Episode 16 - Milind Kher

Hello everyone and welcome to a new episode of We Rise Wellness Podcast. Today we have Milind Kher with us. Milind Kher has an enriching experience of over 35 years in various industries. He has contributed immensely in the area of sales, marketing, and HR at various organizations. He developed a keen interest in training, and he is also the CEO of HQ since 2014. He is an emotional intelligence expert, neuro-linguistic programming trainer, life coach, and a wellness evangelist. At HQ, he designs and delivers various trainings for corporates in NLP-driven sales, 6 Thinking Hats, Negotiation Skills, and Leadership. Hello, Milind, and thank you so much for coming today to this podcast. We are so, so humbled and obliged that you could take out time for this podcast. Thank you so much for joining us.

Yeah, Neetu, it's my absolute pleasure to be here with you, and I'd love to share my thoughts and whatever feedback I can give.

Great, thank you so much, Milind. So Milind, tell me, I mean, uh, from, you know, the corporate life to being a trainer, you know, from being sales and marketing guy to being this trainer, what was that moment of transition? What made you, you know, make that shift? Something changed? What is the story, Milind?

Yeah, the thing is that, uh, you know, I have one thing in common with Gen Z, I like to be happy about that, that they like tremendous autonomy. And that is what I wanted also. So I thought there's a lot of stuff that I can do if I am the person who's taking the ultimate decision. So therefore, for my creativity, for my innovation, and for my autonomy, I felt that I should be, you know, running a business rather than working for a business. So here I'm very happy to be running a business in HQ.

And what is the special interest in training? Why special interest in training? And then so many certifications on NLP, life coaching, and, you know, being a wellness expert. Why training?

Okay, so, so, so as far as training is concerned, there are, there are two organizations in which my role involved a lot of training. So one was in ITC Limited. Where ITC had introduced a concept of trade marketing. Now, this had to be cascaded across the country. So I traveled to different locations cascading this concept, and it was very successful. So I was glad to be able to be a part of it. And the other was in Tara, where I was responsible for the recruitment of training and training of people from 31 outlets across the country. So I found that, yes, I do have a flair for training. And since, you know, I bond very much with people, and therefore I found that I should specialize in emotional intelligence as well.

Right. So that brings me to the next question, this emotional intelligence training. What exactly do you do in this emotional intelligence training, Vilen? I mean, it would be really helpful if you could shed some light.

Hi, so first I'll just share a very, very simple definition of emotional intelligence. So it is, uh, understanding our own emotions, it's understanding the emotions of others, and crafting a behavior appropriate to the context. Now what I do in terms of emotional intelligence is that I work with applications of emotional intelligence, okay? So emotional intelligence, while it is a very vast subject in itself, people are not so keen to explore the depth of the theory. People want to know how it provides solutions for them, how it works in their daily life. So I have selected 3 principal areas in terms of emotional intelligence. So, so one is leadership, another is sales, and the third is Customer Relations. These are the three that I focus on. Of course, EI touches every aspect of our life, but these three is what the corporate world and even businesses find useful.

So, you know, emotional intelligence in sales, this sounds interesting because if, you know, we can use emotional intelligence in increasing the sales, I think that would be a big seller to the corporates. I mean, what are the techniques that we use in, you know, sales? When it comes to emotional intelligence? Can you, I mean, help us with that?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So people buy on emotion and they justify on logic. Okay, so whenever people are buying, and you can especially see this when you're talking of jewelry, when you're talking of clothing, that time, you know, the emotional appeal of whatever is being sold is phenomenal as far as the customer is concerned. If there's a, if there's a diamond necklace being sold, just a diamond necklace by itself means nothing. But when you weave a beautiful story around that diamond necklace, and you talk about how fantastically it suits the customer, and how that, that diamond necklace is, you know, going to get them recognized in society. And it creates that kind of thing. Or you, or you take a guy who's going to a car showroom. Okay, now, if you just talk about the safety features, and how many gears it has, and all that, that's fine. But, but if you're able to tell the person that, look, this car is meant for somebody who loves driving. And it hits 0 to 100 in 8 seconds. And, you know, you know, this is a car which is a low maintenance car, because of the, you know, powerful parts that we have put into it. And therefore, it's meant for macho people like you. So, you know, all those things, they really get to them. And once a person is emotionally convinced, then they will do whatever it takes to make that decision. And then they will satisfy their minds saying that, no, no, I made a logical decision. This car offers value for money. This car has got so many safety features, all that thing, you know. So similarly, the woman buying the diamond necklace also will emotionally buy that diamond necklace. Then, then she'll say, that yes, jewelry is a very good investment, you know, it will only appreciate. So I think I've made a good choice, and you know, that kind of thing.

