Tell us a little bit about yourself and your professional life after the ISB?

My formative schooling years in the beautiful hill station of Gangtok, Capital of Sikkim, helped me develop a passion for sports, respect for diversity and a balanced outlook towards life. I am extremely passionate about football. I follow and still play the game avidly. Other interests include reading, travelling, music, movies and building social capital. I currently reside in Delhi with my wife Banita.

Post ISB, I worked with Gillette India Limited for two years in Sales and then joined adidas India in 2004. I currently lead the Multi Brand Channel & Exports business for adidas India. As a leading manager, I stand for being true to myself and developing people.

Why did you choose a career in Sales & Marketing?

I chose a career in Sales & Marketing because it gives me the opportunity to interact with the all the stake holders across the entire value chain within and outside the organisation. Sales and Marketing is a fascinating, holistic virtuous cycle where you try to understand the needs of both the consumers and customers and design products and marketing strategies accordingly to address them. On a side note Sales & Marketing is also a great platform to build social capital and leverage social networks.

What was your key takeaway from the ISB?

My key takeaways from the ISB are as follows
• How to analyse a business problem/issue holistically before arriving at possible solutions.
• The context of leadership changes over time but the content does not.
• The social capital and networks that I have built at the ISB.
• The diverse interactions with my peer group and faculty that have helped shape my thought process in terms of seeing the bigger picture as well as balancing the smaller details.

Having passed out from the ISB almost 10 years ago, how do you think the ISB has contributed to your career growth?

It was during my time at the ISB that I discovered my career’s true calling – to work in an industry related to Sports. The ISB equipped me with leading managerial skills and provided me the social networks, which I leveraged to integrate my career with my passion. Hence the ISB has immensely contributed to my career growth as it gave me the strength, courage and conviction to follow my dream and live my passion. I believe that when you have the luxury of doing what you love and loving what you do as a career option, then the by-products - career growth & monetary rewards automatically follow.

What is your vision for the School? What are the strengths that the school can leverage upon and areas it can improve on?

My vision for ISB is called the Vision 2 X
1 X - To be the leading B-School in Asia by 2015 and
2 X (The Multiplier Effect) – to be the leading global B-school by 2025, in terms of course content, research facilities, faculty quality & student profile mix.

The School’s biggest strengths are its social network, brand name and a strong alumni base. The areas it can improve on are: Involving, connecting and leveraging the alumni network, building an exceptional, world class research oriented faculty and becoming truly global.

What do you think is the alumni’s role in building the school? What is an area you can contribute to?

The Alumni can be involved in the brand building process and can contributing to the alma mater in some small/big way. I could help in getting the alumni connected and in organising events.