Will we lose our dream of $ 5 Trillion economy? My take on solutions
India is all set to become one of the biggest economies in the world, we have recently emerged as the world’s 5th largest economy. We now aim to reach the milestone of a $ 5 Trillion economy by 2027, for this we require growth of about 9% but as of...
What To Do When Customers Say Nothing
You can also listen to this blog belowNew A couple of weeks back, I was having dinner with some of my oldest partners and colleagues from the Indian Insurance industry. Usually, during such social gatherings, we rarely talk about business; it's always about sharing our day-to-day life experiences with...
Living a life of Minimalism
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Growing up I remember we only got what we needed which was more towards our everyday organic functioning and learning and developing needs. Even products available in the market were simple and utility-based, where customer buying behavior was more logical. Now...
Becoming a ‘No Word’ Brand
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Throughout my career in the insurance industry, a recurring question which has puzzled me constantly is that how to become a ‘No Word’ Brand. We all run businesses to make the lives of our customers better, comfortable and secured. Yet, some...
Re-wiring your subconscious mind for a happier life
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I often go for long walks; it allows me to spend some time with myself, practice mindfulness and introspect. During one such recent stroll, while I was passing through a lane, I saw a few children playing cricket on a make-shift...
Handling Decision Fatigue
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I often hold brief, informal conversations with my younger colleagues; it allows me to share my learnings drawn from my life with them, and also gain insights based on their experiences. In one such recent discussion, someone asked me what has...
Learnings and Lessons from the Olympics
You can also listen to this blog belowNew When I reminisce about my academic life, the days I looked forward to the most were the sporting tournaments. As a young boy, I enrolled in various matches held in my school, albeit at times it was to surreptitiously escape from...
The Art of Letting Go
You can also listen to this blog belowNew ‘You can only lose what you cling to’ – Gautam Buddha. Some of my favorite memories of childhood are of making paper boats. I remember spending hours to figure out how to make it perfectly fine so that it can float...
Reinvent, redesign and relearn to stay relevant
Terms like 'overnight success'or 'instantly achieving your goals' are simply balderdash. I say this with my experience of 30 years working in insurance industry. No one really wakes up to buy insurance, even when I spoke to my psychologist friend about this phenomenon, he said that our brains are not...
Aligning Yourself with Universal Consciousness
As a kid I would visit my relatives in the village for my summer vacations. It was a very pleasant and laid-back experience. My two-month vacation from school exposed me to a routine which was in stark contrast to the life I otherwise led. I still remember following my grandfather...
Why You Need to Embrace Cross Generational Mentorship
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I was contemplating on switching to a non-vegetarian diet since a lot of health articles advocate it to be a better diet to combat Covid, given that it is rich in protein. That evening I discussed my new plan with my...
To Evolve – Master the Art of Surrender
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Recently one of my colleagues asked me the secret of staying calm in the event of a crisis. He holds my admiration as a young and able leader, so I told him about a conversation that is very close to my...
Are We Moving Towards an Anxiety Driven State Of Mind?
The pandemic began as a 14 days initial lockdown. Everyone embraced the social changes believing it would be contained in a month or two and that triumph will be near, that the execution will be seamless, and that we would emerge unscathed out of it. Through the past couple of...
The Culture of Busyness
Busyness seems to have become the new cool, a positioning statement for individuals. How busy you are or rather are perceived to be determines how hard you seem to work or how dedicated you are. This is even more evident in our Country with a high-power distance index. For me...
Power of Culture
As I began my now normal routine of work from home, I happen to glance at my calendar which I do every day as a matter of habit to check my routine, and realized it’s the 2nd of May 2020. As the moment sank in, I was instantaneously smiling and was...
Embracing the Lockdown – Every dark cloud has a silver lining!
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I remember my grandfather narrating the times of India’s pre independence struggle and my father narrating the early struggles of the young independent country. They talked about oppression, wars, famines and cholera like epidemics. I was very young when I experienced...
Let’s talk Spirituality
One of my school friends called me the other day, and in-between conversations told me that he had seen one of my videos where I am responding to questions on spirituality. As is with school friends who can call our bluff since they know us before we were anything boast-worthy,...
Why you should embrace your vulnerability
You can also listen to this blog belowNew In life, I have always set high standards for myself. During school, I worked hard to be the best performing student in academics as well as in sports. During college, I strived to be an all-round athlete and a macho male. In...
