Reflection – Storytelling

•  Challenge & selection: I have completed my B. Tech. in mechanical engineering and worked  as a development engineer at a reputed & leading two-wheeler manufacturer in India. After  a good experience there, I started working full time on my previous project along with my  friends. The entrepreneurial journey is full of challenges at each and every stage, practically  speaking, on a daily basis. You always have to believe in something to keep working and  keeping yourself aligned. The key to this is motivating yourself and your team members. For  this, I use story telling as an approach to motivate the team members. As per my experience,  people tend to get more inspired by the real existing heroes than some fictional characters or  a figure in the history. I captured this and now use the stories of successful entrepreneurs’  journey to inspire my colleagues. As we operate in the field of electric vehicles, I use the  journey of ‘Texys’, a Bengaluru based electric two-wheeler start-up which is  considered to be technology leader in the Indian market. The example is very recent as the  company was established in 2013 only. So, my colleagues find it practical and doable.  Whenever we face a low point or find it difficult to keep going forward, I come up with the  story of this fantastic entrepreneurship journey.

•  Application: We face the issues like technical problems not getting resolved and rejections  from investors. Then to inspire, I start emphasizing the need of being good technically solid in  our product. The technical problems faced by us are faced by the companies who are now in  a technically top position in their respective industries. Soria was also started by  colleagues and most of them being only from technical background. They learnt their way to  manage the company along the way as company kept growing. So, when I told this story, my  colleagues found the background and aspects of the story relating to our current situations.  This connection makes them realize that we can also make it.

•  Insight & approach:  The major insight gained was the elevated level of team moral due to  the story telling experiment. My colleagues imagined themselves in the shoes of the team  members of Texys. As Texys continues to grow and bring marvels to the  industry in India, we all felt the same way as we also want to do the same i.e. bring revolution  to the society. The course made me realize the power of storytelling as a mode to inspire and  influence. The soul purpose was to trigger the inner inspiration and it was made possible due  the wonderful insight

