Assam and Meghalaya

What Drives You

While working on an economic development strategy in Assam and Meghalaya, two of Northeast India's "seven sister" states, we met such a variety of small business leaders it became a challenge to keep track of them. Repeatedly we heard different variations on a theme: that the central Indian government had neglected and forgotten this far corner of the country. In some respects the forgotten nature of this region can now work to its advantage - its cities are less congested, its countryside still natural, the wide and sea-like Brahmaputra feels unexplored. 

In the months my team was based in Guwahati, we interviewed and met with passionate, driven, spirited entrepreneurs who drove home a key point: human emotion is at the core of all entrepreneurship. What drives people to keep pushing forward can be fury, belief, love. Business is only superficially about balance sheets and contracts. It is powered by emotion.

Realizing this encouraged me to look for the emotion underlying any new business venture and opportunity. In any new situation we can ask, "what emotion is driving these people"? Discerning the emotional core helps put business matters into context, sparking ideas, highlighting easier paths to consensus.