong inclination to Power chakra qualities, but three types of mothers emerged.
The Lifeline Seeker: she has given up hopes of the husband improving their lives and is totally dependant on the child to rise to glorious levels and rescue her; looking for insurance and security, she will do everything she can to help them in this journey, but is clearly establishing her rights to the fruits of this labour.
The Coronation Seeker: she is hoping her child’s achievements will bring her out of a life of oblivion and bestow on her a halo for greater social conquest… the child is an opportunity to make an overwhelming statement about herself.
The Independence Seeker: her striving to excel in the mother role is geared to fostering independence and self-reliance in her child, so that she will have the freedom and space for her own pursuits; motherhood enhances her efficiency and gives her exposure that helps her discover unexplored facets of herself.

The implication for brands is that:
*brands need not necessarily choose between mother or child as target but could talk to the duo;
*must reflect the new sets of motherhood values and attitudes;
*need to find a role in the shared vision and future that they are chasing;
*salute the mother, Maa thujhe salaam for a new set of reasons;
*connect with the philosophy of effort and determination that she is trying to instill;
*focus on the 15 Chakra payoffs that children chose from the battery of 60 fundamental payoffs; *draw from the mothers’ behaviour codes across the seven chakras that the study has identified.

Children want from Mothers:

While the study focused on mothers, it has revealed three types of fathers too – according to the mothers!
The Genuine Partner: who tries to play a synergistic role willingly taking up activities which are beyond the mother’s competence;
The Conveniently Detached: who is taking it easy, capitalizing on the mother’s high involvement and taking up the provider stance to negate criticism of his lack of involvement; and
The Cynically Detached: who disagrees with the approach, perceives the mother as crossing the line and fostering too much dependance, and feels children need a more hands-off approach.