Leaders emerge from challenges, says bestselling author Sreedhar Bevara

Saurabh Tankha

IIM Ahmedabad alumna Sreedhar Bevara released his first book Moment of Signal in 2018. A bestseller in amazon and in India, the book has been published by Fingerprint/ Prakash Books. At present, a general manager in Panasonic Middle East & Africa, Bevara also contributes to Forbes and has been delivering motivational guest lectures at IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Madras. Bevara hails from a humble background, from a family that struggled thoroughly to meet ends. Poverty can play hard with lives and separate people in a most unpredictable manner, he says. Fortunately, leaders emerge mostly from such challenges and Muralidhar Bevara, his elder brother, was one among them. He singlehandedly turned around a family that was literally on streets to a great stability now. Even though he died in 2017 at an early age of 48, battling valiantly against cancer for six years, he showed the family the way, how a leader should be, even in the face of death. He’s everything in Bevara family. He made them all strong minds and even taught thme how to live under one roof, no matter how many and how diverse the mindsets are. We had a chat with the author…

How and when did you decide to write Moment of Signal?
The deeper I was getting into the corporate culture, the more I saw how people don’t admire themselves but always look out for inspiration. How they don’t celebrate the leadership within and always await the impossible victories to do so… How much they ignore and don’t value those little wins during the day routine… How much they don’t recognise the value of being kind and stay collaborative so that they could achieve massive objectives… and the list was dropping down long. Despite there are opportunities around to learn from, the modern leaders are always under stress and don’t find it easy to lead. That’s when I felt there’s a lack of platform that can help these battling leaders with few things that can help them stay on course, stay relevant and stay ahead while inspiring people around, immensely. That was the background to come up with Moment Of Signal – that emphasises; ‘the best way to excel is to find right signal and you have to find that signal for yourself’, in order to follow and get what we want.

How does one realise or get to know that he/ she is getting “signals”?
Even though that’s all explained in the 300 page book; I can only say, we must give every effort to stay relevant. Which means, one must live in present to an optimum level while constantly staying ahead in thought process. That’s the key, to be able to find the right signals that work for us. The world is waiting for each of us, and the great news is that these signals are available free to everyone. Biggest takeaway for the reader from this leadership book is ‘‘you can learn the secrets of some of the world’s most notable people how they got to their position, how they select and encourage the best people, and how they turn crisis into opportunity at every turn”.

Is writing energising or exhausting?
Both I guess but it’s an immense feeling when you see the words on board.
The word “creative” to you means…
Sensibility in any expression
Fiction or non-fiction
Non-fiction
Favourite childhood book
Adventures of Tintin
Favourite childhood author
Enid Blyton
Favourite book now
Al Chemist
Favourite author now
Malcolm Gladwell
You are, at present, reading…
Leaders Eat Last (by Simon Sinek)

Can experiences of a person (in this case yours) be helpful to another for his life?
Absolutely yes and they help us immensely. Because, every experience has an underlined theme and that theme is important for others to believe in their own approach and efforts to get inspired. A true experience can inspire people to do greater things and that’s all, is our aim. An aim to make everyone realise the leader hiding within.

What are your recommendations to the modern leader to practice in specific?
The cycle of ‘Choice and Action’ is imminent in everyone’s life but who masters the art of this cycle can stay ahead of the curve and that’s what is the leadership about. Bring out the legendary and not to compromise for any lesser while you are at a task. Push your limits to unlock the vista because more intensity alone brings more possibilities. During this process, the relevant signals get visible and help comes along the way. It may not be tangibly visible, but people help when they find ‘value and values’ in others. Very importantly… one must be kind, especially to those who are lesser fortunate and stay credible for that is the foundation of one’s personal branding. I endorse, kindness is one of the greatest leadership qualities that enables one to look beyond. Kindness allows to be courageous to tender a sorry if needed, be able to appreciate the acts of others abundantly, be able to tune self to collaborate with people across towards greater objectives, that may even get the help back in the due course. Help in fact, is an absolute act of leadership.

Is success guaranteed if you work hard or you need to have luck on your side too?
Luck is nothing but an opportunity found while one is in a constant pursuit. The so-called luck follows closely the person that works hard and strikes when one gets intense with efforts.  There’s no guarantee in a life that itself is not guaranteed. What we can only do is, to improve chances through better choice making and better actions on ground.

In your opinion, what is that one thing which is the most important part of this book?
It prepares you with “how being alert to signals can change your life and make you a better leader”.

Upcoming books?
Next project, The Roaring Lambs, a leadership fable of animals, set in the backdrop of East African jungle, is scheduled to release in September 2019 and the third Guardians – Born to Protect, book 1 of a trilogy, a sci-fi interlaced with mythology set in the backdrop of 2050AD, in Dec 2020.