Mr. Goenka, Ready to Play Ball!

It was a cricket match. Spectators on the ground and sports lovers in front of their television sets had gathered to watch the #IPL match being played at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. By the time the match was finished, it was no longer a cricket match, but turned out to be a #leadership, #image, and #PublicRelations nightmare for Sanjiv Goenka – Chairman, RPSG ( RP-Sanjiv Goenka ) Group (USD 7 billion asset base and USD 4.3 billion revenue, source Company website), owner of Mohun Bagan Super Giants ( Football team), and Lucknow Super Giants ( Cricket team) ( source Wikipedia).

After the match, everyone forgot about Lucknow Super Giants losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Sun Group. All they remembered was that Mr. Goenka was embroiled in a #controversy in the aftermath of his team Lucknow Super Giants’ heavy defeat in that cricket match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Post the match, he was filmed having an animated conversation with captain KL Rahul following which many fans and commentators objected to his behaviour. What exactly was discussed between Sanjiv Goenka and KL Rahul or rather uttered by Sanjiv Goenka was not known. But the general impression that followed the incident was that Sanjiv Goenka #misbehaved in public with KL Rahul. And his unacceptable public behaviour is being criticized publicly.

KL Rahul (Kannur Lokesh Rahul) is a well-liked #Indian #cricketer. A right-handed wicket-keeping batsman. He is the captain ( till now, when I am writing this post) of the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. He is an occasional captain of the Indian national cricket team, as well. He is young, soft-spoken, and a very fine cricketer. Rahul is the first and only Indian cricketer to score an #ODI #century on his debut. He is the fastest batsman in the world to score an international century across all three formats, taking only 20 innings to achieve this feat ( Wikipedia). I will not get into his detailed cricketing career, but it is safe to say that he is a good cricketer and a fine human being. And a lot many cricket fans identify themselves with him. Moreover, his parents are well respected in their neighbourhood, and he is the movie star and restaurateur Suniel Shetty’s son-in-law.

#RPSGGroup is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata. The founding of this business group was the result of a divesture by the parent RPG Enterprises in 2011 founded by Harsh and Sanjiv Goenka’s father Rama Prasad (RP) Goenka. RPSG’s businesses include power and energy, carbon black manufacturing, retail, IT-enabled services, FMCG, media and entertainment, infrastructure, and education ( source The Economic Times / Suman Layak / 21 April 2019).

Now comes what I call the teaching moment - the way I look at the event and its fallout.

As the netizens started criticizing Mr. Goenka’s behaviour, Neetu Khandelwal (@T_Investor_) posted in X ( formerly Twitter) (8:32 AM. May 9, 2024): “Money can’t teach you manners. Leaders compliment in public and criticize in private. Unprofessional and unacceptable behaviour of #Goenka with #KLRahul. Just imagine the level of humiliation and embarrassment his employees must be facing #SRHvLSG.”

The subsequent reply threads are savage. The discussions spilled over to his companies like #CESCLtd., his behaviour toward a South Cricket star thereby a ‘Northies’ prejudice to a Southern Indian, his style of man-management and what-not, with a few feeble attempts to portray that generally he is a nice guy. The ultimate was a few persons calling for to #boycott his companies and a few wanted to short the shares of #CESC and #RPGLife ( his companies).

Thereafter, Mr. Goenka, I believe, disabled commenting on his Instagram account, and media all over India ( despite the Loksabha elections 2024) are having a field day at his expense.

I can guess what Sanjiv Goenka must be feeling. He is playing that evening’s event repeatedly in his mind to understand what he could have done differently.

But the question is, what he should do now to stop the haemorrhage to his personal and corporate #reputation? I know, his advisers and consultants might be saying this too shall pass. But it won’t. It will haunt him for some time. Blocking the comments on Insta or in other forums of social media will not help. Not appearing in public, staying within the protected environment, and allowing further build-up of public opinion can not be the solution. How long will you hide?

If I were him, and if I had misbehaved with the captain of the team, I would have first said sorry (genuinely) to the captain in private ( maybe he is contemplating). It will not diminish the stature, rather enhance it.

I would have then issued a short press release signed jointly by the captain and me to put the incident in perspective and express regret, immediately.

I would thereafter give a 1-to-1 exclusive interview with a respected economic journalist clearing up the situation. There is a reason why it has to be exclusive, 1-to-1, and a media person from the economy and business section.

However, one thing is for sure, Sanjiv Goenka's office does not have a full #crisis-preparedness. In the business continuity process (#BCP) they forgot to insert this scenario. Sports is a big business, gentlemen. Don’t forget.

By the way, I have deliberately not gone into the ideal behaviour of a sports franchise owner, the characteristics and temperament of a certain section of Indian business magnets, a section of Indian business tycoons behaving like Demi-gods, and many other aspects of doing business in India. Maybe some other time.

Any thoughts? Anyone?