Yeah, the emotion is actually the language of the subconscious mind, and subconscious mind does not take logical decisions. So I think what you're trying to mean here is that, you know, hit the subconscious mind of the person who's trying to buy your product. If you are able to convince that, then they will, you know, they will automatically make that decision and try to reason what actually, you know, they have decided, basis emotion, they'll try to cover it up with logic. I totally get that because I have read a very famous book, Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff, which specifically tells about this concept of selling.

Yeah.

That you have to first hit the lizard brain of the person because people take emotional decisions. And I think that is a very important tool in sales. I'm Thank you so much for bringing that up for today. And tell me, what other kind of leadership training that you are doing, Milind, which is creating a larger impact in corporates? That would be really helpful to know.

Okay, so there is a need, Neetu, for recognition of emotional intelligence at a higher level. What is happening, unfortunately, is that leaders are rewarded for the volume of business that they bring in and for the profits that they get. So therefore, they don't focus much on the people aspect, they focus on the volume of business and profit. So, you know, yesterday there was a video that went viral.

It's going still viral, that HDFC Bank thing. I think the company itself has lost so much credibility after this. Went viral, and it's not good for the company's reputation.

Yeah, yeah. So, so, so, Neetu, you look at a guy like that, okay, whose video has gone viral, what a poor example that sets. And on the other hand, you look at a person like Richard Branson, who is the owner of Virgin, and his fantastic people-friendly policies. And previously there was Jack Welch also, And if we talk of the Indian context, we have people like Sir Ratan Tata and Anand Mahindra.

I am an ex-Tata Steel employee, so I know how it feels to be part of that kind of organization. I could not find that culture anywhere else. And finally, you know, I had to quit my job because I just couldn't adjust anywhere else because Tata Steel was like my first company.

Yeah, yeah.

And they pampered me so much. I felt like home over there. And nobody else could, you know, make me feel like that later on. So I think, yeah, Mr. Ratan Tata, he's a legend. He's a legend.

So, so all Tata employees feel that way. My, my boss is also ex-Tata because she's from the Taj Group of Hotels. So yes, great, superb.

So Milind, uh, try, you know, can you share some experiences that, you know, your trainees, your mentees have come and told them about the kind of impact that has been created on them through the emotional intelligence training that you provide. Do you have any stories to share?

Yeah, so one story, I mean, there are many stories, but one story that I feel especially good about is that there was a person who was put under my charge in training in ITC. And he had come in as what is called an ITC pupil. And then after bonding with me and training with me, he told me that, you know, it has made a huge difference to his life. And he gave me a LinkedIn recommendation. And today he's heading Amazon in India.

Wow, superb, great. So tell me, Milan, with all your, you know, experience and your, uh, you know, all the trainings that you have provided, that one thing that you would want to leave your audience with and you want us to know that this is what you need to be aware of and, you know, take care of when it comes to your emotional intelligence, that one piece of advice and wisdom that you would like to share with the audience.

What would— Yeah, what I would say is that very, very integral to emotional intelligence is the concept of authenticity and ethics. So, so if you bring authenticity and ethics into your work, you will automatically find a lot of doors opening for you. In the initial stages, it can be difficult, but later, you will thank yourself for it. So that is one thing. And the other, always remember that there's nothing more important than people. So that's what I'd like to say.

Yes, that's great advice, Milind. And, you know, being true to yourself, being true to the people around you, I think that is the idea of living life virtuously. And that's how you create the right impact and you feel good from within because, you know, our mind deep down knows when we are doing something wrong or we are doing something right, and it will keep haunting us if our mind knows that we are doing something wrong and we keep doing it. So that is a very good piece of advice, Malin, and thank you so much for this. Thank you so much for coming to the show and sharing your wisdom with the audience over here. We are delighted, and once again, thank you for your time. Really, really humbled for you to have on our show.

You're most welcome. In fact, I'm so happy to be on your show. It's an honor and privilege for me. Yeah.

Thank you, Milind. Thank you so much.