In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2021-23, we feature MBA students who have walked that extra mile and done that little more to stand out! One of those featured in today's story, Himanshu Grover, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve his true potential. Read on and find out how his story!
The following are Himanshu Grover’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top 50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2023. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Himanshu's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his own words.
Name an instance where you wanted something and went out of your comfort zone to achieve it OR Tell us the biggest risk you have taken so far in your life.
I am currently the co-ordinator of iSMaRT the PR team of SIBM Pune. We organize an annual National PR case competition, PRoelio, which is preceded by a grand launch event at the SIBM Pune hilltop campus. This year, we organized a one-of-a-kind cinema-based gala, comprising Cosplay, Games, Short-film making competition inviting participants from the 14 SIU Institutes located at Lavale, Pune. The highlight of the annual event is the launch of PRoelio and commencing of the registrations. It was scheduled for 14th October 2022. We had decided the picturesque courtyard (PMC), in the SIU hostel premises, to be the venue. With all preparations in place and barely 3 hours to go for the event, it started raining heavily. Continuing with the event at the open courtyard was out of the question. The team and I had a clear dilemma, to shift the venue or reschedule the event. The latter was preferable to most, owing to the big logistical hassle of shifting the venue at the last minute and the uncertainty of footfall at the new venue. I was strongly of the opinion to not postpone the event, as the upcoming registration deadline and the timeline of PRoelio relied on the launch event. In the high-stakes, time-sensitive situation, I made the call of shifting the venue to a nearby, covered, open area outside the sports block. The last-minute logistical arrangements, decorations, mobilization of volunteers, set-up and spreading of the word of the change of venue were carried out and the event turned out to be a resounding success.I am a man of planning. I like to run the show as per the pre-decided plans and preparations. This situation, however, allowed me to step out of my comfort zone of preparedness, and still be able to achieve the desired results.Heres a sneak peek into the vibrant event that marked the start of PRoelio 8.0 -
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj3FNPwj5up/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act?
Every event at SIBM Pune is followed by a Press Release that is based on the event coverage done by the PR Team. In one such event in Academic Year 2021-22, a faculty was in-charge of providing the Press Release of the event to select news outlets. I wanted to make sure the smooth handover of all coverage material to the faculty could be used for preparing the press release. The faculty wanted someone from the team to assist in the process. I was not sure if any of the senior members will be able to do that owing to the day-long coverage duties performed. I volunteered to not only help in framing the press release but also to shortlist and edit the photographs clicked. I knew that it would be a hassle for the faculty to stay after 5 pm as she had to catch the bus and ensured her that the press release will be shared with the concerned persons timely. I stayed late till dinner and made sure the event press release was well-formulated and shared before calling it a day. It not only fostered the facultys trust in me and the team but also reaffirmed my confidence in performing under the clock for such an important task.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
I participated and won a podium finish at the Asian Paints Canvas 2022, with my very close friends as my teammates. The case was exciting and relied on the degree of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking and translating that into a feasible, viable business solution for the company. The ideas that my teammate and I had were fundamentally different. Hers being a traditional route, while I eyed a more digital-first approach for the home-dcor segment of Asian Paints. I was convinced, owing to my frequent conversations with a family member who is working in the segment, that a d2c approach should be mastered which can supplement the strong traditional channel strategy followed by the company presently. I convinced my teammates by aligning their traditional-first approach with my digital-first approach and we followed an omnichannel strategy for the case solution. It took a strenuous number of discussions, debates, and primary research which I took lead upon, to make sure that my teammates have confidence in the idea that I was pushing for. The work put into the nights of brainstorming, on-ground research, and benchmarking finally resulted in our final Big Idea, which was a Super App. This highly contended idea led us into the National Finals of the competition and won us a Special Mention by the Jury Award.
What is the one thing you can claim to have some level of expertise or depth of knowledge in - it could be anything - a subject, a sport, a hobby, a venture, an initiative that has led you to do deep work in that field?
I am deeply intrigued by the subject of Emotional Awareness and Emotional Intelligence. I have always found ways to learn and practice these important traits through online research, and self-help books and implementing them during my professional experience at a National NGO for more than 2 years. I also opted for Human Resources' as a minor along with Marketing major, to get have subjects like Leadership and Capacity Building, which delved deeper into the topics of emotional intelligence and how it contributes to becoming a better professional. This subject area has also allowed me to learn several related topics such as human psychology, the functioning of the brain and the limbic system, and human perceptions and emotions. With my keen interest in the field of Sales and Marketing, I am sure my knowledge and experience with the concepts of emotional awareness and intelligence will enable me to understand the needs of the consumers better and in turn, prove to be a proficient (and compassionate) professional in my career ahead.
If 10 Million Dollars (approximately INR 75 Crores) is given to you to use it any way you deem fit what would you do with this corpus?
Ill divide the amount three ways-I will invest the 3 Million Dollars as an angel investor in a promising Bengaluru-based startup Unbox Robotics. The startup aims to revolutionize logistics and warehouse operations using AI-powered robotic solutions. I believe in the long run, this will be a highly profitable investment due to the viability of the solution offered, the need of the hour and the changing face of industry in the favour of rapid automation.The next 5 Million Dollars will be spent on a type of investment which has been my dream real estate. I wish to own properties at famous hill stations in India and transform them into community-owned experience centres for tourists- which will include provisions to stay in, a caf, a library, an open garden, and land for organic farming. These chains of experience vacation centres can then be expanded to other tourist locations, each one a symbolising the local culture of the location.I want to invest the remaining 2 Million Dollars, in making learning and skill-development centres for the differently-abled. Having worked in the non-profit sector for more than 2 years, I have a deep-rooted interest in the well-being of differently-abled youth. The centres will be part of a registered non-profit entity or a trust that will run a highly formalized need-based curriculum for the recipients and ensure assistance in gaining employment post the curriculum. The centres will also have dedicated mental and physical health assessment and redressal facilities that will be run by professionals and paid for by the trust/NGO.
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