It was a cold Saturday morning during end-January 2010. I was reading the Harvard Business Review (HBR) magazine outside the office of the Chairman of Café Coffee Day (CCD).
It was a ritual at CCD that every 10 days, Late Mr. VG Siddhartha would meet the All India Business Development Team which I was heading, along with our CEO, COO and the Operations team.
We would display the potential real estate opportunities on a PPT, with my colleagues joining virtually from all across India. By the end of the meeting, we would collectively take a decision whether to lease or not the space, based on various metrics.
I was just into the role, and it was my 4th meeting or so with this elite group.
When the Chairman came out of the Conference Room from the previous meeting, he saw me waiting outside with a puzzled look. This kept repeating over the next 2 times. The 10th floor was access-restricted, which means only a select few could access it.
A couple days later during a one-on one, my CEO told me to come only after he sends me a BBM (remember!) & not earlier. I gave a blank look to which he enquired what was the reason.
I said, I come to the 10th floor a tad earlier, just to read the HBR magazine as I couldn’t it afford otherwise to buy. Now, he gave me a puzzled look too.
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| When I met the cafe team at Dharmshala, 2010 |
Ahead of the next meeting, my CEO told me to come early and read the HBR, as advised by the Chairman. The news had gone to him, after all.
I was a bit surprised and embarrassed at the same time; but then it was ok to chew my ego & read the HBR magazine when possible. And that’s what mattered finally.
16 years later, I was taking the evening cab from Hotel Taj Lands End after the completion of the first Module of the Senior Leadership Program (SELP) offered by Harvard Business School (HBS).
I kept staring at the Mumbai skyline 360*. When I was crossing Kurla, I wondered how the baby born at Sion Hospital 5 decades ago, was now a big boy and was a student at the prestigious Harvard University (Mumbai camp).
And he would soon become a Graduate (fingers crossed) at the Boston campus of HBS by the end of 2026!
All through the 35-min drive (which felt almost eternal), I was gathering all that happened during these past 15 days.
I was slowly absorbing what I have learned from four top Professors who had descended to India from Boston, exclusive to teach and to share their knowledge with us.
The 46 incredible people in our batch represent various industries, vocations and businesses, from all across India, the Middle East & the Philippines.
It would take me a lifetime, perhaps, to understand the kind of impact that this year-long course would create on a professional like me.
I had embraced the Retail Industry at a young age of 19 almost by chance, as a waiter scooping ice-cream at Baskin Robbins in Chennai in the year 1997.
Ever since, I have never looked back away from the Indian Retail Industry. Not that the other industries (or countries) are any less attractive or financially rewarding, but my roots were and are in the Indian Retail Industry and I shall remain here forever.
The Leadership lessons from over 30+ case studies that we have discussed, disagreed, debated and left them open-ended – for, that’s how cases are done - with my Professors and batch mates were an eye opener on Leadership.
After all, one of the key roles of a Leader, according to me, is to be a good listener first.
Before we meet again in less than 12 weeks, we have a lot of reflections (and perhaps some executions at workplace as well) to be done on what has already been taught, as well as take up other online assignments as part of the Course.
When Prof. Stefan Thomke asked me a few days back about the course and my leaning towards it, I simply said, “I didn’t sign up for this Prof; I thought it was a going to be a 3-feet swimming pool where I could play and have fun and lo behold, this is an ocean. And by the way, I do not know swimming either”.
But then, I do not have a choice but to uphold the values of being a student (and later on, an alumni) of the world’s most prestigious “Harvard” badge. I assured him, I will do my best.
As Amitabh Bachchan would quip in a different context in the film K3G (2001), “Prampara hai beta, Paramapara hai…”
Loving this avatar as an eternal student of Retail. And I have Miles To Go, after all.
