CORPORATE STRATEGIES TARGETED AT POTENTIAL BLACKMAILERS
Who is a potential blackmailer in modern corporate India? Let us understand what is meant by a potential blackmailer or the blackmailer in the corporate world and many of them especially new ones have to face this proplem. In times of crisis or when the organization grows it hires some specialist as a consultant or even elevates one of the brightest or experienced of the available manager within the company. It has to be kept in mind that normally the promoters here are either in crisis or are in need of growth to expand or use their capital in some profitable and scalable venture. Now since this consultant or the experienced employee has so much knowledge or you seek advise from him so often that that he thinks that he himself is the boss and company will run as per his whims and fancies. The promoter starts to divulge his vital negative points to him. Now the potential blackmailer carefully stores these sensitive information about the promoter in his hard disc. The promoter, on his part further complicates the problem by seeking advise from him in each and every decision and seeking advise even from those subject for which he is not a specialist as he has established the trust in the mind of the promoters and the promoters are too impressed with his logic. Now often he starts showing tantrums or unreasonable demands, sometimes may classify as blackmail. Not only that, some are so smart that using the sensitive informations they themselves complain his employer to the government departments about secret dealings or lapses made on the part of the company leading to evasion of taxes and duties. On the basis of these informations often government departments in India conducts raids. This problem is faced by many corporates and sometimes the problem is very acute. It is well known fact that there are insiders in all companies and govt departments have to depend on these insiders to get more report about particular companies before organizing raids. Now what is the remedy or a solution? Actually there is no one solution but a combination of many strategies which should be applied on the potential blackmailers so that he is ultimately stifled and apprehended. Some are very astute and may need combination of may strategies and some are weak and can succumb easily. OK. Lets start.
Today is the age of technology. Every move and every step of an enemy/competitor is analysed and monitored and discussed. Never underestimate a competitor or any enemy. And especially when a person as lethal as potential blackmailer whose minds work in four tracks. But war is a war and sometime, its inevitable, for the larger interest of the society/company/mankind/ and you have to fight it. Remember the Mahabharata war which was fought between the brothers or the partition of India which was one of the worst human tragedies in the centuries. Do remember that some dangers and pitfalls will be there and you cannot help it, but still you have to pursue it and try to attain your goals with minimum losses. The point is how you do it with minimum casualties and how fast or slow and at what cost? In short, strengthen your defenses as strong as possible and corner your enemy so that he becomes irrelevant and falls by the sidelines.
Strategy came out of military so it’s a war game. But still two very different games are also played which are not wars but are played in the spirit of a war. One is a slow game- CHESS, and the other one is played fast and in all of One and half hours everything is over- FOOTBALL. Both are equally competitive but the one is slow, played by two people, watched by a fewer people and not played by everyone, so it is not popular. The other one is fast, played for short time, cheaper game, played in open ground and by common people also and also many can watch it and enjoy it, so it is most popular game in the world. But there is no denying the fact that all these are mind games and are played when problem such as this one is confronted. Here not one strategy will apply, but a combination of many strategies simultaneously has to be applied for best and fast results. There has to a combination of both – ATTACKING as well as DEFENSIVE strategy. The goals are clear, the results are known, I present some of the strategies which I think are possible and it is upto the promoters to decide how it proceeds it, because it is ultimately the management which has to implement it and decide how and when to do it. This is such an art which cannot be taught in any schools. Tools can be taught and presented in schools but application-how to do it- cannot be taught. Howsoever best of strategies you have, if you cannot implement it, its of no use. Let us analyse some of them:
1. Encircling: Do not approach him directly, move slowly and slowly around the target so that it is not noticed and ultimately encircle him. Once inside the circle, even Abhimanyu could not do anything and had to be killed.
2. Enemy’s enemy is your friend: Try to find out who is the enemy of the target and make friend with him and plan the efforts with him jointly.
3. No one is permanent friend or enemy: In politics and in war no one is a permanent friend or enemy. Enemy or friend becomes or leaves as per the convenience, importance , interest of the person.
4. Power snatching: Try to snatch as much power, subject from the target. Discuss less and less matter with him. Sometimes IAS offices are put in shunting posts just to make him immobile and is kept in advisory role with no direct executive role.
5. Restrict the subjects: Restrict him to limited subjects- LEGAL/ FINANCE/ACCOUNTS/COMMERCIAL, those subjects you think he has his mastery. Do not discuss any other subjects with him. This is the strategy to continue to use his advise, experience, drafting, knowledge, try to exploit all his relations, try to get maximum mileage and credit out of his relations and references.
6. Love him more and more: In short, excess of sugar leads to diabetes. Shower so much love and affection and regards to him that he is overwhelmed and everytime his eyes are moist. He drowns himself and dies in a sea of love and affection. Give him as much as possible comfort. Whenever a subject is given to him make sure that there is a subordinate who is more than eager to request him to be able to help him complete the job assigned. This way the target gets immobile and starts accumulating fat around him.
