Philip M P from Xavier School of Management(XLRI Jamshedpur) is one of India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2022!
The following is Philip'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, Philip's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his words.
I am a person who has learnt from life's vagaries at a young age, who believes in working hard and persevering in order to achieve an objective. I feel I am a continuous learner who strives to lead from the front. I have been passionate about sales and marketing and worked in this domain at Apollo Tyres as a Territory In-charge. I have picked up and mastered some invaluable skills like persuasion, sales strategy, dealer management and teamwork along the way. I intend to get into a top FMCG and I believe my MBA will help me get there.
Tell us more about your extracurricular achievements
Awarded National Semifinalist at Inquizzitive Minds with footfall of 100,000+ at a pan-India level. Secured Level 1 Award in Grade 3 (Score: 94%) in Music (Electronic Keyboard)-Trinity College London (International event)
Tell us about a time when you messed up, and what you learnt from the experience?
On October 31st 2020, I met with a motorcycle accident, just a month before the start of the admission tests for MBA. I had messed up, the bike skid because of something that I could have controlled. My femur had been crushed and what followed was a 7-hour long surgery with serious complications. My condition was critical during the surgery due to a huge volume of blood loss. I was fortunate to have gotten out of this alive but I was bedridden during the recovery period which spanned 6 months.I was thrown into what seemed like a bottomless pit. I had given up on life, wondering why I was made to go through this horrible experience. But there was a sudden burst of willpower and determination which helped me get out of this. I wanted to make the most out of still being alive. I focused on my job and it motivated me greatly when I was able to improvise my sales strategy. I actually even went beyond my targets. I was able to overcome a major challenge as opposed to giving up. I am confident that this trait will serve me well when I face major challenges in the future. This experience has changed me a lot and I have embraced that change both personally and professionally. With a strong work ethic and a passionate zeal for life, I am committed to do my best with the life I still have and that has reflected in my most recent achievements. The intention is to only go onwards and upwards from here.
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
As an engineer who has always been strong at math and coding, most people expected me to be good at coding and eventually work in the IT industry as a software engineer. However, I have always been passionate about sales and wanted to avoid a desk job where I had to be in the same office every day for months and years. I enjoyed meeting people, interacting with them and travelling to different places. It was for this reason that even though I was offered one of the leading technical roles during my UG placements, I went out of my way to find a job as a Territory In-Charge responsible for Sales & Marketing in Apollo Tyres. Although most people would think I get overwhelmed with sales targets, I actually enjoy it and thrive under pressure and achieving targets and going beyond it gives me a high.
What have been your two biggest successes in life? What did you learn from them?
- P&G Emerging Leader: Selected as one among 112 from 1100+ applicants from IIM A, IIM C, IIM L, XLRI and SPJIMR. I was elated to be acknowledged by P&G (one of the most reputed FMCGs in the world) as an emerging leader among one of the most competitive candidate pools in the country. It gave me the confidence that I needed before joining XLRI and it helped me realise my worth and accelerated the initial part of my MBA.
- Work achievements:Achieved Apollo Award of Excellence (2019), secured 1st position among 274 territories at a pan-India levelSecured Fast Track promotion to Territory In-charge E2, 1/25 selected out of 300+ sales employees pan-IndiaMy work achievements helped validate my passion for Sales & Marketing and helped me realise that my choice of this domain was right. I was happy that I took the risk to avoid the conventional path that an engineer would take to follow something I was genuinely interested in and it paid off.
Professionally, what is your ideal image of yourself five years from now? Where do you see yourself?
I intend to get into a Sales and Marketing role at a leading FMCG company post my MBA. I intend to fully leverage my learnings and experience during my 2 years pursuing my MBA to hit the ground running.In 5 years time, I plan to progressively grow within the organisation in the FMCG industry while creating a meaningful impact on company operations and revenues. I do not want to limit myself to any specific designation or role and intend to just keep giving it my best each day
What is the one skill or characteristic you possess that you are most proud of, and why?
My perseverance is my strongest skill. After the motorcycle accident that left me bedridden for 6 months, I still did not give up on my ambitions. I kept preparing to get into one of the best B-Schools in the country. There were hours I would lie in bed, keeping my notebooks for my prep along with my work stuff, all within an arm's distance so that I could access it without having to depend on anybody else. I would spend all my time preparing for the exams after work was done for the day. I was determined to not allow my goal, which was to be in one of the top 5 B schools in the country, to be hampered by what happened to me. Also, my journey from being a former fat kid who weighed 117 kgs at the age of 14 to being 85 kgs now, I know that this 32 kg weight loss happened almost purely due to my willpower and perseverance.
In your opinion, what skills or qualities does a successful manager possess?
1)Ability to bring out the best in others: A manager must be aware about the capabilities of his/her team members and bring out the best in them in order to get a high level of team performance.
2)Attention to detail: A manager must be able to identify the nuances of any task that needs to be done in order to get the best out of the solutions.
3)Patience: He must be calm and composed through different situations in order to get the desire results and not lose composure.
4)Hard worker: The manager must have a high level of work ethic.
5)Team Player
Tell us about an ethical dilemma that you may have faced, and how you resolved it.
After-sales service is a part of my job responsibility. As per our company's policy, only manufacturing defects are covered under warranty for truck tyres and not accidental damage. There was a customer who had 2 damaged truck tyres. After an inspection of these tyres, it was clear that the damage was not caused due to any manufacturing defect. The tyre dealer communicated this to the customer. Having heard that he had a monetary loss of around Rs 50,000, the customer reacted in a very bad way. He lost his civility and parked his truck in front of the dealer's shop in such a way that no other vehicle could enter. It was a sensitive issue for the dealer as well because this customer was an important one, who contributed a significant share to the dealer's monthly revenue. I was in office when my dealer informed me about what had happened and I immediately travelled to the dealer location. In spite of a lot of convincing, the customer was not willing to change his stance. I eventually offered to replace his tyres at a 40% discounted price after having a discussion with my boss. He seemed satisfied and eventually left the dealer counter. I was able to resolve the conflict but I advised the dealer to not have business dealings with him again, considering the way he behaved. I told him how there was a line that should not be crossed, no matter how important the customer is.
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 like to be CEO of Zomato since I am deeply effected by the unfair practices that the delivery partners are being subjected to. There is no set average base pay and somebody who works 12 hours a day might earn Rs 700-1000 but would have to spend Rs 400 on fuel. I would work to ensure that the partners are given their fair share and treated as worthy employees of Zomato as opposed to being treated like this.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
I believe that I am a well-rounded individual who is a competent sales professional, musical keyboardist, personality event winner, debater and quizzer. My college PORs which include being Secretary of college music club, Vice chairman of IIIE Chapter for my college and Project Manager of the personality event at Keralas second largest cultural fest.All of this coupled with my academic achievements which include having 93.8%, 94.5% and 8.31 CGPA for my 10th, 12th and UG put me at strong place for this title.