Shivam Nakod from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore is one of India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2022!
The following is Shivam Nakod'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, Shivam Nakod's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his words.
I hail from the city of Amravati from Maharashtra. Born and brought up in the hometown, I did my engineering from Government College of Engineering, Amravati. Ardent linkedin networking helped me getting the front end consulting role at Draup - Zinnov based out of Bangalore. Owing to brief but meaningful experience in the sphere of management consulting, I decided to go for formal education in management and converted IIM Bangalore and all other old IIMs, FMS, XLRI etc. My academic credentials :10th- 95.40%12th- 93.38%B.Tech- 8.23 CGPA Work experience : 16 Months at Draup/Zinnov Management Consulting Ltd Bengaluru.
Tell us more about your extracurricular achievements
Following are the extracurricular activities that I have been a part of -A. Sports : Fencing : I was a part of school team as well as I represented my UG institute at university level championship. I have also represented my district at state level championship as well. B.Positions of responsibility - 1.Debate : I have been part of a few debate competitions, awards in few of them and went on to serve as a "Debate & Personality Development Secretary" for the Institute. 2. Annual Magazine : I worked as an member of the magazine committee initially and went on to become "Co-Editor" of the English section of institute's annual magazine. 3. Oratorical Festival : I was a "head organizer" of the annual oratorical festival of the Institute. 4. Technical Festival : I worked in a sponsorship team of the technical festival and went on to become "Overall Co-Convener" of the Institute's national level technical festival, one of the largest technical festival of central India that raised around Rs. 2 M in sponsorships and profits of around Rs. 0.5 M.C.Social Media : 1. LinkedIn : 4900+ followers (Highest in IIMB PGP 22-24 batch) 2. Facebook : 1200+ Friends 3. Instagram : 850+ followers on personal account and 400+ followers on a undergrad meme/hangout page 4. Twitter : 160+ followers with Honourable director of IIM B following me
Tell us about a time when you messed up, and what you learnt from the experience?
I was assigned on the US-based mRNA CoVID-19 vaccine manufacturer's Go-To-Market strategy for vaccine launch in Japan and EMEA. It was by far the toughest and yet most impactful project I was assigned too. I was happy as well as nervous. We had our first round of discussion with client stakeholders across the 12 countries. I started working on the requirements along with my colleagues. In the next round of discussion where we presented the set of deliverables, the stakeholders on the client side were extremely upset on the one of the project components that I was heading. On discussing further, we got to that the requirements were exactly opposite for the said component and it was solely my fault as I couldn't get the requirements right due to some miscommunication. I was panicked. I was scared. But to my surprise, the project leader called me immediately and applauded my efforts to handle the situation. We regrouped internally and our CEO also joined us and helped me in outlining the solution overview. Given the blunder I had done, I was scared that I'll be kicked out of the project. But to my surprise, not only my seniors helped me but also talked with client stakeholders again for an extension deadline. I started working on the component again and finished it before the deadline. The project was very important from business and impact point of view. We were prone to lose out on a part of project due my mistake. But due to the robust backing and belief I had from my seniors, we pulled that up. There were few learnings that I had from this series of events :1. Paying utmost attention and clearing all the doubts on client requirements can sail you through lot of challenges you might encounter. 2. Keeping calm and never loosing confidence in the critical situationThis helped me not only professionally in next set of projects but also in interview rounds of all reputed Institutes.
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
There are very few things that others might find surprising about me :
1. I have had my index finger cut into two parts when I was 8. Undergone a surgery and it was succesful and I got back my finger. Got to know that, there were very few cases in the world (success probability:1/5000) where this surgery was successful.
2. I can make 4*4 magic squares
3. I have applied and interviewed for almost 30+ analytics & consulting firms in India while I was on a job hunt for a front end consulting role.
4. I have aced the highest peak in Maharashtra - Kalsubai twice.
What have been your two biggest successes in life? What did you learn from them?
