Brand You - Be Honest with Yourself

 

Understanding the way people perceive you is critical before you can start working on enhancing your personal brand.

Even the best-known persons need someone who can guide and mentor them as they build their own personal brand.

It is well acknowledged that, Zuckerberg needed Jobs, Gates needed Buffet and Mandela needed Gandhi. Each relationship had a strong reason to exist and the younger person saw a mentor or a guide in the other. 

Think of the people who have helped you face your own mirror and helped you along with your career. The mirror that the other person provides makes you become honest with yourself.

Unless you are brutally honest with yourself, you will not be able to get the right response to your own perception. If you perceive yourself as mediocre, use this as your starting point to build your brand.

For you, there is only way.

Up.

On the other hand, if you are doing exceptionally well and are well recognised, your challenge will be to stay where you are and take steps to try to keep moving forward from the exalted position you already occupy.

It is easy to get to the top of the pack. It is easy to get to the top. The challenge is to stay there.

Some steps you can take to understand your perceptions about yourself are outlined below.

1.    Ask for feedback

Feedback is the best form of bridging the gap between perception and reality.

No one likes criticism or negative feedback and you will not be any different. Taking honest feedback requires guts. It requires courage to face reality. You need to brace yourself to hear comments that you will definitely not like.

Ask for clarification and probe for more information on the feedback you receive.

You will get more information if you ask “Do you think the audience received my presentation as informative? Were they engaged during my presentation? Why or why not?” instead of simply asking a question “How was my presentation?”

The first question may get you some honest feedback but the second question is general and non-specific. You will generally evoke a response stating “your presentation was okay.” This is possibly what you wanted to hear when you asked the question!

Discussing your feedback, especially of you do not agree with what has been said is important.

 2.    Listen when you are receiving unsolicited feedback

Very few people take the trouble to give you feedback.

When I founded Guardian Pharmacy, I used to insist that all customer feedback was sent to me and I made it a point to respond to every customer complaint myself. I always told our team members that only a concerned customer will take the trouble to give us feedback. Most customers simply walk away from the brand since they have many other choices.

Think of how often you have thought “He loves to listen to his own voice.”

Most people believe that listening is an art when they are speaking because they want to be heard. However, they do not practice listening when it comes to hearing others speak!

This unsolicited feedback will be harsh and may make you cringe. But this will be true and whether you agree with it or not, you are being told how you are being perceived. Negative feedback, if taken in the correct spirit, will help you to course correct and move towards building Brand You and take it to places you may not have dreamed of.

 3.    Have someone you trust ask for feedback on your behalf

Many of us are uncomfortable asking for feedback directly from someone else.

At the same time, the person you want feedback from may hesitate to speak to you directly either because he is afraid of your reaction or simply feels awkward to speak out.

This simple challenge of getting feedback can be handled by requesting a friend or a colleague to take the feedback and communicate to you.

Often, when it comes to the work place, feedback becomes a challenge especially if a boss is looking for feedback from a subordinate. A subordinate – boss relationship, at the best of times could be tenuous and when it comes to feedback time, the subordinate will hesitate and will need to be assured repeatedly.

Though most organisations have annual and semi-annual appraisals for giving feedback, I have always believed in giving regular and ongoing feedback. Working together will be much easier and more effective if your subordinate knows where he or she stands rather than be told at the end of six or twelve months what they did right and what they did not.

At each stage in your journey towards building your personal brand, you need honest and constructive feedback to course correct as often as may be required.

 4.    Have a “360 review” done

A 360 review is a survey of people you work with such as your manager, colleagues, business partners, clients and those you manage. You can ask people to tell you your strengths and weaknesses. The 360 review focuses more directly on the skills and contributions that an employee makes.

The goal of the feedback is to provide a balanced view to an employee of how others view his or her contribution and performance in areas such as leadership, teamwork, interpersonal communication, management, contribution, work habits, accountability, vision, and more, depending on the employee's job.

When you are looking at feedback for your personal brand, you could consider doing a 360 review with your family and friends as well. Set up the questions with the help of an expert and then ask for feedback.

Tell them you are doing it for personal development and encourage them to give you constructive feedback.

There will be some feedback you accept immediately and some which you do not. As discussed earlier in this chapter, it is also important to discuss your feedback to understand the reasons.

