| | | | Dear ,
Thank you for signing up for the Founding Fuel Live on Managing Corporate Reputation in the Digital Age scheduled for Friday, 21st February 2025 from 6 PM to 7 PM IST.
The last of our Spotlight is on Aditya Ghosh. It will provide you a sense of his leadership perspectives and what he has learnt over the years about managing corporate reputation, in about 2 minutes.
If you have filled out the survey we shared in the earlier mail, thank you very much. In case you haven’t filled in, here is the link. Your responses will help us design the session better.
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Regards,
Charles Assisi
Co-founder & Director
Founding Fuel | | | | | Posters display a name, a title, and a face—but they rarely reveal the person within. What shaped them? What lessons have they learned? What wisdom do they carry? We asked, Aditya answered, and we walked away wiser. Now, read his insights firsthand.
On growth, leadership and crisis management
Aditya Ghosh
Growth is essential—but only if it's financially sustainable.
In India, our low starting base in many industries makes growth feel inevitable. High single-digit growth in many other parts of the world would mean it’s time to open a bottle of bubbly, but here, it’s an expectation and seems boring. That said, growth for the sake of growth? That’s dangerous. It has to be financially sustainable. That doesn’t always mean profitable—there will be times when a business isn’t making money because of external shocks or strategic investments. But in the long run, the model has to make sense. If a company never generates more revenue than its costs, it’s a balloon waiting to pop.
Scaling is seductive. Too many businesses chase it blindly, assuming if something can be scaled, it is a great business to back and if on the other hand, some business is trying to be the best in a niche, it’s not exciting enough. That’s a flawed assumption. The real test is whether it actually improves the economics of the business. Scaling should give operating leverage—if revenue grows but costs grow at the same pace, you’re just running harder to stay in the same place. And then, there’s the question of whether it unlocks something new. If it doesn’t expand market access or create real value, it’s just vanity.
I co-own Chourangi, a fine-dining restaurant in London. It’s a success. But opening five more won’t necessarily make it a better business. Compare that to an airline like Akasa—where scaling means lower costs, more routes, and better leverage. Growth should not be driven by ego because ego often comes in the way of wisdom.
A leader serves three bosses: investors, customers, and colleagues.
If I am running a business, I am accountable to three groups: investors, customers, and the people who work with me. If I had to pick where my bias lies, it’s with my colleagues. But that bias starts with solving for the needs of the customer. If a company stays relevant in the customer’s life, employees will feel pride in what they do and making a difference in the lives of their customers and investors will see returns. It’s a loop, and when it works, it’s a virtuous one.
But leadership isn’t just about dealing with investors and customers—it’s also about handling tough situations with colleagues. When things get difficult, clarity matters. People will follow you through fire if they know why they’re walking. But if the reasons keep changing, if there’s too much spin, or if they feel like they’re being kept in the dark, that’s when trust erodes. Even in the toughest moments, communication has to be honest and direct.
IPOs aren’t just about listing a company—they force you to be brutally honest about its future.
Taking IndiGo public was an education. People think an IPO is about raising money. Sure, that’s part of it. But the real moment of truth comes when you sit across the table from institutional investors who are looking to put millions—sometimes billions—into your business. They will ask questions no one has ever asked before. And you have to answer, knowing that if you’re not being completely transparent, they’ll see through it. It forces a level of brutal honesty—about what’s working, what isn’t, and where the business is really headed. I always remember that a custodian of someone else’s capital Dan Vasella, the legendary CEO of Novartis, gave me a lesson in this long before IndiGo’s IPO. I asked him how he “managed” the board and investors. His response? "I have never cared about the stock market. I come to work to create medicines for people." That stayed with me. It was a reminder: the mission has to come first.
70% of my time is spent on people. | | | | | No matter the industry—aviation, hospitality, startups—most of my time is spent on hiring, mentoring, making sure people have the tools they need, and clearing roadblocks. Leaders don’t play on the pitch; we are the stadium. Our job is to create the conditions for great work—whether that means better training, proper support, or even something as basic as the right shoes and most importantly, the strong walls of the stadium that protect the team that’s playing in the middle of the pitch to the best of their ability.
And respect starts early. Even in hiring. People may not always get the job, but how they are treated in the process tells them whether they were respected. First impressions matter. The way you welcome someone into an organization sets the tone for everything that follows.
No crisis emerges overnight—it’s always a slow leak.
Crises don’t explode out of nowhere. The warning signs are always there if you’re listening. Employees on the frontlines hear customer complaints before management does. Leaders who pay attention will see problems before they spiral.
Take 2017. A tough year. There was a moment when things got difficult—reputationally, and operationally. And I realized something: We were asking the wrong question. Instead of “Why are people reacting this way?” we should have been asking “What are they reacting to?” Once we reframed it, we saw patterns. And once you see the patterns, you can solve for them. Defensiveness doesn’t fix problems. Understanding does.
Social media amplifies everything—good and bad.
It’s a double-edged sword. The instant virality of outrage and misinformation makes crisis management harder. The key isn’t to react to everything but to distinguish noise from signal. Employees often see trends before they become public complaints. Smart leaders listen.
Authenticity is non-negotiable. If you want credibility, own your mistakes as openly as you accept praise. Customers can tell when they’re being fed a story.
Crisis management isn’t just reacting—it needs a playbook.
Aviation has detailed emergency response manuals. Most industries don’t. Too many businesses try to figure out crisis response on the fly. That’s a mistake. A structured crisis framework should cover technical responses, customer communication, and reputation management. The worst time to build a fire escape is when the fire has already started.
The biggest risks? Arrogance and complacency.
Organizations rarely fail because people stop trying. They fail because of arrogance (believing nothing can go wrong) or complacency (assuming things will always be fine). The moment leaders start avoiding difficult conversations, mediocrity creeps in. A company should be supportive, but that doesn’t mean tolerating mediocrity. Excellence should always be the goal.
Every crisis is an opportunity to strengthen trust.
The way you respond in tough moments matters. Stay calm. Be authentic. If you don’t know something, say so. But most importantly, show empathy—because if you’re in a crisis, your employees and customers are too.
Delegation is good. Abdication is not.
A leader’s job isn’t just to set strategy and step back. You cannot disappear during a crisis. Even if someone else is leading the response, you need to be present, accountable, and available. Abdication is not leadership. | | | | NOTE
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Next:
- A full list of our special guests attending the session
- A short briefing note on the agenda
- A 2-min refresher on the day of the conversation
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Team Founding Fuel
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