Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts

10 June, 2022

My travel travails and why I love them


After a long while, I travelled all through the week and in one of the most favourite parts of the country – Northern India. Though the summer was a killer, I enjoyed every moment being there – doing what I love the most in life – observing consumer behaviour at high streets and malls, interacting with our customers, staff, franchise partners, mall owners and the entire ecosystem. Some great food all along – wholesome North Indian stuff was a bonus. 

View of the New Delhi railway station

This is my 25th year in Retail and I’ve been travelling almost 45 weeks a year, 3 days a week for over 15 years now, mostly on work. Though it’s mostly just one Boss to be accountable to, managing a fairly young & a cross-functional team and being a part of a mature, mid-sized organisation is quite a challenge. Here are some quick learning that I have acquired over the years. While all of them may not be doabe by everyone, am sure some of this could be useful to a few discerning ones;

The itinerary

This is the most important part of the journey. I have always believed that the journey is as important (and exciting) as the destination, its quite important that one plans their journey time-table, including the choice of flights / trains / local accommodation. A poorly planned itinerary is the beginning of chaos to come during the trip. 

A shirt holder that I make the best use of

The right luggage

While there is no secret to packing the right quantity and quality of luggage, let me tell you it always is a science and an art. A fairly planned set of clothes – 2:1 ratio of shirts to trousers usually does the work, whether casual or formals. Extra sets of inners always helps, just in case of an emergency. 

Meeting schedules

This is one area where things can go awry – due to a client or a business partner not turning up in time or the most common reason in India for getting late to meetings – bad / congested roads + traffic snarls enroute the meeting place. It really helps adding a 15-30 min cushion ahead of the next meeting including the travel time. If you end up early (to the meeting), there are anyway enough emails and messages on WhatsApp to respond to.

When in the North, do like the locals!

Food / Drinks – the lure

Any business trip is incomplete without a fair dose of local cuisine. After all, what’s the point in sweating out so much if you don't eat well during the journey. But then, I can tell you out of experience, it always, almost always helps to avoid over-eating during business trips, especially if you like loaded stuff or spicy outings. Alcohol, while is an extension of our night life and leisure, may put you out of the best that one can appear, especially in front of the most important people you’re set out to meet the next day. Abstinence during the business trip is among the best though a bit of indulgence is not a bad idea.

Emails & Calls

One thing to keep in mind is when we travel, there could be chances that we miss reading & replying critical emails as well as end up skipping regular review calls / VCs. One trick that has always worked for me is to keep clearing emails while on the move, that is from one meeting to another. That way, the email box always remains light and we are looped in most of the time. While its important to reschedule regular review calls or VCs during the trip, it also helps to have it first thing in the morning, right after breakfast, in the same hotel room, to ensure privacy and quietness which one may not get while on travel. 

Sleep & Rest

This is most important part of the entire journey and the least focused one. Most of us get very groggy (or smashed) when we wake up the next morning because of our “other priorities”. As I said before, it does help to avoid a heady dose of food / alcohol which can put your resting time out of zone. But there is a trick which I have been learning over time. Even when not travelling, I am conditioning my body to sleep for 6 hours – call it yoga or what you will. But a good 6-hour sleep during the night will go a long way in having a very productive day.

Lastly, make time for yourself. For making calls to the family and close friends, laughing off silly jokes and forwards, reading stuff you like, taking photos and writing or posting on social media, doing fun things and to just stay still to see the sunrise and breathe well during the business trip. All work and no play make Jack & Jill dull. So go there and make the best of a business trip next time.


03 January, 2021

Thank you 2020. Hello 2021.

More than anything else, I once again learned to unlearn a lot of things in the year that passed by that was 2020. I learned, yet again, that Change is the only constant and over time, we realise that “Change” in any form is good. Honestly, when I look back 365 days behind as the train was chugging in to the Mysore Railway Junction on the morning of 3rd Jan. 2020 around 7.30am, little did I realise that I would come this far. I was on my way to take up the new assignment at Kushal Nagar as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Levista Coffee, where the parent company SLN Coffee Pvt. Ltd. is head quartered. As always when I take up a new assignment, I went with an open mind, so I can learn as much as I could and decided to take up the new role, one day at a time. Within a few days, I had settled down in the Company’s Guest House in Bangalore and spent a good amount of time trying to understand the various aspects of our business, Industry, colleagues, external & internal stakeholders. 



