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In 8th grade, I got tremendous stage fright in a city-level personality-based competition, called Horlicks Whiz Kids, and I made a fool out of myself on a stage in front of 2000+ people in an auditorium. This episode haunted me for many years, until I decided to face my fears and, in 12th grade, I participated in that competition again, and this time, even though I didn't win, I went all-in with confidence, and sang a song, even though I'm terrible at singing. My confidence was particularly commended by the judges, and I consider this a seminal experience in my life, which has helped me grow a lot.
I have co-authored a case study, which has been published by Ivey Publishing, which will be used by B-schools to teach case solving.
1) Converting all colleges whose interview I gave even though I got only a moderately good percentile, including SPJIMR, IIM Indore, Shillong, SJMSOM(IITB), IIFT Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, and all CAP colleges, and then finally getting into my dream college, XLRI Jamshedpur. I worked really hard, and these results mean a lot to me.2) Learning to play the Ukelele. Even though this might not mean much to most people, I am really terrible at music, not musically gifted at all, so this was really tough for me, and I was really happy to finally succeed.I learnt perseverance, and the virtue of not giving up from these successes.
Ideally, I would like to be working in product management in new and exciting technology areas, in a role that allows me to travel as well.
Resilience. When I was six years old, my parents, both doctors, were involved in a car accident. My mother was hospitalized for many months, but she survived. My father didn't. After this incident, I mourned for a long time, mentally distraught and angry at the world, and generally, I made everyone around me miserable. However, with time came acceptance, especially as I saw that my mother and sister were going through an even tougher time, and they were keeping a brave face on. I became more accepting of life and learned perspective. I have seen truly dark times, and this has given me the strength to handle life's biggest challenges as and when they come.
A successful manager should have interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills and core competency skills. But that is the technical answer. In qualitative terms, I believe a manager should be innovative, compassionate and loyal, above all else, because these will cover all aspects to get success in the job life.
At work, a senior colleague of mine once asked me to share data with him which, even though not sensitive, was confidential in nature. I withstood the pressure, and did not accept his request, because sharing data in a service company is a strict no-no, even if the data was harmless. This was later appreciated by my manager, when the news got to him.
The company would be Exxon Mobil. Even though this is a great and innovative company, however, I believe that there is great scope to transform it towards a better future, integrating the traditional energy sources with cutting edge and renewable sources. My first decision would be to invest the sizeable profits of Exxon Mobil into renewable energy, so that Exxon Mobil is prepared to ride the wave of renewable energy when it truly hits, instead of getting submerged by it.