 *******************

The author is a CEO Coach, a Storyteller and an Angel Investor. He hosts the highly successful podcast titled The Brand Called You. A keen political observer and commentator, he is also the founder Chairman of Guardian Pharmacies. He is the author of 7 best-selling books and writes for several online newspapers.

Watch and listen to our podcasts at www.tbcy.in | www.equationcoaching.com

Twitter: @gargashutosh

Instagram: ashutoshgarg56

Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com

What is a Mistake? What is a Failure?

 

The dictionary defines a mistake and a failure in several ways.

• An act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful
•  Lack of success
• Non-performance of something due, required, or expected
• A subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency
• Deterioration or decay, especially of vigour, strength
• A condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.

 Everyone has made mistakes that may or may not have led to a failure.

A mistake, when interpreted as a noun can be understood to be an action or decision that is wrong or produces a result that is not correct or not intended. A mistake when interpreted as a verb can be an act of failing to recognise an action, something or someone.

A mistake is an incorrect, unwise, or unfortunate act or decision. A mistake can be caused by bad judgment, a lack of information, or a lack of attention to detail. While a mistake can lead to failure they do not always have to end in failure. We make numerous mistakes every day without serious consequence. We would prefer to avoid making mistakes but without perfect attention and perfect prediction they are inevitable. Conversely, a failure doesn’t always have to stem from a mistake. 

Failure is directly linked to success. We think we have failed because we have certain preconceived notions or understanding of not meeting our desired objective or goal.

We must remember the difference between mistakes and failure. When we focus on our mistakes as an opportunity to learn, we are much more likely to not experience failure over the longer term.

What could be a failure for some could be a success for others. Failure means different things to different people.

Failure and success are relative terms and their interpretation and understanding varies based on our own state of mind and our own expectation of what we have set out to achieve.

Most failures and successes are generally very transactional and momentary. We could fail and succeed every day, several times. Other failures have a significantly longer-term impact on us and possibly the people in our lives.

A highly successful person will see failures in their journey towards success as just another step, in life’s journey and learn from these. Such people generally see light at the end of the tunnel. A person who is faced with failure may see successes and learn so that they do not repeat the failure. They learn from the failure and re-dedicate themselves to learning from their failure to rebuild.

On the other hand, some people who fail throw their hands up in the air and walk away, looking at the failure as a bad dream, not to be revisited.

There is no real right or wrong answer to how we should handle failure. It is also true that there are some failures that affect us much more than others.

Failures occur in the corporate world or the world of business as well. Corporate failures can be on account of a flawed decision-making process of an individual or a group of individuals or it could on account of a poor implementation by a team of people. More often than not, corporate failures occur despite a substantial amount of research and after a significant amount of debate. This is required before the company decided to commit large sums of money.

Failures do not always stem from mistakes and sometimes they simply cannot be avoided.  We must get comfortable talking about them so we can move away from fearing them and hiding from them.  When we hide from our failures, we will never learn from them. That will be our real failure.

Albert Einstein, who was not able to speak fluently till the age of 9 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 famously said “Success is Failure in progress”.

Life is 90% of what happens to us and 10% how we react to it. When it comes to failing, our egos are our own worst enemies. As soon as things start to go wrong, our defence mechanisms kick in. We make every effort to save face followed by denial. It takes a while before we can see closure and hopefully this closure does not result in any lasting scars or memories.

If you really believe that you are capable, you can.

Why is it that only some people are famously known for their notable works or achievements? It is because no one else has tried and persisted. If you never try or fail, you will never learn. Keep failing. Failing is not wrong. It is repeating the same thing again and again.

Remember that every great sportsman, mountain climber, musician or artist was once an amateur who must have invested serious time and effort to hone their skills.

If you never fail, your courage does not increase. 

The sooner you get comfortable with practicing and making mistakes, the quicker you’ll learn the skills and knowledge necessary to master your art. You will never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. So get out there and try again. Either you succeed or you learn a vital lesson. Win – Win.

Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later this collection of mistakes, called experience, leads us to success. If it’s good, it’s going to be wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s going to be an experience.

Our mindset is at the heart of our success and failure.

We have to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you have and be thankful for what you had. Forgive ourselves and others, but never forget. Learn from our mistakes, but do not regret.

Life is constantly changing. Things will go wrong and life will go on.

