Stay Behind, Stay Alone and be a Leader

Stay Behind, Stay Alone and be a Leader

One day a group of families was crossing a forest with their strongest and wisest member leading from the front. A few old men were finding it hard to keep up the pace. The canopy of trees was impenetrable as it became darker towards the hours of dusk. Suddenly they hear an eerie howl in the distant wilderness. Sensing danger, the leader asked the group to increase their pace. Meanwhile, a small pack of wolves attacked them from the back. The leader and a few strong men rushed back only to find their trailing members gone forever. The silence was broken by earth-shattering cries. Members went missing from the front end. They now moved closer to each other inching towards a distant cave for shelter. But the damage was done.

What went wrong? Was it the leader’s wrong decisions? Were the wolves too smart for him to tackle? Or, was the leader not prepared to handle such a situation?

This is the state of our entrepreneurs. A recent study “Entrepreneurial India” by IBM Institute of Business Value and Oxford Economics states that 90% of Indian start-ups fail in the first 5 years. Most common reason for failure is lack of innovation. For a moment, let us look at the bright side of all these failures and understand what we can learn from them. 

So, why is this happening? We definitely don’t lack the brains (after all we are Indians, being brainy is considered obvious) or the resources. But we lack the experience of fire-fighting situations, taking instant or effective decisions. We do hope for the best but we fail to plan for the worst. 

Let us now talk about wolves. They always move in a fixed formation. The oldest stay in front and set the pace lest they be left behind. Next are a few strongest members of the pack ready to defend any attack from the front. They are followed by rest of the pack. Final few members are again the strongest ready to defend any attack from the back. Finally, the leader walks last making sure no one is left behind. He is the most cautious and takes decisions immediately when needed.