The Myth About Short Attention Span
In a recent discussion of which I was a part of, I was made privy to the notion that people’s attention span has reduced exponentially. A much debated and refuted study was quoted according to which on an average, it is now as low as 8 seconds. Apparently, it has...
My Journey Towards Happiness and Truth
One day I was sitting and reflecting on my journey so far, and I must say the hindsight is a wonderful thing. It’s like an epiphany where you can retrospect on all the things you could have done differently and this happened to me when it came to certain habits...
Being Mentally Healthy
You can also listen to this blog belowNew One of my colleagues was discussing with me about how difficult it is these days to manage everything, since everything has to be managed on the go! He was leaving for the day, and said he hoped to catch up enough...
Towards A Spiritual Economy
India is considered as one of the fastest growing and seventh-largest economy in the world with a GDP of $2.72 trillion. Our economy has evolved over the years considering the progressive increase in domestic consumption along with being the sixth largest consumer market in the world. These statistics gives us...
Gigging – The Workforce of Future
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I ask a lot of youngsters what kind of jobs would they want. Would they want a 9 to 5 job that offers once in a year vacations and is repetitive; or, would they want a work where they can work...
Branding Insurance as an Attractive Career Choice
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I recently went to a college for an interaction with the students there. During the course of which I asked them if they would want to join the insurance industry. Not many were inclined, and upon asking them the reason, they...
Relevance of Life
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Being a CEO often includes a lot of mentoring. People don’t look up to you merely for business solutions, they look up to you to guide and lead them, sometimes even on struggles on the personal front. They struggle to keep...
The “Luck” Factor
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Lot of times I hear people around me talk about the luck factor. Things like somebody is lucky, I am unlucky. Somebody gets all the best things in life, I don’t get things easily. As I interact with people closely I...
Questioning Our Biases
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Oftentimes, across platforms, the most common apprehension that I receive from people, customers and new recruits alike is on insurers being reluctant on settling claims. Despite being there for people in their direst hours, despite being a bleeding industry in terms...
The Future of Insurance
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Globalization 4.0 is the buzz word today. Unlike the preceding phases of globalization - pre and post the world wars and the ongoing one, which were all about factories crossing borders, the 4.0 revolution is said to disrupt both the manufacturing...
Building a Culture of Wellness
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I have been an insurer throughout my career, and firmly believe that it’s one of the most efficient tools to safeguard yourself and your loved ones against unforeseen eventualities. Prevention however is always better than cure. Soldiers have their bullet-proof vests,...
My Learnings as an MD & CEO
You can also listen to this blog belowNew After reading my last blog on my recent interaction with our new recruits, one of the youngsters at my company wrote back to me. She said she was from a small town, and despite being at a middle management level, she...
Unplug – Let Go of the Encrypted Lifestyle & Rekindle the Human Touch!
Last Diwali as we were cleaning up our attic, I happened to see my old collection of scrapbooks and albums from my younger days. The collection drew my attention towards the unnoticed transformation from a raw world of physical meet-ups and real-time laughter, cheer and pleasantry exchanges to a digital...
Street MBA lessons from the Youngest @ BAGIC
I have always felt that the path to success doesn’t necessarily pass through fancy classroom doors. That the people who build successful empires have much more insights and instincts than what a classroom would offer. I believe that the streets teach you much relevant business skills, than professional business management...
The perfect Present for a secured Future
You can also listen to this blog belowNew The best gifts are usually the simplest ones. A hug of appreciation, a nod of empathy, a heartfelt compliment – all etch an everlasting impression on our minds. The second-best gifts are the ones that group all these feelings in one...
You Have Been Conditioned To Be Unhappy – Break Free!
Have you ever been in a shopping mall or an airport or at a party and happened to have observed the way people treat their kids at such social gatherings? While there would be a kid who would have accidently dropped food from his plate, getting fiercely reprimanded by his...
My take – On being happier and more successful
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Just the other day I was talking about of the relief efforts which were going on towards a national disaster and how important it is as a nation for us to contribute through this relief effort in some way or the...
The Secret To Being Genuinely Happy
You can also listen to this blog belowNew When was the last time you laughed? Like genuinely laughed? Laughed so much that you had tears of joy in your eyes? A few days back, I happened to pass by a small town, en route to one of our business locations....