No matter how chaotic the past has been, the future is always a clean, fresh, wide open slate.

What you do with your future is up to you. We cannot change the past or predict the future. But what we can do is stop clinging to the past or worrying about what might happen in the future.

*******************

The author is a CEO Coach, a Storyteller and an Angel Investor. He hosts the highly successful podcast titled The Brand Called You. A keen political observer and commentator, he is also the founder Chairman of Guardian Pharmacies. He is the author of 6 best-selling books and writes for several online newspapers.

Watch and listen to our podcasts at www.tbcy.in | www.equationcoaching.com

• Twitter: @gargashutosh
• Instagram: ashutoshgarg56
• Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com

 

Brand You – Building and Sustaining Your Brand

While you are building your brand presence outlined above, remember that building a brand and sustaining it for the longevity of the brand is very important.

Here are a few pointers that you need to keep in mind as you go about building, marketing and promoting yourself as a brand.

1.    Be sincere

The dictionary defines “sincere” as “free from pretense, hypocrisy, falseness or deceit.” Being a sincere person refers to how you interact with others.

Sincerity must begin within yourself.

Your sincerity comes through in all your communication be it spoken or written. People respect sincerity and they will be willing to listen to whatever you have to offer. Just like you are able to see through an insincere person, others would be able to see through you as well.

2.    Present yourself intelligently

So how should you introduce yourself? Should you give your name first, your designation or the name of your company?

How many times have you heard the old phrase “if you do not blow your own trumpet, no one else will blow it for you?” What this means is that you need to talk about and present your achievements.

A few years later, I learned the corollary to this wise advice. “You must blow your own trumpet but do not blow it so hard that it hurts people’s ears!” How many times have you felt that someone talks too much and keeps bragging about his achievements?

My learning was that my introduction must be well practiced and not excessive.

There is no doubt that your organisation gives you significant credibility but over a period of time, as you build your own brand, you need to create your own identity which is different from that of your organisation. Do you want to want to introduce yourself with your own name first followed by the name of your employer or vice versa? Do you want to talk about your skills, your interests and your hobbies in your introduction?

For a very long time, doctors have used the abbreviated letters “Dr” before their name to communicate the skill they had acquired. This is an accepted norm. Since every doctor used this abbreviation, it took very little time for doctors to start adding their degrees after their names to show how they were more qualified than other doctors.

Lawyers display all their degrees and certificates in their chambers. They possibly believe that larger the number of frames on their walls the higher their credibility will become. 

Officers in the armed forces have always added their rank as a prefix before their name to differentiate who they are, hierarchically. Officers who have been decorated with awards add the well understood abbreviated version of these awards after their name, as a suffix.

It took a while before engineers realise that they too like doctors, had worked equally hard to acquire their degree in engineering and so started to add the letters “Er” before their names. Very soon the Chartered Accountants, not wanting to be left behind started to affix “CA” before their names.

I wonder how many other professions will start to add a prefix or a suffix to their names to identify themselves.

Creating this unique identity will help you when you are looking for a new job or making a pitch for your young startup.

3.    Be original

Nat King Cole, in 1950, sang the well-loved and well recognised song

There will be many other nights like this

And I'll be standing here with someone new,

There will be other songs to sing, another fall, another spring,

But there will never be another you

There will be other lips that I may kiss,

But they won't thrill me like yours used to do,

Yes, I may dream a million dreams,

But how can they come true,

If there will never ever be another you.

           Pretenders are found out very quickly because they can never be consistent.

As the old saying goes, you can fool all the people for some time and some people for all time but you cannot fool all people all the time.

You can only make a lasting impact on people by being original, credible and transparent. If you are seen as a person who is untrustworthy or someone who cannot be relied upon, you can be certain that will not take your brand very far.

Your passion must be original and real.

That is what will define you as a brand.

4.    Create differentiation

You are not the product of an assembly line.

You are unique. Your parents have worked hard to educate you so that you can develop a unique identity.

What you started out with at the beginning of your career is not an end to your education but the start. Your initial inputs, provided through your parents and your elders, have helped you to launch your career. To stay ahead of the game, you need to constantly invest in your skill sets to keep creating differentiation and staying ahead of the rest of your colleagues.

Extra training for a new work related skill, learning a new language, playing a musical instrument, representing your organisation at a sports meet or learning public speaking skills are some ways of investing in yourself and differentiating from others.