7. Put pressure from his acquaintances: There are some people in anyone’s life in front of whom anyone bend on their knees out of respect, awe, age, love, inspiration, faith, fear, knowledge, childhood admiration, etc. There are also some people in front of whom you lay low to respect your dignity. Try to find out those people and put pressure on him of any form. If possible, go to his native place. Sometimes the respected people have to listen to the Sarpanch of his native village so that his hookka-paani is not banned.
8. Find a substitute: Try to find a good substitute, if not one substitute, make four in four subjects who can argue with him in four separate subjects.
9. Deputation: For a man as shrewd as him, it is not possible to keep him out from the place of action, that is, say, Mumbai. You can keep him out for sometime, say for a week in Goa, XYZ, Delhi, etc, etc, but you cannot keep him there permanently. So it is better to send him for deputation, rather, tell him that you please train the company team at XYZ place for one week. Start and continue with this exercise at newer and newer places and newer and newer subjects.
10. Separate cabin: Keep him in a separate small cabin Sometimes when a person who is used to get surrounded by your loved ones, business associates, subordinates, darbaris, and who feels like he is a king in a big hall, when left alone, their mind do not work fast, seek dependents, is fearful of aloofness, is fearful of closed spaces and starts getting disturbed and try to find ways to get out or initiate troubles.
11. Pestering: Start asking him what will be the benefit of a particular move taken by him, or the result of the last decision taken on his advise or the benefit the particular move will yield to the company or question the importance of such move or say that you will not follow this move, or question the very legality or importance of such move, or dispute the result of such moves or invite comment from other people on the particular step or encourage questioning or pinpointing by other people on the particular step. This will keep him busy and frustrated and replying and irritating and he will start not taking any decision. This pestering will make your job of power snatching much easier.
12. Guerilla warfare: Bombay is the land of Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji was a master in guerilla warfare and inflicted huge casualties in Aurangzeb’s army and at one time became his enemy number one. Guerilla war is not general fight in the open. Here the person is in hiding waits with his weapons and army and when he sees the opportune moment when the enemy is near or lazy or sleepy or not fully prepared he attacks with full force in a surprise and inflicts heavy casualties. The only most important requirement for this is that the person would be capable to act at a lightening speed, complete the job and run away with debris scattered all over.
13. Baits and traps: History is replete with examples how army officers succumbed to beautiful women, wine and money, food and divulge secret informations to the opponent. Baits are laid around the opponent, is lead and sweetly trapped inside the traps laid down. Induce him to do mistake unknowingly and let him fall in his own created net or you create net for him.
14. Espionage: More and more companies are using security agencies to keep an eye on moves and activities of their employees and competing companies/people. They are also using new modern bugging and spying and sting operations to get into the enemy’s area. Some are using MMS or mobile cameras to great effect in monitoring the moves of competitors.
15. Register cases: If you have solid evidences and proofs then go ahead and register a case against the potential blackmailer and if possible more than one case and scattered in different courts all over India by different people, so that he is busy in just attending courts. For that you have to induce and make friends his past enemies or victims or workers or unionists who have been bitten by him in the past. Pat on their back and they will reveal everything and help you in everyway. Help him in registering cases and hiring lawyers.
16. Find more about his cases: Try to find out if there are any cases going on against him and get as much information about the matters, meet the lawyers, keep them in good spirit, arrange meeting with them, expedite the hearing on such matters, get copy of their cases from court and learn the judgements.
17. Regularly keep one of his key associates in good spirits: Try to get as far as possible information about his past, his future plans, his future game plans and try to get into his mind to find out what is going on in the mind of the opponent. Continue keeping this key associate in good spirits. If you have to fight an enemy, who will be the best person than the one who has been in the past and continues with him in the future.
18. Fear Psychosis: With sudden action/notices/slappings create fear in his mind. Bombardment with many slaps will unsettle the person immediately and will be stunned for sometime.During that time you strengthen your defense even further and try to weaken him further and further and let him run for cover. This itself will deter him to try and harm you or even think about harming you. It is often said that “Darr se bade bade bhoot bhagte hain”. Police uses it in full effect to silence the criminals, rapists, troublesome people, people who take law in their hands, corrupt people, frauds, etc, etc,
19. Mediation: If you can’t win them, join them. This is the strategy in short. This normally helps when you are a small businessman but you have a bigger competitor against you then logic says that you make friend with him, reach into some sort of agreement try to find out what are the extra aspirations of the potential blackmailer, so that both prosper simultaneously.
20. Weeknesses: Some people have weaknesses which are expensive, like wines, gambling, stock markets, rummy, horse racing, casinos, etc, and loves talking about them for hours. Induce him more to these mistakes and keep him busy to pursue these hobbies. Not updating himself will anyway make him less lethal.
