Satyameva Jayate – Truth Will Prevail
– by Mohit Advani
How COVID-19 Reveals Our Struggle for the Truth
We are all living in challenging times. When I speak with friends and colleagues, almost all our discussions start or end with the current situation we are all faced with and how it has taken over our lives.
After weeks in lockdown, across almost all countries in the world, and no clear end in sight – we are inundated with news, articles and forwards about the COVID-19 virus.
The ease of sharing information today has made us all social media journalists. We forward content without even verifying it. While the funnies are a good break from reality, the ones which have just the right amount of truth peppered in are dangerous, often containing false, misleading and even grossly exaggerated “information.”
When COVID-19 was being rated as a pandemic, the lockdown was being initiated and people started to panic, I, like many others, was looking for a source of trustworthy information. I was looking for the truth, trying to gauge the potential impact, but wasn’t sure which source to truly trust.
With the Truth Comes Trust and Trust Informs Action
I’ve always believed, if we get the required information, we will trust and if we trust, we will act – not blindly, but because we can understand and make mature and educated decisions and only then can we work in unison.
What I found was that the facts are generally altered – often exaggerated, for a multitude of reasons – lack of strategic clarity, unrealistic aspirations, lack of accountability, poor governance, politics, weak collaboration – which cause missteps; and since nobody wants to admit mistakes or that we are in trouble, they instead prefer to blur the message.
States and Organizations Alike Question How Much to Share and With Whom
This got me thinking about the commonality of governance of the state and organizations. Organizations too, have been known to function in a similar fashion where they have reservations with transparency, what and how much information should be shared and with whom.
But an organization is not a living organism by itself, it is a reflection of the people that build, lead and run it – its values, beliefs and personality reflect that of its leaders.
At CastleBay Our Message Is Always the Same
At CastleBay, when we interact with our clients, associates, potential candidates, partners and other stakeholders – we share all the relevant information we can – about both our strengths and limitations alike. This ensures that irrespective of who from the leadership interacts with the stakeholder – and while the voice, style and words might differ – the message is always the same.
Transparency is Key to a Simple, Productive Atmosphere
Transparency, we believe, increases trust, builds relationships with high ethical standards and increases productivity. Transparency not only helps us set the right expectations, it allows for better collaboration, making planning and solutioning more effective.
This approach has kept us relevant, helping us grow and strengthen our relationships with our clients and associates in the last 20+ years and running. This makes life relatively easier because it removes the need for pretense.
Focus on the People and the Rest Will Naturally Follow
Was all this always planned? Probably Not. But what was planned was the people – to get smart, independent, accountable people, people with integrity – people who are not shy to share and those who continue to challenge us and keep us honest. And I believe we’ve stuck fairly close to the plan – including during our growth in India.
What this has done, is make it easier to maintain a consistent culture across a rapidly growing organization – a culture of honesty & integrity – in line with our guiding principle at CastleBay – Truth will prevail – Satyamev Jayate!
I hope you all continue to Stay Well, Stay Healthy and Stay Safe! Together, we will overcome – This Too Shall Pass!
Mohit Advani is a Director of CastleBay Infotech, the offshore delivery center for CastleBay Companies. He has been the driving force behind the launch of CastleBay Infotech, and leads the day-to-day operations of the facility, including talent recruitment and management.