I would like to talk about two major success stories of my life :1. Reversing Grade 4 Fatty Liver : During the first wave of CoVID-19, I had very sedentary lifestyle and I gained around 18 KGs. I was diagnosed with grade IV non alcoholic fatty liver. There were no medications as such other than changing lifestyle and loosing weight, as suggested by the doctor. I started working on this. 20 KMs of cycling daily (in 55 mins) along with strict diet plan and active lifestyle helped me reducing 16 KGs in 6 months and liver back to normal. I reversed the fatty liver condition. This has been by far the most important highlight of my life. 2. Getting into IIM Bangalore : IIM B was a dream. I lived in Bangalore due to my job. Didn't go to Bannerghatta road due to the reason that I'll only on that road after converting B. It was my third and last CAT attempt. DILR was a nightmare for me and IIM B gives maximum weightage to DILR section. But, I aced the DILR (have written on this separately in an InsideIIM article)and made it to IIM B. I owe a lot to my family, friends and mentors. Grateful. Humbled. Excited.Learnings : Nothing is impossible. If you're determined enough to put in everything you have, you'll be successful. Believe in yourself. Think long term. Execute short term and trust the process. Learnings : let the efforts compound irrespective of results (in this case, mock scores) and you'll see the results gradually. Be consistent. Be patient. You'll see the magic. For CAT aspirants - Trust me, you'll do it better when the odds are not in favour of you.
Professionally, what is your ideal image of yourself five years from now? Where do you see yourself?
Given the learning opportunities and exposure the IIM B pedigree provides me, I would like to build on the strong foundation of management education and work in a front end consulting role devising wide impact solutions across the world. However, few years down the lane, I might venture out as a second generation entrepreneur with the business ideas that I have. Talking from a 5 year period point of view, I see myself as a consultant adding value to the business organizations worldwide at my fullest potential.
What is the one skill or characteristic you possess that you are most proud of, and why?
I believe the "Problem Solving" skills that I possess are an asset to me and I am truly proud of that. As evident from my various personal and professional projects, I have always received praises for the same. I am proud of it because it has helped me reach milestones in both professional and personal fronts.A structured thought process backed by clear reasoning is what makes my problem-solving skills considerably significant. The problem-solving abilities allow me to devise impactful solutions and add value to each and every person I encounter with.
In your opinion, what skills or qualities does a successful manager possess?
In my opinion, a successful manager possesses the following skills :
1. Leadership: Ability to lead the team comprehensively
2. Empathy: It is imperative to be empathetic to understand your employees
3. Flexibility: While the manager has the privilege to take decisions but the flexibility in accommodating different school of thought is an asset
4. Problem Solving: One of the most important skills to sail through professional careers of any sort.
5. Stakeholder Management: Managing the stakeholders is by far one of the most complex tasks in the corporate structure. Having sound stakeholder management skills, the manager can have an edge in every other aspect in a professional setup.
Tell us about an ethical dilemma that you may have faced, and how you resolved it.
It happened during a B.Tech project in which I was part of a four-person team. We were focusing on lowering the power usage of IT systems. Our preliminary research indicated that we could minimise consumption by roughly 11%, and we provided this information to our guide. However, during the course of our deployment, we were only able to accomplish a 6% reduction. Other members of our team wanted to tinker with the numbers and show the 10% to 11% reduction. It was sort of an ethical dilemma for me. But I was adamantly opposed to fudge the numbera, and I persuaded my teammates that it's all about the process and execution. I offered that we work on this project voluntarily after a few months to refine the technique, and we settled on a figure of 6% and presented it to the group. Professor applauded the efforts as he knew the reduction would be around 5%-6% given the methodology we are using.
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?
As NITI Ayog (planning commission of India) works like a company and has CEO post as well, I would choose to become of CEO of it. I believe NITI Ayog has enormous potential that not only pertains to the policy but also the broader overview of country's development. The first decision/recommendation I would make is around the education system of our country. Fixing the education system and bring the skill based value addition to the course framework of various academic disciplines would be my go-to missions.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
I run a telegram community named "Non-Tech with Kaizen" where I guide and mentor students from tier 2/3 institutes to break into consulting, analytics, product management, business development, and marketing roles. Given that I come from a tier 3 engineering Institute, it's imperative for me to work on providing the right type of guidance to the folks who want to break into business-oriented roles right after completing their studies. My mentees are currently working in analytics firms like ZS, Tiger analytics, etc, and some interns in PE/VC firms as well.