Reminiscing Childhood Street Sports & the Lessons It Taught
You can also listen to this blog belowNew One day while out on a walk in my society’s park I was reminded of the times when as kids I and my friends used to play various sports all day long, even in the absence of proper playgrounds. I remember...
If you’ve missed being revolutionary, be evolutionary
You can also listen to this blog belowNew It’s no secret that the world has been changing at an unprecedented pace. In the last decade, virtually every industry has experienced rapid changes thanks to globalization, the advent of new technologies and digital disruption. Take the example of the 1000-year-old...
Be loved, or feared. But never ignored.
You can also listen to this blog belowNew The other day one of my leaders came to me to have a discussion on his career which according to him was stalling. He seemed rather low-spirited and I sat him down to understand where and how was he positioned currently...
How to deal with Loneliness
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I rarely get any idle time, given my schedule. On one such day when I was looking at trees outside the window, I thought that this is a good time to call up someone. I suddenly drew a blank and realized...
Stress to the Point of Collapse
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Given my tight schedule, bookstores at the airport are my only source of getting a sneak peek into the hardbound world of books. Recently, wandering down the aisles of one such store, the sheer expanse of the self-help section caught my...
The Street MBA
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Education is considered to be an important tool to build a good career and make your mark in the society. You are told from your childhood itself that your grades not only determine your chances of getting into a good college,...
My Take on Increasing Life Expectancy and Happiness
During a recent leadership workshop, ideas and conversations somehow diverted to discussions on happiness at work and on quality of life and their determinants. While a lot of factors influence one’s take on these topics, I feel elements like cultural aspects, mindsets, conscience and expectations play a crucial role in...
Getting More Out of Your Day
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Recently while going through an old album, I stumbled upon a timeworn group photograph from my school days, the kind where the class teacher and the school principal are seated in the middle, and the kids are stacked neatly around them....
What will stay with you, when you die?
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Our conversations with friends, colleagues and family members mostly revolve around work and life hassles. Typically, the thrust is on goals such as asset and wealth collection. Everyone wants to accumulate either wealth, popularity or fame. Somewhere along the way I...
Insurance – An Investment to a Social Cause
You can also listen to this blog belowNew The last case of Polio in India was reported in 2011. With no more cases being reported, three years later in 2014, WHO declared India as Polio free. For a country diverse in all possible means – geographically, culturally, socially, economically,...
Performance and Perception of Job Security
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I keep on interacting with a lot of youngsters as I believe in the concept of surrounding one-self with age-defying company. Not only does this benefit in keeping me updated with the subjects that concern the youth, but also helps me...
Luxuries may have gone up but so has sadness – New World, Old Rules
Image Credit: goo.gl/DX36Qv One lazy Sunday afternoon, my father and I were sitting over tea in the balcony and we were discussing about general things. In the discussions, he mentioned that change is altering our world faster than our expectations. To which my reaction was, isn’t that exciting, why should...
Intimidating Leaders – a Boon or a Bane
You can also listen to this blog belowNew My daughter who usually regales the family at the dinner table with her stories about the day was rather quiet for the last few days. Upon enquiring she mentioned that she was not having a good time at college. She was...
Towards a New Age Economy
The Union Budget is high on purpose on transforming India to a truly digital and cashless economy with the government clearly outlining its agenda to Transform, Energize and Clean India. The Finance Minister in his budget speech made several announcements and introduced incentives to facilitate digital payments with restrictions on...
Budget – An Insurer’s Expectations
There are many expectations and speculations around the Budget of 2017 as the country is still reeling under the after effects of demonetization. It is expecting some populist schemes by the centre to raise the overall consumer and investor sentiments. What adds to these speculation are the impending state elections...
Industry’s Growing Obsession towards Transformation
You can also listen to this blog belowNew The insurance industry today is witnessing a paradigm shift from the regular product based approach to a more dynamic customer centric approach. This shift can be attributed to changes in the technological, regulatory and socio-economic-political scenarios, which have let insurers to...
Are you real or a figment of someone’s imagination?
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Recently, an interesting conversation stirred by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and other cutting-edge companies caught my attention. In a recent technology event, in an answer to a question posed by the audience he mentioned that “There may...
Why look for inspiration elsewhere when it is around us all the time
You can also listen to this blog belowNew We all love to read about successful people in this world, people who have been able to achieve their goals, transform their businesses and many a times bring in disruption in industries. We want to know the challenges they overcame, what...
