STFU #48 - Why are Voldemort and Amrish Puri needed for every team? Coach Kabir has some advice

What is common between Voldemort and Amrish Puri? Yes, both were Bald, but apart from that, the most important bit is that we know both of them as the ‘bad guys’.

Interestingly, if you noticed, it is how much you hated the villains is how much you liked the main Heroes in the stories!

So Harry Potter became more heroic every time he fought and won over Voldemort. But it was Voldemort’s strength that kept us engaged in the movie. “He-who-cannot-be-named” is what made Harry a Harry Potter.

It was the gruesomeness and the evil laughter of Amrish Puri that made us despise him, and like the Heroes when they killed him. And every time Amrish Puri or Voldemort won something, we felt bad as their one step forward was one step backward for the Heroes.?

Even in minor roles, the versatile star Amrish Puri cast an everlasting impression, at times overwhelmingly outdoing the leading man. Steven Spielberg, who took Amrish Puri for an Indiana Jones movie in 1984, often told him, “You are the real devil!” He said,?“Amrish is my favorite villain. The best the world has ever produced and ever will”.

Some even say that had Harry Potter been made in India, the ideal choice for Voldemort would have been Amrish Puri!

For every hero, you need a villain to make the hero God-like. Your liking for the hero increases as the villain becomes more ‘villainy’!!

A challenge is enjoyed when it is tougher, not one-sided.?We celebrate when the enemy is actually strong!?(Think about which matches you have enjoyed the most in sports - Cricket or Tennis!)

Coach vs team (Chak De India)

Coach Kabir is a tough man. As he picks up his role as the Coach of the Indian Women’s Hockey team, he is tough right from the start. He makes the team tire it out, makes them stay on the field for full days, and even taunts them about their weaknesses. These include personal remarks as well.?

When he is recommended to go slow on the girls by Krishna ji, Kabir remarks, “The team does not need strength, they need ‘neeyat’ or Intent to play together.”

But then the team gives up, blaming him for their miseries, and comes together, to demand a change in the coach.?

As Coach Kabir resigns, he takes out the team for one final farewell ‘lunch’.?

While all are quietly grabbing their burgers, some men trouble a few girls. As the fight intensifies on both sides, all the girls come together and stand up for each other.?

Eventually, when they notice the mess they have made and how they showed a solid team spirit, Kabir confidently asserts,?“I told you Krishna ji. Team ko taakat nahi Neeyat chaahiye”?

A common enemy in Coach Kabir brought the team together. By challenging everyone, what SRK did was to make them unlearn their individual skills, park their past glories and humbly play with each other, not for their individual states but for the country! A common enemy ‘Tuglaq’ got them to fight together, as the famous?“Rakshason ki Sena”!

[If you want to recall the scene, which was practically the turnaround moment of the movie, here is a 3-minute clip of it.?Am sure part of you would have wanted to be there hitting out together!]

Harry or Voldemort in your team?

To find out the Harry Potters in your team, you have to find the Voldemorts out there. To find a hero in your team, see which Amrish Puris are they chasing.??

For any Challenger brand, the competition is the common enemy. The stronger they are, the more challenging the fight. Also, sometimes, we?all have to exaggerate the antagonist to glorify the protagonist!

However, a team full of individual heroes cannot win the match for you, as Coach SRK highlighted above. You need?a ‘Rakshason ki sena’!

Your team might come from different backgrounds and have individual strengths and competencies. But to fight strong competition is not easy - you have to fight out as a single unit. For that, most of them would have to not only unlearn a lot more as they learn but also have a strong intent to work with everyone else. Their individual credibility got them in your team - now it is the combined team energy that will take you to the next level!

You need to show them the common enemy for them to chase it together.?

As they say,?If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

Two relatable bits from True Elements -?

1 - Since the beginning, we did not look at regional brands as competition but decided to fight the multinationals directly. Even now, we are fighting some of them who are trying to sell inferior products in the name of premium Oats. To get the team together, the enemy had to be strong enough, and it is. They have enough funds to drive us out, which makes the challenge worth fighting for.?

2 - Almost 2 years back, we decided in the office that we all should walk post lunch and not immediately sit down.?Initially, it didn’t help much as everyone got to their desks almost immediately.?But then, over a period of time, I saw more diligence in the walks. Almost everyone went out together diligently for half an hour, and that too, as far as possible from the office.?The office was empty except me.

One of the struggles for us was to get new members to gel with the old ones, and different teams to work with each other efficiently. The walks actually helped bridge this gap within days.?

After a few months, I realized who the source of the common walk was. It was me (and a few other seniors)! Our Mr. Hyde version was tough on a lot of people - the walks helped them get through it as they shared frustration against their ‘common enemy’.?Maybe, there is some hidden benefit of not being nice to your team! :)

Thankfully, most of them are still around building the story of TRUE, not as a sum of Harry Potters but more like a “Rakshason ki Sena”.

In Summary, make the villain strong enough and you will see heroes emerging in your team. At the same time, avoid building independent Heroes and make them work together as a single unit by showing them the common enemy!

For those of you who believe that simply empathy and care drive teams, you could help build each others’ CVs!

For those of you who keep practicing being a bloody Good Bad-Guy,?

STFU!

References:?Amrish+Voldemort,?Amrish Puri,?Quote | Images:?Voldemort,?Amrish Puri Mola Ram,?Chak De India?