We all grow up idolizing someone. For me, it is my father. An early riser, he would open his shop at 9:00 am sharp, irrespective of the weather or his mood, and welcome customers till 10:00 pm. He taught me that discipline is the definite mantra to success. Today, his Dedication, Discipline and Determination have become my 3D principle, guiding me in decision making and helping me become a formidable leader.
During my on-job training at ICICI Manipal Academy, I applied this principle, merging it with spontaneous thinking. As the captain of one of their cricket teams, instead of following traditional norms, I weighed the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents, to decide the line-up. In a particular tournament, based on how physically strong the opponent appeared, I decided to begin the game with spinners, instead of pace bowlers. Result? We won!
Later, I also got the opportunity to build a team for the Sales Mela. Our task was to sell notebooks and maximize profits within 7 days. Knowing it was only an academic project, my team was absolutely disinterested. So, I asked them to sell notebooks in front of the girls’ hostel. Their enthusiasm skyrocketed! We sold 2,000 copies and booked substantial profits. While my team won the competition, I honed my team-leading and tactical skills!
When I joined the ICICI Bank as BSM-Mortgage, I proactively learnt about policies and products, which led to my transfer to Gwalior. Here, I handled 7 spoke locations and around 15 branches at the age of 25. As a leader, I set up a new team, supporting and motivating them to increase the numbers. Due to my performance, I got promoted, won the BoW contest twice, and became the Best Home Loan(HL) RM in MP.
Eventually, I shifted to Indore, where again, I was allotted branches with zero business. Extensive monitoring later, I detected the issue being a lack of knowledge about HL products among employees, and decided to train them individually only for 5-15 mins. This technique worked wonders and all the branches began profiting within 3 months.
Following the 3D principle has helped me adopt varied business strategies, align the workforce optimally, and learn crisis management. A strict daily routine-based approach helps me get the required numbers on board, on time. I believe in ISB too, this magic mantra will help me deal with various academic and non-academic challenges, with flair!