Have confidence in the offering of Brand You.

You need to be very confident about your skills and have must have a very strong belief in your ability to deliver. This belief reinforces confidence in the mind of your audience about you. Have you ever heard of a good brand, which is not confident about its products? The same concept applies to Brand You as well.

It will take time and patience to build your brand.

Once established, nobody can take away this identity that you have built.

The wider the acceptability of your brand, the stronger your brand will become. This investment in yourself is what will make you stand out as powerful brand in your organisation and in your industry.

Therefore, building yourself as a brand is something that you should invest your time and focus into from today.

Become a powerful brand in your field and the world will want to reach out to you and embrace you for being the winner that you are!

*******************

The author is a Business and Executive Coach, a Storyteller and an Angel Investor. He hosts the highly successful podcast titled The Brand Called You. A keen political observer and commentator, he is also the founder Chairman of Guardian Pharmacies. He is the author of 6 best-selling books and writes for several online newspapers.

 

Watch our podcasts at www.tbcy.in | www.equationcoaching.com

 

Twitter: @gargashutosh

Instagram: ashutoshgarg56

Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com

China vs The World, the Flute and the Sudarshan Chakra

Deng Xiao Peng, the architect of modern China, speaking at the special session of the United Nations on 10^th April 1974, said:

“China is a socialist country, and a developing country as well. China belongs to the Third World. Consistently following Chairman Mao’s teachings, the Chinese Government and people firmly support all oppressed peoples and oppressed nations in their struggle to win or defend national independence, develop the national economy and oppose colonialism, imperialism and hegemonism. This is our bounden internationalist duty. China is not a superpower, nor will she ever seek to be one. What is a superpower? A superpower is an imperialist country which everywhere subjects other countries to its aggression, interference, control, subversion or plunder and strives for world hegemony. If capitalism is restored in a big socialist country, it will inevitably become a superpower. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which has been carried out in China in recent years, and the campaign of criticizing Lin Piao and Confucius now under way throughout China, are both aimed at preventing capitalist restoration and ensuring that socialist China will never change her colour and will always stand by the oppressed peoples and oppressed nations. If one day China should change her colour and turn into a superpower, if she too should play the tyrant in the world, and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people of the world should identify her as social-imperialism, expose it, oppose it and work together with the Chinese people to overthrow it”. (https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/deng-xiaoping/1974/04/10.htm)

Important words to think about given the positioning China in the World today.

President Xi Jin Ping, who has positioned himself in the same exalted status as Chairman Mao and Deng Xiao Peng, should be a worried leader and under serious pressure.

His traditional play book strategies are not working. The World leaders are not bowing down to his pressure tactics. The World citizens are willing to shun the Chinese products like never before. The carefully crafted image of the man and his machines is beginning to tarnish rapidly. China is left with their all-weather ally Pakistan and North Korea, both of whom will do as their master instructs.

Over the past year, there have been a series of challenges faced by the Chinese economy.

1.    Wuhan Virus (Kung Flu as per President Trump), that has created devastation in the World. No one knows how many people have died in China.

2.    The Chinese economy is in trouble partly because of the shut down and partly because of the anti-China sentiment among buyers around the World.

3.    Challenges within the CCP, specially after Xi’s “President for Life” amendment of their “constitution.”

The other significant piece of the equation is Xi’s dream project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is the cornerstone of his policy of economic colonisation using debt as a major tool. Almost every country that signed up with China for the BRI has now found out that there is nothing in it for them. China’s cheque book diplomacy is facing serious resistance.

One major section of the BRI goes through Baluchistan (China Pakistan Economic Corridor), which is in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Therefore, rebels in Baluchistan and India will do whatever it takes to ensure that this CPEC project will not be allowed to be completed. This will hurt both China and Pakistan.

The most well accepted form of diverting attention, from time immemorial, is to start a war / create trouble with neighbours to draw attention away from internal problems, in the hope the nationalistic feelings will divert the attention of the citizens. This is what we are seeing happening with all 14 countries that have borders with China or with those that share international waters with China. From Bhutan (for an animal reserve) to Russia (for the entire Vladivostok region), from Mongolia to Japan, from Australia to Myanmar. China has reopened old issues everywhere.

All countries, affected by China, are now speaking up. South East Asian countries too, who have traditionally kept quiet, have now spoken up against China for the South China Seas.

