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Just the other day, I was watching one of the 20:20 cricket matches with my pre-teen son. The batting side had The Wall on the crease. While he stood on one side, a couple of his teammates got out while trying to hit, followed by another one who was trying to desperately steal a quick single. That’s when my son suddenly shouted, “He is such an outspirer!” Intrigued at the term ‘outspirer’, I asked him what he meant. I received a rather logical and interesting and interesting answer: “An Inspirer leads others to stretch, to perform to win. But an outspirer performs in a way that shifts the pressure multifold to partners on the ground, frustrating them to take undue risks and get out.” The term, then, seemed to be a combination of the opposite of ‘inspirer’ and the term ‘out’ in the context of cricket.

What an interesting idea, I thought, more so when expanded to the business scene. How often have we seen a startup founded by a bunch of beaming entrepreneurs capsize within a couple of years of its launch? It’s often the split between the founding partners that’s the real reason for it—but the reasons can be numerous. They may relate to what I call the Outspiration Theory, and may stem from both positive and negative influences. Negative inspiration is a natural first understanding of outspiration, as the underperformance of one partner could force the pressure onto other partners—followed by perishing or ‘getting out’. The solution in such ‘outspiration’ events can be found within the setup itself, through having more effective communication between the stakeholders, and with the outspirer willingly passing on the baton to achieve overall efficiency.

The consequences of positive outspiration are either not understood in totality or are totally misunderstood. This relates to inspirational leadership, either by design or by circumstances. Recently, the media related a large wealth-creator / entrepreneur’s take on leadership; it was akin to leading troops on the battlefield. According to this entrepreneur, a leader can’t be expected to lead from behind. A leader must match his speed with that of his troops—neither moving so fast that he would leave them behind, nor so slow that he would lag behind and thus be unable to provide directions when needed. Moving way ahead of the troops may reflect the individual excellence of the leader, but it is also a perfect example of positive outspiration. Here, the out-performance of the leader or one of the partners doesn’t convert into a win but rather a definite defeat, as the partners or the team get outspired.

Movie buffs may recollect a sequence from the movie Guru, where the Guru decides to launch an IPO for expansion. His partner, surprised at not being involved in this decision, questions the Guru about it. The Guru tells him to leave things to him and simply ride the journey. The result is an obvious breakup. That, right there, was outspiration. Although the venture in the story eventually succeeds through individual brilliance, the breakup could have been avoided just by avoiding the outspiration, with more effective communication.

So, as an entrepreneur, remember to check every now and then if you are becoming an outspirer. Happy venturing!

The views expressed here are personal.

BHARAT BANKA is the MD and CEO of Aditya Birla Private Equity.

Tags:
Bharat Banka, Inspiration, outspiration