Chirag Mann from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is one of India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2022!
The following is Chirag Mann's set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst incoming MBA graduates to determine the top-50 Most Promising Incoming MBA students of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Chirag's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his words.
Chirag Mann has completed his bachelor's in English Hons. from Hindu College, Delhi University post which he has 9 months of work experience in Textile business. He is a national-level swimmer and he actively participates in various extra-curricular activities. He likes taking up responsibilities and was also the sports captain in school. He has worked for 2+ years with an NGO named TISA( The Indian Stammering Association) which aims at helping people who stammer.
Tell us more about your extracurricular achievements
I have represented Haryana twice at the Senior National Aquatic Championship and have a cumulative total of 10+ medals at the state and zonal level championships in swimming. I was also the sports captain at my school and was also part of the organizing committee for various sports competitions. Currently, at IIM Ahmedabad I have joined 2 clubs- Mentorship Club and Sports Committee. I have also been part of an NGO called TISA for 2+ years now. TISA stands for the Indian Stammering Association which aims at helping people who stammer. I have mentored people, conducted workshops, and assisted in organizing various events in these 2 years.
Tell us about a time when you messed up, and what you learnt from the experience?
So I wrote CAT twice before securing admission into IIM Ahmedabad. In CAT 2020 I scored 81 percentile, although I had prepared for a good 6-7 months that too with coaching still I didn't receive a single IIM call that year and I felt very bad. But what I learned from my experience was -1) Take help from your peers- I should not have shied away from asking doubts from others, this is one thing which I am witnessing in my MBA life at IIMA, there are things that are better than you, and show you should acknowledge it and try to learn from them and at the same time share your experiences/ knowledge with them.
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
I am a people person and like to interact with new people all the time, when I tell people I used to stammer and still do they don't believe it and are often surprised to hear about it.
What have been your two biggest successes in life? What did you learn from them?
- Till class 9th I was very overweight, although I was good in studies but I hated playing sports or any sorts of outdoor activity but then I took a decision which changed my life, I decided to learn swimming primarily to lose weight as I hated running but soon I started loving this sport, I worked so hard, trained twice a day and the result was that not only did I lose 14kgs in 3 months but I also went to win a gold medal at the state level and represented my state at the national level soon after. All this happened in a span of 3 years! One thing which I learned from this transformational journey was that limits are only in our minds, we are capable of much more than we can think of and hence should at least try before quitting.I have been struggling which stammering since my childhood, earlier it was so severe that I struggled to even say a line, long story short I was worked hard for
- not only months but years to become a fluent speaker. Before my IIMA interview, I was really nervous, out of the 1500 people who called for the interview they were selecting only 397 but when the results came out and I saw my name on the list I was super elated to see it. Again instead of complaining if we focus on improving then success is not too far
Professionally, what is your ideal image of yourself five years from now? Where do you see yourself?
I see myself as a successful manager managing a team of people and ensuring a healthy environment of productivity and growth. My preferred domain to work is in marketing so I aspire to be a brand manager for an FMCG company, directly impacting the lives of consumers.
What is the one skill or characteristic you possess that you are most proud of, and why?
Strong emotional intelligence- this is one thing which I have witnessed many times in my life, hard skills whether coding, excel, software, or anything, these all things can be learned and mastered but having control over our mental state and emotions is something which can't be learned instantly but is built through our experiences and repeatedly pushing oneself out of his/her comfort zone. In my case, I think sports, stammering, academics, and NGO coupled with a few other things really helped me to become more emotionally resilient.
In your opinion, what skills or qualities does a successful manager possess?
- Should know the difference between being assertive and aggressive and cultivate a healthy work culture for the team.
- Ability to handle pressure well
- Should not be too rigid in thinking and should adopt a culture of two-way communication with the employees and not a one-way like a boss.
- Provide honest and regular feedback to the team and help them grow in their career as well
Tell us about an ethical dilemma that you may have faced, and how you resolved it.
In class 10th I came to know that our science teacher who also takes coaching classes for students after school leaked the question to his students. When I came to know about it I was shocked now I had an option to either ignore or take action and report it to the HOD to make ensure that this doesn't happen again. After thinking a lot I decided to ignore it and let it go but the same thing happened again a couple of weeks later. This time I reported this to the HOD, and the teacher was suspended for a week, I felt very bad and guilty upon hearing this but this was the right thing to do.
If you were the CEO of any company of your choosing, which company would you choose and what would your first action be as CEO?
I would become CEO of Twitter and one of my first actions would be to bring an edit button to Twitter upon discussion with the top management about the same.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
Coming from a family of entrepreneurs I think my risk quotient is also high and after working for some years in corporate I'll most probably start a venture of my own