1The job: What I love at Edelweiss is the constant challenge to think anew, the freedom to innovate. Edelweiss is always open to ideas, encourages experimentation and believes in nurturing an individual?s creative freedom. Here, empowerment and accountability go hand in hand?a belief that if we haven?t tried?we won?t learn. What I love most is working with the youngest leadership teams?the emerging leaders. I have learnt, and will constantly keep on learning from them?their energy, passion, working styles and easy adaptability is always a great and refreshing experience.
Climbing stairs is perhaps the only thing I hate about my job, but I must confess it?s the only real way I have managed to keep fit in a full day job. So I try and climb stairs when meeting different teams on different floors in our 15 floor Edelweiss House. There is a lot of peer pressure to keep fit since the Chairman and half of the management are all marathoners…sigh!
2The weekdays: A normal working day begins at 8:30 am. It is generally the period of calm before the storm…clearing and cleaning up the mail box, quick meets with marketing teams, plans for the week, et al. The Tuesday Morning Huddles are fun?a participative open discussion to generate ideas and find creative solutions?largely blue sky thinking.
3The weekend: Weekends are exclusively spent with my daughter. It?s her time and the plans are hers?be it strolling aimlessly down empty morning roads looking at old buildings, having a late brunch, cycling (she cycling and I keeping up that is…). It?s a mix of the family time, chores time and time for catching up on theatre and friends or sailing away to Alibag.
4The toys: Gadgets for me is more about convenience than the bling! The last time a toy was worth getting excited about was when Apple launched iPhone in 2007?though I still don?t own one?hate the thought of having two phones and nothing beats BlackBerry?s email functionality?so I am rather old-fashioned, preferring hardworking, functional stuff instead of constantly looking over my shoulder to keep up with the Joneses on the one hand and technology on the other. But today, I can?t get over the Google Nexus?a superbly intuitive open source platform- and before this interview goes to print I hope to own one.
5The logos: Brands for me
are not merely about likes but about evoking strong emotions or connect. Brands that are differentiated yet relevant to a well defined segment and ensure profitable returns to stakeholders in the long term are admirable brands. Brands like the VW Beetle, Zara, Virgin or the electric car from Mercedes??The Smart?. These brands have sharply defined and consistent offerings and positioning, remain contemporary and thereby relevant to larger and larger audiences. They have a very clear ?reason for being? and therefore the appeal lies beyond mere functionality?making them iconic! Any mention of brands will of course not be complete, without a mention of the entire slew of Apple products. To me, the Mumbai Dabbawallas and Amul are Indian brands that seem to be built on similar principles.
?As told to Banasree Purkayastha