Politics has its own way of teaching you the most important lessons. The recent fiasco orchestrated by Nitish Kumar in Bihar has great lessons for the Entrepreneurs, Employers and Management

• Never promote an insecure person– Nitish Kumar’s JDU got fewer seats than BJP in 2020 assembly elections and from that moment, Nitish Kumar was doubtful of his future. His insecurity caused internal bickering within his party and in the coalition. People of Bihar suffered the most as Chief Minister of the state was concerned about his own future than the future of the people. Mind you, if you promote an insecure person, his focus will never be on products, people, and organization, He will always be more concerned about himself, and company will suffer. Always give your support to the worthy and never to others.

• Don’t hire an employee who left you in the past after enjoying good times with you- Nitish Kumar’s JDU built his brand virtually riding on BJP but in 2015, he left NDA to join hands with RJD for CM’s chair and hoping to be the prime ministerial candidate. The bigger mistake BJP did was to welcome him back in NDA in 2017. Again, he enjoyed and cash-in on PM Narendra Modi popularity and left NDA hoping to be the joint opposition PM candidate in 2024. An employee who betrayed the organization in the past is likely to repeat it in future. Nitish Kumar does it again. Be careful on hiring ex-employees.

• Opportunistic alliances don’t work- Ever since Narendra Modi became the PM, there was unease between BJP and JDU. After parting ways in 2015, Nitish Kumar again joined hands with BJP in 2017 to form an opportunistic alliance. Why it was an opportunistic alliance because Nitish Kumar brand value had deteriorated, and he wants to ride on PM Modi popularity wave. Similarly, many a times to grow business, management do alliances that are not in sync with the values of the company and finally these alliances do harm to the organization in the longer run.

• Groom your own people for leadership jobs- Despite being the big brother in the alliance with JDU, BJP don’t have a face to take up the top job in Bihar. This always forced BJP to accept Nitish Kumar as leader of NDA in Bihar. Because of this reason, Nitish could play with the alliances. It’s a fact today that there is leadership vacuum in Bihar BJP. With Nitish moving out of the alliance, they don’t have a leader to drive the party. So, management must work to groom its own people rather than always trying to bring people from outside because outsiders don’t have ideological synergy and don’t share the same vision, mission as of your organization and whenever they get a bit more money, they will go and take up that job. It can leave your concerned department of your organization in big trouble and because of absence of a proven leader, they will take more time to stand on their feet. This will lead to disruption in business.

• Act first and act smartly- Management needs to be proactive in decision making. Nitish Kumar walked out of the alliance and BJP left searching for the reasons. As management, you can’t wait for your key employee resignations to start looking for the replacement. Management must know the pulse of the key employees and to ensure continuity must have succession and back-ups. Otherwise, it will lead to disruption and business loss

In the world where business disruption seems new normal, management must be on toes to ensure business continuity and growth. Employees contributes hugely to business growth, and they should be in the mix of business planning and strategy.