Message From MD March – 2022

Dear friends,

Greetings from Management!

“I like to think it’s not always what you know that leads to new relationships and exciting opportunities, but rather who you know – and what they know that you know” – Natalie Slyman.

We are fortunate to retain the highest CRISIL rating for developers in Kerala. For me, it’s a great sense of satisfaction, happiness and responsibility. We had opened our books, process, systems and treasuries to a third party, which in turn looked into it critically and saw who we are. Finally, they know what you know! I am thankful to our team members for their excellent performance, accurate record-keeping and perfect presentations. Today we are the one and only builder in Kerala with CRISIL DA2 Plus Grading, the highest rating awarded to any developer in Kerala.

Your best relationships will share one distinct element: a foundation of trust. The thing is, trust takes time, it’s not an overnight phenomenon, and it’s not transactional. So we have to build trust, and one way to begin is by making it easy for others to like us. It is easier for people to trust you and your brand when they like you. I mean, who’s willing to put their trust in or advocate for someone they don’t even like? The same can be said about the brand’s audience. To trust us, our audience has to like us and to like us, and they need to know us. So our future clients, partners, investors, and employees must like you, trust you, for which they need to know you, for which we have to be open and transparent. The grading and rating exercises help us follow all norms and regulations and be 100 % transparent as we are more exposed than other non rated/graded developers. This makes us different from our competitors.

I’ve always envied people who could graciously accept constructive criticism early in my career. Unfortunately, it seems I was not born with that trait, and throughout my early days of business, I’ve struggled with receiving feedback, even when it was entirely accurate. The moment I hear the words, my heartbeat quickens, and my mind begins to race—first in search of an explanation for the assault on my person and then for a retort to rationalise whatever actions are in question. And I’m not alone. Many of my First Circle colleagues too. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, many of us react with defensiveness and anger or—even worse—attack the person giving feedback. But the truth is, we need to get over it. We know there’s value in constructive criticism—how else would we identify weakness and help us maintain relationships and be more successful in everything we do. The rating process always helps us to learn and listen to constructive criticism. This is the second difference between non rated/graded developers and ourselves.

Comparisons are a normal part of human cognition and can be good for self-improvement. When we compare ourselves to others, we get information about what we want and where we want to be, and we get valuable feedback on how we measure up. However, they can also cause us a lot of psychological pain. Many business organisations do not want to get into this process as they do not want to get exposed to such comparisons with competitors. Instead, they are not willing to take up the challenge. Rating processes have transformed our mindset to accept comparison statements, another difference between non-rated/graded developers and ourselves.

Growth is crucial to the long-term survival of any business. It helps to acquire assets, attract new talent and fund investments. It also drives business performance and profit. It may also help you to respond to market demand, increase your market share and capitalise on your growing brand. It often spurs innovation, allowing you to differentiate in the market and stave off competition. However, to be successful and sustainable, growth has to be strategic and has to happen for the right reasons. If the organisation have the right plans to grow, definitely you need an introspective attitude, which will definitely prompt you to undergo independent third-party ratings. Those organisations without any growth plans will stay back from such ratings.

A true leader must understand that his management skills can never change a universal culture, he can only understand and use them. The fact is that organizational cultures were found to differ primarily in their practices. Understanding where the world moves, where the business evolves and where we stand as an establishment, is very crucial for entrepreneurs with a strong vision. They can’t keep a blind eye on third party evaluations. So if the organization and their leadership are truly exposed to international practice and culture, they will definitely indulge in the process of rating and grading to lead their company to greater heights.

One of my colleagues conveyed some of the comments by different players in the industry about external rating, a few days back. I felt that there is a need to establish the reasons for us going for CRISIL ratings and their importance.

Wish you all a wonderful FY closure, by achieving all that projected and happy days ahead.

Regards
Sunil Kumar V
Founder & Managing Director
Asset Homes.