21. Instigate quarrel with his own ones: Use his son, daughter, wife, son, father, villagers, uncles cousins, brothers and instigate quarrel with him. This will keep him emotionally and mentally preoccupied.
22. You can choose your friend your enemy but cannot choose your neighbour: A man howsoever destructive he may me, is always nice and good in appearance and behaviour in his society, with his neighbours, secretary/ chairman/managing committee, etc, etc. Instigate them to create trouble to him and keep him occupied in fighting with small people or small groups and you strengthen your defences.
23. For the sake of dignity: Sometimes for the sake of dignity, pagdi, a person tolerate noises, comments, tries to pacify him, etc, etc, Instigate such peoples, the goal is to keep him preoccupied in small matters.
24. Prepare competitors: Encourage his competitors in all departments so that there is always one to question or dispute or debate or discuss his particular decision. Engage these persons to always argue with him on all his subjects or find fault in all his points. This constant questioning and pinpointing will be enough to unsettle him and show him the right place as well as it makes sure that he does not play his cards as well as he would have thought.
25. Control ration: Remember the Birbal and dog story, to straighten the dog’s tail Birbal used the same strategy to keep the dog hungry for one month and when it asked for food gave him big stick blows. The result, it became very obedient and did whatever was asked to do, even his tail was straight! Simply because he did not have enough strength left in him to walk, leave alone lift his tail. The lesson: such destructive people should be left to their own and penniless and chances are there that they will do whatever you want and their destructive brains will be controlled.
26. Some football techniques:
· Italian technique: Italians are rock solid in defense and do not allow the opponent to score. Any move the opponent makes they strangle it either by blocking, slowing down the game, man to man marking, fouls, putting two or three defense people to mark their best player, playing ball between themselves, etc, etc. In short frustrate all the attacks. To an outsider it may seem that they are killing the game and wasting time. But it is a clever move to frustrate and test the patience of your opponent. They play inside their half lines and their forwards are also backwards. Once they find that the opponent defense has moved far into its territory in its attacking moves and defence is seeming weak they launch fierce counter-attack. The counterattack is very fast. The forwards ram into the opponent territory with lightening speed using the flanks and score goals, keeping the goalkeepers helpless and the other players clueless.
· South American technique: South Americans believe more in the individual skills and their players are very flamboyant and they attach with great speed and dribble and by the dint of individual brilliance in the attack strategy, score goals. The problem with this technique is that the defense is not strong. Here attack is the best form of defense.
· Messmerise your opponent: In yet another strategy players play in between themselves with maximum ball possession and dribbling and again playing and controlling the ball between themselves. This messmerises the opponent and they are frustrated in not getting the ball and their shoulders start falling. This is the time the opponent sense chance and they take advantage of loss in self confidence and attack and score goals.
· Heavy marking: European teams usually apply this technique on star players or main players of rival team by keeping strict marking on them and make sure that the supply lines are choked so that the ball do not reach him and even if it reaches him he cannot supply it to the desired player and so their strategy goes haywire. As the main player is heavily marked the opponent starts losing confidence, committing mistakes and concedes goals.
· Foul playing: This is one more strategy the European countries applies on star players. They regularly commit foul on the star player. Its not that only one player does it, but at least four or five defenders regularly commit small or big fouls on the star player in regular intervals. This breaks the rhythm of the star player, always falls down so he is injured, gets frustrated and angry, shouts on players and even refree, starts making mistakes and wrong moves and the opponent gets chance to sideline him and use other players to score goal against the star team.
27. Let him come under your hand: If by any chance the opponent comes under your clutches either by way of his goods, credits, his friend’s or referred people goods or credits, money, guarantees, property, mortgages, secret papers, weak points, then you can dictate terms with him.
28. Deterrence: India regularly says that it has developed nuclear weapons not to attack any country but to stop or “deter” any country to attack India. This is called “nuclear deterrence theory”, and it has become a fashion to say that their country’s nuclear programme is for deterrence. A rouge state like Pakistan also says so. It means, you have developed something or you have something or you are so strong which the opponent knows that if it tries to attack the reaction will be equally detrimental for it.
29. Self Confidence: On top of it if you have the self confidence that you can fight and win then half the battle is already won. The war games are war games and one who wins minds wins the war. The self confidence helps you in keeping your team in good spirit, motivated and the opponent thinks twice to make a move and the oozing confidence in the opponent says to him that it is not the time for him to attack but to lay low. Once the opponent lay low, you further increase your defences and plan your moves and further weaken the opponent.
Conclusion: There can be other strategies also which may be applied. At present these are more than a handful and some more can be added later on. The main stress should be not only on the strategy formulation but the implementation, how you do it, which one to apply for how much time, which one to discontinue, which one not to be applied. This is necessary because there are different situations for different company and same strategy which is applicable for one company cannot be applicable for another one. So the application should be customized company wise. Ultimately it’s the person at the helm of affairs who will be responsible and how much risk he will take to ensure the success or failure of any strategy.
