Boston Days - Part 11

The Floor Never Lies. A Levi's Story.

(I am writing "Boston Days" as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims. This article covers what a Levi's store in downtown Boston taught me about frontline investment, people culture and the only leadership strategy that never goes on sale.)

Every retail store tells you the truth eventually. You just have to know where to look.

Not at the window display. Not at the promotional banners. At the floor. At the people on it. At what they do when no one is watching — and whether that changes when the store gets busy.

Labor Day in America is more than a national holiday. The first Monday of September each year, the country pauses to honour its working men and women — and then, with cheerful irony, heads straight to the shops. 

Retailers treat it as one of the season's defining sales events. Discounts go deep. Footfall spikes. The floor gets difficult to manage. That is precisely when culture either shows up or gets exposed.

I walked into the Levi's store in downtown Boston a few days before Labor Day 2026.

Promotions everywhere. Deep discounts. Stacks of denim at prices that stopped you mid-stride. Trial rooms with a moving queue. Customers working the racks with that particular focused energy that only a genuine deal creates. 

The kind of footfall that tests every system a store has — replenishment, trial room management, billing, floor discipline.

And yet the floor was immaculate.

Every rack faced. Every folded stack clean and aligned. An associate moved quietly down an aisle straightening merchandise while a customer waited at the trial room. 

Unhurried. Unannounced. 

Not performing for a manager. Simply doing what they had been trained — and trusted — to do. The reset was continuous, invisible and relentless. Clockwork, in the middle of a frenzy.

I have seen this before. Not often enough, but I have seen it.

A sunny afternoon in March 2005. Java Green Coffee Shop, Forum Mall, Bangalore. Sanjeev Mohanty, then Vice President - India, sat across and interviewed me for the role of leading United Colors of Benetton's Southern India operations. 

What stayed with me from that conversation was not the questions. It was his conviction — unhurried, like that associate on the Boston floor — that stores are built from the inside out. People first. Standards second. Sales will follow.

Over the year that followed, working under his leadership, we set up five new stores across four states. We also envisioned what was then the largest UCB store in India — 10,000 square feet at the famed Indira Nagar in Bangalore. 

Every one of those stores worked because the people in them understood why the work mattered.

After a long stint at UCB followed by Jabong, Sanjeev went on to build Levi's India into a formidable, consumer-connected business before being elevated to lead Levi Strauss & Co.'s US and Canada operations — the brand's largest commercial cluster in the world. 

That arc does not happen by accident. It happens because you never stop believing that the frontline associate is the business.

What I saw in that downtown Boston store was not good operations management. It was culture made visible.

The wages you pay, the incentives you design, the wellbeing you protect, the training you invest in, the mentoring you make time for — none of these are HR activities. 

They are the actual work of leadership. They are what determines whether your floor holds its standard on a chaotic pre-holiday Saturday.

The associate folding jeans in the middle of a sale frenzy is not completing a task. That person is protecting your brand, enabling your conversion and defending your margin — simultaneously, willingly and at scale.

Take care of your frontline. They will take care of everything else.

Boston was teaching me. Again.

(I am writing "Boston Days" as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims.)

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9 and Part 10 here.

Boston Days - Part 8

The Man Who Saved Best Buy Walked Into My Classroom Today.

(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims. This article covers “Culture as Strategy — a Leadership Class with Hubert Joly”)

There is a specific kind of pause that happens inside you when you register, fully and without warning, who exactly is standing at the front of the room.

It happened to me this morning at HBS.

The professor for today’s session was Hubert Joly. Former chairman and CEO of Best Buy. 

The man who walked into arguably the most distressed large-format retail situation in modern American business — stock at $11, market cap at $4 billion, Amazon at its most predatory — and rebuilt it by asking one question almost no CEO was asking at the time: what is this company actually for?

I have spent three decades watching Indian retail. One hundred plus cities. Every format from airport terminal to neighbourhood kirana. 

And yet, sitting in that classroom this morning, I had to consciously remind myself to take notes rather than simply listen.

The session was built around two cases. Nvidia. Walmart.

The Nvidia case was not primarily a technology story. At its core, it was a study in Jensen Huang’s deeply personal leadership style — his instinct for flat structures, radical transparency, and a culture where the fear of embarrassment is replaced entirely by the fear of missing a consequential idea. 

Every person in the room left understanding that Nvidia’s extraordinary run cannot be separated from who Huang is as a human being, and how that humanity travels through fifty thousand people. Strategy, in his hands, is inseparable from character.

The Walmart case landed differently, and with equal force. The discussion centred on Doug McMillon’s fundamental conviction that Walmart’s greatest long-term competitive asset is not its logistics network or its store footprint — it is its people. 

His big bets on workforce investment, wage floors, training and dignity are not HR policy. 

They are strategic bets made with the same rigour a CFO applies to capital allocation. McMillon has simply decided that people are the capital.

The thread connecting both cases — and the man teaching them — was impossible to miss.

Culture is not a consequence of strategy. It is the strategy.

What I carried out of that room was not a framework. It was a reckoning.

