1 The job: One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is riding with our customers across India, and having them tell me ?Thanks for changing my life?. The pride and privilege of working for Harley-Davidson comes together in that one moment.
One of the things I hate is when I have to miss a regional rally because I have to travel abroad or attend to other pressing matters to keep our operations running smoothly.
2 The weekdays: I am an early riser, a habit I formed when I was in the US Marine Corps. I am up by 5:30am and go for a workout (a mix of kickboxing, strength and cardio) from 6:30am to 7:30am usually with my trainer , and on days I am in town, I am at the office by 9:00am. I look forward to the first hour at work to collect my thoughts, run through emails and quick to-do items. After that, it is various discussions scheduled with my team, our partners, our plant and my colleagues around the region, to keep us focused and aligned on our plans. I hate long meetings, and prefer short conversations and phone calls.
However, one meeting I look forward to is my weekly operations meeting on Monday afternoons where my core team gets together to focus on how we can continuously improve in serving our dealers and customers, share updates, tackle any outstanding issues, look at our forecasts and plans for the next few months. Outside the office, I look forward to speaking engagements where I have the opportunity to talk to groups of professionals or students and inspire them with our brand story. My other passion outside the office is as a board member on the United Way of Delhi, where we partner with sponsor companies to fund community development projects in education, health and skill development and support their CSR goals.
3 The weekend: If I am not attending a Harley-Davidson event on a weekend, I protect my time so I can spend it with friends and family. Between kids? activities, and meeting up with friends and extended family, the weekends seem to fly by. My wife and I enjoy exploring new restaurants around Delhi and Gurgaon, and are frequent visitors at Speakeasy?a great bar and restaurant in Gurgaon. We also love attending new art gallery exhibitions. We recently acquired a new painting from a wonderful new gallery in Delhi called Art District XIII. I like to ride by myself over the weekends, whenever possible and this doubles up as my time to think and reflect on the week gone by.
4 The toys: My iPad is my key companion while on travel?for reading books, for sampling music, and staying in touch with family and friends through Facetime. For work, I still swear by my BlackBerry for email and overall business productivity?I will keep my BlackBerry as long as I can, even if I am the last man standing.
5 The logos: I have a strong loyalty to brands that have served me well over the years, both in terms of quality and customer service. My watch is an Omega Seamaster; for shoes and boots I wear Cole Haan or Johnson & Murphy; and for luggage, it’s been Tumi since my crazy travel days as a consultant. For casual wear I prefer Diesel and Boss, and jeans from AG and Citizens for Humanity. Dress shirts and ties are Thomas Pink and Brooks Brothers, and my workout gear is Nike, including the shoes. For Indian attire, I have acquired suits and vests from Raghavendra Rathore and love them. When travelling, I prefer the Oberoi in Mumbai and Bangalore, and the Taj Coromandel in Chennai. And for riding, it’s Harley-Davidson’s FXRG line of high-performance riding gear, from head to toe.