Future of General Insurance Industry
The need to be protected can be traced back to being as old as the history of human existence. It started with the discovery of fire, finding shelter for ourselves then further graduated towards setting up communities, villages and civilizations. The fundamental thought behind these was to stay together and...
Vauban in Freiburg, Germany sustainable living
Image Credit: vauban.de Every year as a member of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce we go to Germany for our annual delegation trip. It’s a trade delegation so we meet a lot of industrialists, bureaucrats and decision makers to discuss about the Indo-German trade and relations. This year as a...
We Invite Sadness
The world is a very strange place to be in. As a kid I thought that when I get into high school I’ll be happier because the number of subjects taught would be lesser. In high school, the number of subjects reduced but they were more difficult. Then I thought...
Fostering a Culture of Compassion at Workplace
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I was quite frankly, surprised to hear their replies. I started wondering if somebody had such a conversation with me when I was younger, I would have probably looked at opportunities where I could make more money and rise in my...
Union Budget 2016: Emphasis on Fiscal Prudence and Economic Growth
The Union budget presented by the finance minister addresses the important issue of financial inclusion. Not only is it a pro-rural and pro-farmer budget with announcement of rural aid schemes as well as plans for digital literacy in rural areas, but is also concurrent with the growth and development aspirations...
The Beauty of Ageing
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Image Credit: http://bit.ly/1Q4Mp7w I remember an interesting incident from a trip to a jungle with my team for an outbound activity. We had to leave early in the morning for a safari. The highlight of the trip was spotting the tiger. We...
My Two Cents for Millennials
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I’m obsessed about the happiness of my employees. I want to provide them an enabling environment so they can succeed, be happy and prosperous. Sometimes I feel like an over-zealous parent who wants to do good for his children and strives...
How We Are Working Hard Towards Losing Happiness
You can also listen to this blog belowNew In today’s digital era we click and store 1000s of photographs but hardly revisit them unlike the past when we had albums for every occasion and holiday. One Sunday afternoon at home, I came across one such album while cleaning my study. It...
Pride in Being an Insurer
Image Credit: David Hilowitz via Flickr Would you agree with me if I said that a world without insurance would be much less developed and unstable? You would have probably chuckled at the above statement. Hopefully by the end of this post I will be able to change your perception....
Money Kills
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Recently I was invited by a University to deliver a speech at their induction ceremony. Two bright youngsters from the University were accompanying me to the venue. In the course of our discussion, I happened to casually quiz them about how...
Is ‘India Shining’ with ‘Make in India’?
Image courtesy: Deutsche Messe This time I would like to share my experience of being part of a trade delegation to Germany for the largest industrial fair in the world, Hannover Messe. As the President of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, I had the honor and privilege to witness the fair...
The Roller Coaster of Winning and Losing
In one of my previous blogs I had spoken about ‘Celebrating Failures’ because in my life I have failed many times and wanted to share my experiences and learning with you. Once you accept failure in the right spirit and bounce back with a new approach winning becomes easy. The...
What is Killing Productivity at Work? Meetings.
You can also listen to this blog belowNew “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings’.”- Dave Barry I read this quote on Twitter and found it interesting...
Life Lessons from My Greatest Teachers: My Parents
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Like every other person, my life too had a series of ups and downs, good times and bad times. Quite often I was able to overcome them and would bounce back despite adversities. Now when I look back, I try to...
Do we really know what customers want?
You can also listen to this blog belowNew As the MD & CEO of a very customer focused company, one of my obsessions is to keep a tab of what the customer wants and how do we deliver the best results to them. Initially our focus was to be...
Happiness and Sadness in Pursuit of Promotion
The word ‘promotion’ was made significant to us right from the early days of our childhood. Back in school, every year we had to clear examinations and the results would say ‘Promoted to the Next Class’. If somebody was not promoted he/she would be seen as a big failure and...
5 Ways to Get a Good Appraisal
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Right from my childhood the period from March-April would build anxiousness in me. March would mark the beginning of annual exams and the pressure of performing well and scoring good grades would cloud my mind. This would invariably get me nervous...
General Insurance Industry in India: A Bright Future Ahead
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I sell insurance, general insurance to be more specific and I am proud about it. I actually wanted to be a scientist and was trained to be one but my mother wanted me to be a bureaucrat. In between this career...
Who can be a Brand Ambassador?