I would avidly look forward to returning to Chennai where my family lived. And it was quiet emotional for me to leave on a Sunday night often even as the kids would get in to all gloom for not being able to see me in person for 2 weeks or so. Until one day, everything turned topsy-turvy and life took a 180-degree turn. U Turn, if I could say so. From mutually missing each other, at one stage it felt like an over-dose (not really!) that we spent 150 days precisely under one roof, thanks to continued lockdowns. In the first 2 weeks of the first Lockdown, life came to a standstill, literally and figuratively. None of us had much to do other than watch News channels in multiple languages to get different perspectives. By mid-April, there was some action slowly on the work front but still we were all locked up at home with limited chances of stepping out, even to shop necessities. 



A chance visit to a local retail store and my Father seemed to have picked up the dreaded Coronavirus which eventually moved on to my Mother. Little did he realise and when he visited our home one fine morning to deliver vegetables, we panicked and rushed my parents for tests which proved positive. Meanwhile, my daughter picked the infection from him, her sister from her and my wife from them. I tested “Negative” being O+ve (or for some strange reason) and was blessed to take care of the family for the next four weeks until things settled down albeit very slowly. However, it was in May ’20 that Levista achieved a historic highest monthly sale followed by another historic Sales milestone in June. And I was here, in my bed as I write this article, seven months ago when all members of the family were fighting an unknown infection. 




The fact that we as humans were so vulnerable and life is too short was a shot in the arm for me from those days and I vowed to be ever so grateful and thankful to the Creator and Mother Nature for bestowing whatever we have today. From sighing that I had lost crores of rupees on my StartUps over 5 years since 2014, to being happy that my Parents came back home in flesh and blood from the hospital after treatment and that my wife recovered though slower than anticipated was the last nail in my box of worries. From that day onwards, I have been the happiest if all members of my family woke up the next morning and lived a basic, normal life. 



My second XUV500 AT was 2 years old when I joined Levista. This was my sixth vehicle in 15 years after self-driving over 2,75,000 kms all by myself across India on work & leisure, I was contemplating an upgrade to a more posh German beast in the coming months. That’s when I had to call a mechanic to jump start the engine of my beloved XUV whose battery went dead due to no usage for weeks together! How things change… From planning to buy a new car, I decided to sell the XUV so I can save on the EMI since I had almost NIL travel during those 6 months. I ventured out from home on the 151st Day on 10 Aug. 2020 to Bangalore well equipped with E-Pass for an Up and down Travel and have driven 13,600 kms till date on my beast ever since. The entire discussions of Levista’s partnership on Bigg Boss Tamil Season 4 feat. Padmashree Kamal Hassan was decided and finalised during one of those long drives between Bangalore & Chennai. Every 40-50 mins, I would stop at a Toll Booth and make calls, internal and external to seek views. What a drive this has been – I mean the ones to Bangalore / Chennai as well as life overall. And many such discussions while the Office driver was behind the wheel including Zoom Calls with my iPad perched behind the seat. 




In the middle of Nov. ’20, our team completed the total Turnover of FY 19-20 and that was a moment to celebrate with fellow soldiers even as they ventured out carefully everyday those 8 months fighting an unknown enemy that Covid-19 is. A big round of applause and hearty thanks to their family members for allowing their beloved to go out and conquer the world. As is the case of MS Dhoni, I realised that all the noise in the stadium (read: my surroundings who kept cheering and booing me!) was insignificant as long as I don’t take it too much to my heart. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, don’t get very upset when something unfortunate happens and don’t get too ecstatic when something very cheerful happens. Easy to say for you, Dear Lord as you are the Creator and we are mere mortals. 



Listening 15 mins daily about the epic Mahabharatha narrated by a noted and eminent scholar Velukkudi Shri. Krishnan helped me immensely for the past 225 days. In his daily bulletin, he would move the story as written by Guru Shri Veda Vyasa and narrated by Sage Vaishampayana to King Janamejaya. It was so timely that there would be gems every few days which had a direct impact on my daily life, personal and professional, that it was surreal to hear those advices.



Even as I ended the Calendar Year professionally with a first ever Virtual Media Launch on 28th Dec. ’20, with our new flavours of coffee and the much awaited mass market variant - Levista Supreme Instant coffee, it seemed to be a memorable, meaningful and a successful year that I completed, much to the chagrin of my detractors, happiness and joy of my well-wishers and with the constant love and encouragement of my immediate family and a few close friends. Without the unstinted support of my Management and my colleagues at work, this journey wouldn’t have been this smooth – even if I wish to call it so. It certainly has been the fastest, toughest and perhaps the most fulfilling professional journey I have had in the past 24 years in Consumer Retail. 



