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I missed a great opportunity when I missed a chance to appear for an international examination during my 9th class in school. We had an option to appear for an exam in Delhi when we were in 9th class for a course in a foreign university conducted by our school. Since I wasn't ready to travel and it was during the holidays I just passed on the offer to the next guy. It so happened that the other guy who attended has qualified for admission and was the only person from the entire south Indian region to make it to the course. He was revered in school later for his achievement. Even though I have no regrets on how my life panned after it, I still wonder how life would have been hadn't I missed that opportunity at such a young age. I learnt the value of opportunities from this experience. When an opportunity presents itself to you at least be aware of what you might be missing by passing on it.
I'm a very punctual guy and am very particular about deadlines. I also have a keen attention for detail and can spot minor details that generally escape from being perceived. As most people know me as a chill person they are generally surprised when they see my work ethics and me being so particular about it.
The first one is as follows: During the final year of my college, we were playing the Intra college cricket tournament. I was the captain of the team and we lost the first group stage match. The match was considered a walk in the park but we ended up losing and 3 of our players were injured. We had another match the next day and the team morale was pretty low. That afternoon we gathered after lunch, had a comprehensive review of our performance and decided to give our best shot the next day since we have nothing to lose. I being the captain shouldered the blame for the loss and motivated the team to give their best shot not thinking of the result in the next game. We ended up winning that game and also comprehensively winning the final against the same team we lost to earlier. That day I understood the real value of a victory and what it can do to teams and their relationships. The fact that it was a team achievement more than an individual achievement makes it even more special to me. The second one is: I have been the founding member of Food for Hungers, a registered NGO working to feed the poor and homeless on weekends. We also undertook ration distribution drives during floods in various areas of south India and also fed 200 people a day for 100 straight days during the first phase of the covid-19 lockdown in the country. I have been the organizer for blanket distribution drives in various localities to the homeless beggars during the winters. Our team consists of highly motivated individuals who love to serve people and the mutual respect is what drives our organizational operations. This part of my life taught me a lot about the satisfaction one can get by just being good and doing good selflessly. Although people argue that there is no such thing as true altruism, helping people still has a great feel about it.
My short term plans after my MBA is to pursue a job in either strategy or general management roles preferably in a startup or a good company that give me enough exposure to the various nuances of business management. I would like to be seen as the good guy more than the best guy in the office. I would like to be the reliable guy who you can go to for any problem and also be thorough with my assignments. Success according to me isn't what that's measured in economic terms or the status of a person. For me, success defines a state of happiness without a care in the world. For me, real achievements are those that impact not just you but your entire society as a whole no matter how small you define it.
Perseverance is the characteristic of mine that I like the most. I rarely give up just because I encountered an obstacle. My motivation keeps rubbing on people and they keep mentioning that my perseverance is something that really defines me for them. Perseverance has been my guiding light through a lot of tough times in life. This along with my efficiency had won me many accolades over the years for being the only one to complete things a lot of times.
I believe creativity and the underlying ability to think innovatively is one of the most important skills of a manager. A business has only two functions: marketing and innovation. This famous line from Czech-born writer Milan Kundera sums up why innovation holds such importance when it comes to successful managers. The corporates are looking for candidates that can not only think creatively but also offer innovative suggestions to tackle the problems and put out realistic growth plans for the projects they are involved in. Innovative thinking also helps candidates set themselves apart from the crowd. Business leaders, especially those walking out of top B-schools are required to handle complex problems. The corporate world today is full of competition and therefore there is near zero tolerance for any mistakes or goof-ups. It is in these situations that a managers skills at innovative thinking come to the fore. Then I believe comes in communication and people skills which are very important for a manager to convey the organizational aspirations and get the best out of the workers.
In our fifth year of graduation, we were supposed to do a research study and submit our thesis as part of our curriculum. My team chose a retrospective case study on diabetes drugs and their efficacy. As part of the study, we were supposed to collect the blood glucose level data of the patients and their HbA1c values. After we started the study the hospital ran out of HbA1c kits and stopped performing these tests for the patients. My team suggested to do away with the test and fudge the data regarding it and tailor the study accordingly. But this would affect the authenticity of the study and the results. So I disagreed and talked to them about the significance of the study and motivated them to try other avenues for funding regarding the testing. We finally raised enough money from personal contributions and also raised money from our project guides to ensure that the study was finished as planned.