Thirty years in retail. Thousands of hours on floors and in boardrooms. Have I always been as deliberate about culture as I have been about category, format and footfall?

The man who walked into Best Buy in 2012 — when people around him said he was either crazy or suicidal — did not walk in with a better product or a superior balance sheet. 

He walked in with a clearer answer to that question than anyone else in the building.

As it turns out, that is not a small thing.

It is everything.

(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims.)

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9 here.

Lessons from the sacking of a CEO

The week that passed by was abuzz with the news of the sacking (or so it was announced in the media) of Laxman Narasimhan, who was handpicked for the job by the former Chairman of the Board and Founder of Starbucks Coffee, Howard Schultz.

Laxman has been on the job for a less than 2 years, after he took over full time in Mar. ’23, followed by a 6-month’s immersion period of going through rigorous training across cafés in the US, Mexico, Japan and China, to understand the processes undertaken in the chain that runs over 33,000 outlets worldwide, almost 30% of them operating in the United States.

With not just one but several challenges to face, the ousted CEO was doing good, at least as it looked like supported by corporate PR. 

The Indian-origin professional had earlier worked at McKinsey & Co where he served for 19 years, followed by stints with FMCG powerhouses such as Pepsi and Reckitt, before joining Starbucks in Oct. ‘22. He went on a global tour to acclimatise himself with the way coffee (and other local beverages) are consumed. 

His pitstop in India was in early 2024, when he announced that TATA Starbucks, the JV company would operate over 1,000 cafés in India (from over 400 currently) by 2028.

On social media portals, especially on the professional platform Linkedin, Laxman was a popular figure, doling out various snippets of how his life revolved in the new role.

There were several issues the ousted CEO was working on – labour challenges being the most important one. Over 400 cafés in the US alone have been unionised. The Gen Z and Millennials were not preferring in-café dining as much. 

Digital-first customers as they are termed, ordering online and preferring takeaways were trends being witnessed over all in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry worldwide, especially in the US. The inconsistency of service experience, especially that of its mainstay, the hot coffee was being questioned by ardent consumers of the Starbucks, who have patronised the chain for several decades. 

In a recent video interview to Fortune magazine, when asked about "how does work-life balance look like for a Fortune 500 CEO", Laxman had said, “If there’s anything after 6pm, and I am in town, It’s got to be a pretty high bar to keep me away from the family”.

“Anybody who gets a minute of time after that, they better be sure that it’s important. Because if not, I’ll just wait for another day.”

The role of the CEO is something that every young management trainee, a first time job seeker, looks up to in their lifetime. No matter how small the company, the title of “CEO” is a mission accomplished for several millions worldwide. While many may say they do not chase titles, they do, they certainly do.

The life at the top and in the corner room is complicated, I must admit. 

I have seen in close quarters, the lives of atleast 4 such Executives in my own personal life. They need to look in to various issues pertaining to life – personal, professional, a public life that is useful for business networking and so on.

Yet, the life of an Executive at the top is a lonely journey at best. There are so many things that the Chief Executive cannot speak in public or can confide to anyone, not even with their spouse or close friends. 

There are diktats from the Board or the Management. And then, there are these smallest of things that impacts their popularity among those working for the company. 

As exciting it looks to be, it is one thing to get in to the chief executive socks. 

And to get beaten up by life every other day, yet putting up a brave smile and to keep moving on as though nothing much happened (nerves of steel) – and eventually, a sad, sudden exit such as being sacked (as the media announces), is the least one yearns for!

Happy New Year

I was among those millions in India who would end up waking up groggy on the 1st of Jan. for a few years every year between 2005 – 2012 or so. The rave parties, get togethers and the whole joy and excitement of welcoming a brand New Year was palpable. From buying new clothes to a trimmed hair cut and what not, there was so much consumer spending around Christmas and New Year. With homes getting a tad bigger, households getting more liberal, party venues moved from hotels and public places to living rooms, esp. in the high rise apartments. Shouting “Happy New Year” from a balcony and wishing strangers was absolutely acceptable on that night (and the next morning!). Many years later I realised how stupid the whole thing was. Been a few years since I attained my “buddha” moment from being a budhu.

The 1st of Jan. is celebrated with fanfare globally, for it marks the dawn of a new chapter in the lives of people in many countries. For them, it’s the starting of a new Academic year for children, a new Financial year for businesses and a new year, with a change in season to embrace the goodness of nature. Lastly, it is also celebratory right after Christmas, a festival revered and celebrated by over half of the world. So, yes for them it makes a lot of sense.

Retailers worldwide run huge sale campaigns right from end-Nov – the Black Friday Sale all the way up to Cyber Monday Sale which has caught up in the past 20 years. People change their cars and bikes, deck up their houses, paint the inner and outer walls as spring & summer season beckons and shop for new clothes to suit the weather conditions. Many professional change jobs and several others retire around December. The entire construct is so different in these countries and has been that way for them. Works well too, I guess. 

However, India and Indians have embraced this trend almost meaninglessly as we try to ape the West in several ways. As long as we imbibe the good – such as environmental awareness, climate change, gender pay-gap among other things, it’s okay. But to celebrate someone else’s new year and go ga-ga about it – has become a weird trend.