I started the year (lockdown) with virtual classes for MBA students whom I was teaching offline until Mar. ’20. Over time, this virtual address became a way of life with me having spoken at over a dozen Webinars as well as my 4th consecutive year at BIL Trichy teaching the Retailing Elective for the second year students. While I didn’t miss my walk through during the lectures – my laptop screen would be off and I'd keep walking in my room as I gave the lectures using my bluetooth earphones, I really missed my campus stay at the guest houses, the morning walks within the sprawling BHEL dwelling in Trichy, the food feasts and of course the much awaited train travel. And yesterday, I addressed over 100+ MBA students of XLRI Jamshedpur, a session which I must have presented at the campus in the third week of Mar. ’20 to the previous batch.



Of all things, I learned to appreciate life as it is; from what we have to seeing what others didn’t have and to compare ourselves to be blessed than them. We cannot change the system, the nature and destiny. But we, as humans are blessed with the knack of converting adversities in to opportunities. That’s a choice we all wake up with. For Ex., I sensed an opportunity that the Out of Home Coffee Consumption and Workplace Coffee consumption could be coupled with incremental household consumption, add to it the WFH woes and the initial days of adjusting to the new normal. After 8-9 months, it sounds boring to hear or to utter the phrase “The New Normal”. It is, rather “normal” and it shall be so all along now. 

While I didn’t have time, rather didn’t make time to learn a professional course or start gaming on one of my i-devices, "i-learnt-cooking" was perhaps the proudest moment for my me and more for my Mom rather, who still is unable to come to terms that I could take so much interest in this “art” which she has been an expert at that I have shown no interest for the past 30 years! Other than exploring life from different perspectives, it’s been a yet another adventurous year for me. So, thank you 2020. I am clear about my destination by 2030. But until then, I shall enjoy the journey every day. As I always say, the Journey is as important as the Destination. #Miles2Go 



31 May, 2020

The Power of Scheduling

It was the second week of April 2020. Three weeks into Lockdown 1.0, a broken supply chain, employees and team members dispersed all across and most retail stores closed, it was one of the toughest moments in my professional life. That I had a roof and secure four walls, three meals to eat, a lot of snacks to munch and salaried job – the real luxuries of the Corona-crisis made me feel a lot luckier than the millions who were displaced world over. And that I was staying with my wife and kids – I had come on a work trip to Chennai on 13th March and remained here ever after through the lockdown – was the happiest thing I could enjoy in life. Honestly, we have never spent such a long time together within a single precinct all our lives!


Yet, I was beginning to crack under pressure – workwise as well as managing household chores including mopping the floor intermittently, washing vessels, drying and folding clothes among other things all day. To get a peaceful uninterrupted 7-hour sleep was becoming a challenge. I am usually a reasonably disciplined guy. I cannot fathom that my bed is not done within a few mins of waking up; a small slush on my white car and I get it cleaned as soon as I could; from rotating my shoes, watches and dresses on FIFO basis to booking darshan at Tirupati 4 months in advance, it’s been a usual rigor. After all, when you are the son of a Factory Worker whose salary gets deducted for late attendance and a schoolteacher mother who must arrive before the students come to school every day, this is just a way of life. 


Even as I was struggling to manage things better, was when I recalled I should speak to one of my professional mentors, a former boss of mine whom I’ve admired for his multi-tasking Leadership abilities. Working with a popular Promoter Entrepreneur, managing a team of a dozen high-flying direct reports and handling a Retail business spanning the length & breadth of the country, I couldn’t think of anyone better than him to seek advice and assistance in my Leadership role at Levista Coffee which I began in January this year. I too have a similar professional assignment at the moment although the complexities are quite different and a lot lesser, so a comparison may be inappropriate. 



A scheduled 60-minute call with him helped me sort out my stuff quite easily. 

To begin with, I created scheduled buckets of my time for all my key tasks – regular VCs with direct reports, allocating time for emails, for clearances & providing approvals, Meetings with external stakeholders, Interviews with Candidates & Media interaction and so much so, that I also included “Lunch” on my Calendar. Keeping my EA involved in all my day-today business activities helped immensely so he could follow up on important tasks from others and revert to me as per schedule. And most importantly, absolutely no out of turn calls or VCs unless it’s tearing urgent. All my day's activities get captured in the iWatch which my beloved wife gifted me 5 years back and the device keeps reminding me of my schedules  as well as measures my sleep patterns (through the Sleep++ App) and my daily fitness goal - how many steps I walk inside home. This is such a blessing. 


