There must be a number of reasons why Kejriwal’s party did so well in recent elections. From being an underdogs they went on to win with historic margin. A cricketing equivalent would be UAE cricket team beating India by the largest ever runs margin.
I have identified two key lessons that entrepreneur’s can learn from Kejriwal. One lesson he gave before the elections and the other was after the elections.
Pre-election Lesson: In case your customers feel you messed up, apologize unconditionally and reassure them that the mistake will not happen again. Give them a freebie. In management terms, this is known as the Service Recovery Paradox and defined as ‘… a situation in which a consumer has experienced a problem which has been satisfactory resolved, and where the consumer subsequently rates their satisfaction to be equal to or greater than that in which no problem had occurred’. All great American companies have been doing this for years. Kejriwal did this brilliantly and the results are for everyone to see.
Post-election Lesson: The boss should not head any department. Having won the elections, Kejriwal does not own any portfolio. You may have noticed from his speeches and interviews how he has been the best spokesman for his party. The key message in his first speech as CM was to his team members not to have Ahankaar (eng. Arrogance). He also reiterated his apology to his customers.
The key role of an entrepreneur should be that of a spokesman outside and a coach inside the organization.
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