For many years now, I celebrate “New Year” twice in a year – one on the 1st of April as the professional year begins. It’s also the change of academic year for my kids, so that’s a reason to cheer and motivate them to do better. A sought after time in the year for employees to look forward to a hike in Salary, expect a Bonus and perhaps, even a job change for many. The second is the New Year celebrated within our community – Ugadi – that phase of the Spring season based on the Lunar Calendar. At a personal level, it’s about offering obeisance to the Creator Lord Almighty and wearing new clothes, but nothing much beyond.

On the professional side, it’s a very important day to look forward to. The run-up begins usually 45-60 days in advance, with the making of the coveted “Annual Business Plan” (ABP), reworking on it several times and finally making the entire team buy in to your vision for the business – right from the Board and Top Management till the lowest cadre employee in the system. While the more organised Corporates and large companies go through this almost ritualistically, several mid-sized companies and SMEs usually tend to ignore the importance of “Strategic Planning”. When I say this, it’s not just about a dream number to achieve – be it any business. Rather, a methodical and practical way to build up the entire narrative – either top-down or bottom-up like a pyramid. But this is just so important, so we know what to do with the next 365 days. That’s a lot of time to achieve any business goal, honestly. 

The first day and the first few days of the new Financial Year is so important towards clear goal setting and creating measurable plans to execute them. While completing the ABP well in advance helps – one gets 365 days to achieve it, even starting off the process in early April is not bad at all. But not having a clear plan for every working day of the year is so important.

It’s better to have a clear plan, try one’s best to achieve it and still, fail to do so, rather not having a plan at all. I have seen several leaders grappling with business challenges through the year – one of it being unplanned on the way forward. 

Here’s wishing you all a healthy, wealthy prosperous FY 22-23 ahead. Cheers & Good luck. 

Moving on... #Miles2Go

The past 12 months have been the most unfortunate and unhappy for millions of people worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic was beyond comprehension in its new form since Mar. 2020 onwards and took epic proportions over the next few months. 

As they say, there is always calm before storm and in my case, it worked exactly this way on the professional front. Just that the lockdown period was the calm and what followed was storm, quite literally. I consider myself a lot luckier than the unlucky millions because I not only had a job to feed my family – my parents, wife and both kids tested Covid-19 positive (and I was the sole negative member in the home!) in May ’20 but each of them fought bravely and bounced back in full form in less than 45 days; I managed to ensure my team – starting from 100 around June ’20 growing all the way to 175+ around Mar. ’21 remained cautious of the dreaded infection and less than 10% of my workforce & their immediate family tested positive for the virus; increased point of sales presence for Levista Coffee across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka from 26,000+ in Mar. ’20 to over 79,000+ by Mar. ’21 – completely led by my brave boys in the field; which eventually led to a whopping 42% growth in the Brand’s top line over the past Financial Year; and finally – painstakingly have built a “solid team” of sorts which would work cohesively (and I sincerely hope) in my absence as I step down from Levista Coffee as Vice President - Sales & Marketing after joining in Jan. ‘20. 

It’s not been an easy decision for me to step down, honestly. It was unprecedented that I had to move on, even though things were looking bright for the Brand. Sometimes in life, we need to do what is right, rather than continuing to do what works well – for us and for others. More than this, I restrain from saying here or elsewhere the whys and whats of my decision – life moves on.

I wanted to summarise my learning through this tumultuous period even as thousands lost lives and livelihood, and here I was – making history by the day and night with unheard of and unseen types of marketing strategy coupled with fabulous execution by my team. By the way, these accolades have been showered by well-wishers around me – which I have openly declared as not mine and solely belong to my team, though there have been some black sheep around me. 

I credit the success of the Brand with the quote “Due to Corona or Despite Corona” but for the first time, I must confess that I kept moving on all these months “despite the black sheep or due to them”. At one point, you give in - for you need to do the "right thing". No blames, Peace. 

My single biggest learning during this period is to nurture people in the team and believe in them – as the adage goes, take care of your people and they would take care of the business. The moment it was formally informed of my leaving, many people within and outside my team reached out to me and expressed their disappointment over my decision. Goes to show that though I could have been harsh on them sometimes, they have perhaps realised and seen the  benefit for them – the larger view, perhaps. Another learning has been that I have maintained a healthy space between those around me and myself. This measured space ensured that we all had the much required time and thought process to ourselves. 

The fact that I have never called or summoned anyone on weekends or after office hours – not once in the past 12 months – is a simple edifice that appreciating everyone’s time works well. Keeping the interest of the staff and their families in each act and activity of the Organisation and staying on it genuinely works in the larger interest thereby delivering positive results. 

And lastly, never to antagonise those who are closer to the people who matter and speak behind you – it probably gives them more ammunition to pull us down. I had a choice – not to antagonise people and keep moving for the sake of money and a steady career; or to do the "right thing". I chose the latter. 

Obviously. When you are brought up with the right kind of “values” from childhood, that’s what you do. Works best for all of us, isn’t it. Adios, Amigos. Moving on and moving ahead in life. 

I have miles to go, after all.