I also included slots to, don’t exclaim, Read Newspaper & Articles as well as for my Daily dose of Yoga at 6am! In exactly one month’s time, my entire day has been well sorted out and results are showing up. My Blood Sugar is well under control, I sleep and wake up on time with my 5am routine, spend enough time to read 4 Newspapers and a couple of Articles early in the morning and of course, write and share my thoughts regularly on social and other public media. I ended up doing Four Webinars each weekend too. 


And on the work front, not only have I been more efficient, my team has also done a spending job in the month of May and we have set new business standards for ourselves. I cannot thank my former Boss enough for that timely intervention and take this opportunity here to acknowledge the same. I hope this schedule gets better, so I get more efficient in June and beyond. 

How does your time management go about? What's your kind of Scheduling of Tasks? 


20 March, 2018

Travel is an Incredible Opportunity

I have been travelling regularly on work for over a decade now. As a kid, my travel (mostly by bus & train) for outstation trips was limited to 2-3 times a year. My first business travel was in 2002 when I was called for an Interview by Shoppers Stop in Mumbai for the role of a Supervisor for their Chennai Store. I negotiated hard with the HR guy to get me a flight ticket although it was out of bounds by their policy. I flew Air India – a noon flight onward and a 2am flight for return since that was the lowest fare. Then I started flying across South India to expand the business of Benetton in 2005 with monthly visits to Delhi to our HO. The first visa on my passport was in 2006 and well, it was for Switzerland where I went to learn Travel Retail which I was implementing at Bangalore International Airport (BIAL). I flew to Singapore First Class onward and Business Class return for the first time, to speak at a conference on Indian Aviation in 2008 with my tickets being sponsored by the Organisers.  Travelled to 10 countries across Asia and Europe during my stint at BIAL. My domestic travel peaked during my stints at Café Coffee Day in 2009 where I set-up 140 cafes pan-India and thereafter at Royal Enfield Motorcycles in 2012 where I set-up 160 Dealerships across India.


Those days, I literally used to live out of a suitcase, travelling 3-4 days a week, more than 40 weeks a year. It was a lot of fun although tiring. But a sense of accomplishment looking at my professional achievements down the years. I have met many people at Airports – from childhood classmates to celebrities to politicians to academicians to Industrialists and a long list of personalities. I even travelled with a person of the third gender from Hyderabad to Bangalore once and trust me, it was some experience I would say.

Since 2014 my travel reduced to almost 10-15 days a year when I chose to become an Entrepreneur and started my offline Retail venture Smiling Baby in Chennai. I restarted my travel since 2017 when I began focusing on my Consulting Assignments. Interestingly, I have travelled over 45 weeks during the past 52 weeks, mostly by train since I prefer taking an overnight journey for distances less than 500 kms.


I have always travelled in a/c coaches this past year and mostly in the 2nd A/c Coaches since the bills are paid by my clients. I have always wondered why & how some people manage to fly Business or First Class and have done a lot of searches on this topic online. Empirical data suggests that those who fly in higher classes are more productive upon arrival in their destination cities. They get to sit comfortably, sleep on a flat bed, read a lot, get less distracted while working due to fewer passengers and hence are refreshed by the time they arrive in the next station. Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi is a classic example – we have seen him fresh as an Apple just the day upon arrival even after trans-Atlantic flights!


I travelled on 1st a/c last night from Chennai to Madurai and this was so comfortable. Even in 2nd A/c, sometimes I get side upper or lower berths and I have seen my productivity nose-dive the next day. But the 1st a/c coaches are so comfortable. The berth is wider, fewer people, lesser banter and more comfortable a/c with a bigger pillow and nicer rugs. Trust me, the day after such comfortable travel is not just a more productive day but also a happier day, which boosts morale and work efficiencies. I travelled in 3rd A/c a week back and had a upper berth onward and lower berth up on return and it was not even just uncomfortable but very frustrating. The next two days were a nightmare.


This is not to demean the millions of people who travel in non-a/c coaches or other means of public transport. Travelling comfortably works best for me to increase my productivity and I believe, to each his own. Her own. Whichever mode, travel is a great opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and understand life better during the journeys. 

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