India has had a long-standing dispute with China on our 3488 kms long border. The British had defined a border between India and Tibet in 1914 called the “McMahon Line” which is called the Line of Actual Control (LAC). After annexing Tibet, China refused to recognise this agreement. Therefore, China keeps claiming various parts of India including the entire North East of India (7 states of India) as their own.

In the past, Indian politicians supported by their able bureaucrats, for various reasons, did not challenge China but preferred to “let things lie” in the hope that somehow, good sense would prevail. They knew that China was incorrigible, but it is always easier to sweep uncomfortable situations under the carpet. This led to large land areas of India being taken over by China and now claimed as their own. India has supported Hong Kong and Taiwan at the UN and is asking for an investigation into the cause of the virus. It should be a matter of time before India raises the matter of the autonomy of Tibet.

With the recent clash on 15^th June 2020 in the Galwan Valley, the Chinese had thought that they would keep “creeping” towards India like they had done in the past. Under Mr Modi, this was not only stopped but rebuffed as well. While 20 Indian soldiers were killed, I have heard senior officials that over 75 Chinese soldiers were killed by an enraged India Army who sought retribution after they saw their Commanding Officer killed. Stories of one Sikh soldier killing 12 people with his “kirpan” before being martyred are doing the rounds. This is how myths are born, and rightly so.

The Chinese are not used to being pushed back.

They have survived with their self-created myth of being the World’s largest and most powerful Army. Can an Army, which is probably being run by the power of the gun and Communist ideology battle against the World’s best trained Indian Army who treat their land as their mother and are willing to happily sacrifice their lives to defend it?

In the past, our politicians had tied the hands of the Indian Army behind their backs. Prime Minister Modi has given freedom to the Army to respond as they deem fit. Mr Modi’s comment in Ladakh, that India knows how to play Lord Krishna’s flute and knows how to use His Sudarshan Chakra clearly indicates the complete change in India’s foreign policy vis-à-vis China. Not only do we know how to make an aggressor dance to our tune, we also know how to use the deadliest weapons to protect ourselves.

It is interesting to see how most countries have come out in support of India. France has also offered to send their ground troops to support India! Russia is expediting the delivery of 21 MIG 29 and 12 Sukhoi aircraft as well as the World’s most advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. USA has positioned 3 aircraft carriers in the waters around India to Japan and is expediting the despatch of helicopters on priority.

Opening up so many flanks at the same time is either a well-crafted strategy of President Xi or this could be regional satraps within China starting to flex their muscles independently. If the latter, then the World needs to worry. Whether this lead to the balkanisation of China, similar to USSR is anybody’s guess?

Are the days of President Xi numbered? Will he be given a face saving exit? Is there another group of ambitious and aggressive young leaders within the party who are plotting to claim the “Dragon Throne”, to give a different direction to the country?

Is it time for the leadership of China to go back to the prophetic words of Deng Xiao Peng and learn to live with the World instead of trying to control it?

Only time will tell.

*******************

The author is a CEO Coach, a Storyteller and an Angel Investor. He hosts the highly successful podcast titled The Brand Called You. A keen political observer and commentator, he is also the founder Chairman of Guardian Pharmacies. He is the author of 6 best-selling books and writes for several online newspapers.

Watch and listen to our podcasts at www.tbcy.in | www.equationcoaching.com

Twitter: @gargashutosh

Instagram: ashutoshgarg56

Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com

The “Paper” Dragon Dance

An old Chinese story titled “The Wolf of Zhongshan,” talks about a wolf which had been shot by a hunter. As it was running away injured, it met a kind-hearted person who saved the wolf from the hunter. After the hunter left, the wolf said to the kind-hearted person, "You have saved me. Now I am hungry. Since you have come this far helping me, let me eat you."

Why has China, the second largest economy of the World, suddenly starting flex its muscles? Why are they opening so many flanks with so many countries simultaneously? There is an economic, political or territorial issue that has been raised with several countries, almost simultaneously. What does China hope to accomplish when its own economy has been ravaged by the Wuhan Virus?

From time immemorial, world leaders, under pressure because of a weak economy or a weak political position, have waved the flag of National Security and done sabre rattling to divert attention from their internal challenges. Are we seeing the same in China today?

