It was the year 1996.
I was in my 8th standard, now please don’t start guessing my age 🙂
My father came home from the office. He had a guest along. Those were the days
when you didn’t have a mobile phone, so letting your family know before getting
a guest home wasn’t the norm. The guest was a young management trainee from the
top-notch IIM. He was a young achiever.
He was a smartly dressed, well-groomed 25-year-old young man. He had
joined my father’s organization, an MNC which makes the best chocolates.
My father was very keen on the guest sharing with us (my brother and me) how he
fared in his X and XII std. It was more of an indirect goalsetting exercise for
us by our father.
On the other hand, I was more interested in knowing how he cracked the IIM; how
does one prepare? How to be successful at a young age?
We lived in Gwalior, a town in MP, now an aspiring smart city. Whenever a young
achiever visited my father from the HO (Head Office) in Mumbai, he would bring
them home.
He wanted to give us indirect goals to achieve above 90% in boards. But here
I was, nurturing a different dream: To pursue management. I knew getting 90%
isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and I was keen to understand what these achievers
did after scoring those marks.
All I wanted to do was pursue an MBA degree, just like the guests, my dad called
home. I wanted to develop the qualities that made them successful.
I wanted to get the right career breakthrough like them.
I wanted to be capable and deserving enough to share my journey in the future
with aspiring young students like they were doing.
Years went by, and though I didn’t have the aptitude to crack an IIM, I did pursue my
MBA specializing in HR.
Dad wanted to inspire us to do something big.
Be better than him.
Be more successful than him.
His idea of making us interact with young achievers worked.
He gave us reasons to dream.
He encouraged us to be surrounded by achievers. To be part of an environment that
motivated us to think and grow big.
I couldn’t impress him with my marks, but he succeeded in his attempt to make us
successful.
What do you think? How important is the role of the environment in one’s
success?
What made you pursue an MBA degree?
If you resonate with my story, comment below who inspired you to do an MBA.
I would be happy to read your comments.
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B.Jayasree
I am a Corporate Readiness Expert and an HR Consultant with over 14 years of experience. I am on a mission to help a million students to be Corporate Ready.
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