Finally today I had some time to kill. After a really long time, I had some time and I did not know what to do this Sunday. So decided to take time out to reply to all the pending mails and also read some of the ISB blogs. It was an interesting experience. I wish my class too had had a few more bloggers. The one year at ISB flew past like it had never existed. Today when I look back, what has stayed with me the most has been the understanding that there is still a long way to go and many more brilliant minds to work with. I probably use only 20% of what I learnt there as far as the academics go. In fact, most of the days, it’s not even that much. That is in terms of financial calculations and marketing concepts. Maybe I am able to understand the business of telecom better now and feel the need to keep track of competitors, emerging business models and have an eye out for a new opportunity to strike gold.

Otherwise, management most of the times boils down to common sense, people skills and presence of mind. I guess "management is common sense" has become a cliché of sorts but I think I understand the importance of presence of mind as I move up the ladder. When you are given the kind of responsibilities that a management grad is expected to handle, it is extremely important to be aware of the situation around you and have the presence of mind to understand, talk and react to the situation. I was extremely poor at this before ISB. I used to always feel the freedom to speak my mind unmindful of the changing pace and meaning of the discussion I am going through. I don’t know why I have changed or what I did in ISB that has seemingly changed me. What I do certainly now is listen more. That way, I do not give myself the chance to miss the plot but at the same time, afford myself the time to think through what the other person is saying. I was reading the book, "What they don’t teach you at HBS" by Mark McCormack when I was at ISB and I still remember the amount of emphasis that he put on the well placed pause in a conversation as well as the importance of striking common ground quickly in a conversation.

The other day, my boss told me that he had had no complaints about the way I had performed (which was in a way worrying). He went on to add that it was people skills that were the difference between me and the others (who were non management grads). It was heartening to hear. Though I fear many a time that I do not know how to act tough when the situation demands, I do certainly act soft and less impulsive nowadays. ISB certainly had an effect there. Before ISB, I was sort of the king of my world. Top ranks at school, topper at college and a great performer at work. ISB brought me down to earth. When you are battered with the kind of diversity, brilliance and smartness that you see around yourself, you begin to realize how important it is to know how to handle a world full of people who are either as brilliant or more than you. The student diversity works in many ways. One, the academically brilliant show you how important it is to know how to work with sharper minds and how important it is to not stop to challenge and push yourself to greater heights. The other students who are not so brilliant at the grades but have some special talent, be it anything, show you how important it is to read, understand and respect people for what they are. There were many fellow students on whom I had formed an opinion, which, as the year went through, I realized was completely wrong. Throughout the year, each person I got to know showed me something special about him or her that shattered the opinion I had formed.

I remember discussing exactly this with some friends and they reflecting the exact same learning. It is very easy to underestimate people. It is very easy to form opinions. But if you want to lead and inspire a team, it is extremely important to reach out and find out more about each person your work with. Everyone is special in some way. A leader has to be sensitive enough to find that out and nurture that. That special talent motivates and drives that person to work passionately. And passion at work is one of the best ways to extract success out of people.
Another factor that is important is to occasionally at least put yourself into a crowd in which there are a lot of people that are better than you. Going through humbling experiences time to time in life is very important I feel. Such experiences teach you a lot, remove complacency and bring you down to earth. If taken positively, they leave you with calmness and a determination to push yourself to greater heights rather than enjoy the accolades that you are receiving.