Let us look at the challenges China is facing:

1.    Credibility Challenge: China has a serious credibility issue with the rest of the World, reeling with the impact of the Corona pandemic. Political leaders around the World have started blaming China for not being transparent about the origin of this virus. What should worry China is that the average individual in each country is angry with China and the first reaction will come against “Made in China” goods. This is an emotional and a sentimental reaction and once deep-rooted, will be difficult to change in a short time. Calls to stop buying Chinese products and even to uninstall Chinese apps should be a cause for serious concern in China.

2.    Diplomatic Challenge: When there is when there is pressure diplomacy normally comes to the rescue.

a.    Chinese officials have been reacting with threats as can be seen in their stopping imports from Australia.

b.    They have been threatening Taiwan and there is cause for worry in Taiwan in case China decides to unilaterally take military action.

c.     The recent amendment of the National Security law to govern Hong Kong is another case in point.

d.    Racist comments against African people in parts of China has resulted in a reaction from Africa.

e.    Finally, the Chinese government officials are aware that US elections are round the corner and therefore understandably rhetoric will be high and loud. This is the time when they need to keep quiet and wait for the elections to be over. Instead Chinese officials are you issuing threats of retaliation to America when they comment or support Hong Kong or Taiwan.

3.    Geographical and Territorial Challenge: China has always wanted to expand its boundaries by attempting to take over lands of other countries that it claims.

a.    Gathering a number of military personnel on the border of India and raising territorial and boundary issues at this point of time is one more flank that China could have avoided opening. After encroaching into Indian territory, the Chinese found that unlike in the past, Indian political resolve was strong, and the Indian army pushed back. This resulted in some fisticuffs though no damage was done other than to the Chinese ego. Soon thereafter, the Chinese leadership started to wave the peace flag.

b.    The Spratly Islands is a contentious issue in the South China Sea.

c.     The China Pakistan Economic Corridor that goes through Indian territory will be the first casualty.

d.    The One Band One Road (OBOR) project has also become a question mark in most countries. Citizens of these countries were expecting large investments into their country, but they can see they will get nothing. China is sending its own equipment, its own people and its own material for these roads. Even the food their workers eat comes from China!

4.    Economic Challenge: China has powered its way into every nation given its financial might and during this pandemic its companies, supported by State Institutions, are looking for cheap acquisition of lucrative companies around the World. This has been picked up my most countries and restrictions are being imposed to ensure that good companies are not sold because of the pandemic.

a.    The financial cost of the virus to the World economy varies between US$ 5 trillion to US$ 9 trillion. Some countries are threatening to recover this from China. While it is unlikely that any compensation will ever be paid, the sentiment behind these claims is more important.

b.    Most international companies in China are starting to evaluate how they will re-engineer their supply chains so that they are less dependent on manufacture of their products In China. This will have serious impact on China which relies on mass production.

c.     China has launched a trial of digital yuan in Shenzhen, Suzhou and Chengdu, and the Xiong’an New Area. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the US Government as it will see this move as a threat to the US Dollar, the only global currency. The only other person who had challenged the US Dollar when he started trading oil in Euros was Saddam Hussain.

No one likes a bully, and no one likes to be threatened. Trade and commerce are always a two-way street. There could be trade imbalances between countries and these can be corrected. No country can stop buying from another and assume that there will not be a reaction from the other country.

China is powerful because the World started to buy its products putting money in the hands of the Chinese citizens thus powering their own economy. If the factory of the World stops selling its goods, the impact on the country is clear and obvious.

President Xi Jinping has asked his country “to make mental and material preparations for changes in the external environment that will last a relatively long period of time.” This could mean that China will be more aggressive and confront their challenges with retaliation rather than conciliation and cooperation.

Has China got caught up with its own hype of having a large economy (which is slowing down), of having a large well-fed and satisfied army (which could be reluctant to get into a fight) and an invincible leader (who could be facing serious challenges from within)?

Only time will tell.

*******************

The author is a CEO Coach, a Storyteller and an Angel Investor. He hosts the highly successful podcast titled The Brand Called You. A keen political observer and commentator, he is also the founder Chairman of Guardian Pharmacies. He is the author of 6 best-selling books and writes for several online newspapers.

Watch and listen to our podcasts at www.tbcy.in | www.equationcoaching.com

Twitter: @gargashutosh

Instagram: ashutoshgarg56

Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com