As a child I remember seeing a poster somewhere which said ‘Iss Hotel ka malik dusre hotel mein khana khata hai’ which roughly translates to ‘The owner of this restaurant eats his meals in a different restaurant’. I found it hilarious and had a good laugh looking at it. But...
Going Social: Google+ Hangout with Customers
It is my strong belief that digital channels are the future of communication and an emerging feedback channel for brands. In the years to come, all communication will become interactive. Brands will fight it out with each other to get the customer’s attention and feedback channels will be as transparent...
2013 – The Year in Review
The year 2013 was very interesting for the General Insurance Industry. It was straight up amazing in certain aspects and a little testing at other times. Last year, the industry growth rate was around 18% and this year the industry experienced a sharp downfall and the growth for the last...
Managing Personality Differences at Work
I have a very bright youngster in my team who believes in getting every task done as fast as possible. He is very passionate about his work and I admire this quality in him. One day he looked very upset and frustrated. He told me that he had a difficult...
Celebrating Failures
I had a very interesting experience some days back. My younger daughter believing that she had not done well in her exams became depressed and started crying. I laughed at her innocent reason to cry and she complained that I was being mean to her. Then I explained that I...
Fitness Needs to Come First
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I always used to think that health and fitness are concerns of the elderly. It’s something people should start worrying about when they cross the age of 50 because till then the body will take care of itself no matter what...
Handling Office Politics
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I wanted to understand from different professionals as to what is it that bothers them the most at the workplace. One thing which came out strongly was that they wanted to know how to handle office politics. It made me think...
The Dynamics of Feedback
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I have been reminiscing about the early days of my career. During that time, I was quite averse to negative feedback. If someone told me that I wasn’t doing something well, or I could do better, I would get irritated and...
The Right Person for the Right Job
You can also listen to this blog belowNew During the early years of my career, I often wondered why two people could not think alike on the same matter. This simple mismatch of communication – a concept that was clear to me, not being easily understood by the other...
A Note to Our Customers
Dear customers, As an insurer, we consider it our first priority to provide assistance to our customers whenever they need it. The recent floods and the resulting destruction and hardship have shaken me up completely. I would like you to know that we are there for you, by your side,...
Thank You for Attending the Live Chat Session
Thank you all for participating in the live chat with me today. This has been a very insightful session which has helped us to understand you better, and we shall work on improving our services. If you have further queries or feedback, you can always reach me at Feedback_to_Tapan@bajajallianz.co.in or...
Share Your Thoughts With Me in a Live Chat Session
It has been our endeavour to be a sustainable company that delivers value to customers. When it comes to where we want to be, we can still do better. We cannot achieve this without your feedback, which is why I would like to invite you to a live chat with...
The Dynamics between Boss and Employee
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Is it possible to find any one person who is either loved by everyone in the world, or hated by everyone in the world? It is not. It is only natural that some people whom we like will be disliked by...
Sales – My Take
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Think about this – you are at a party or with a group of friends. Someone asks what you do for a living. The moment you mention that you are a salesperson, do they all smile at you and immediately start...
Balancing the Work-Life Equation
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Work-life balance seems to be one of the most pressing lifestyle conflicts faced by people these days. I’ve been thinking about it myself, trying to trace the issue to its roots. It’s no secret that work has always come first on...
Complacency is No Excuse for Not Taking a Cover
Today I want to talk to you about something that is very personal to me. When I joined the insurance industry about 21 years ago, like every new joinee, I was going through the products and learning about them. After scrutinising all, I found three which I felt were very...
The Moving Target of Success
You can also listen to this blog belowNew One of the regular questions which I face in open houses is – “How to be successful/What is success?” It got me thinking, because I have never introspected on the matter of success or happiness before. What does success mean, I...
The Women in My Life – and What I Can Give Back
You can also listen to this blog belowNew I consider myself a lucky man, who’s lived an exceptionally fortunate life. I say this because my life has been filled with many women in different roles who have contributed towards making me the person I am today. In fact, women...
Designing Your Health Insurance Cover
You can also listen to this blog belowNew Last time I spoke to you about the adequacy of sum insured – why you should look at an increased sum insured compared to what you took at the inception of the policy. I’ve talked to a lot of customers and...
Why Health Insurance Should Be Your Priority
You can also listen to this blog belowNew One good thing that I’ve noticed over a period of time is that health awareness has become high. People understand the need for protection against ill health now. Personally, I see it as a good sign from the perspective of the...