It was one fine day when I was deeply engrossed in my work, the telephone's shrilling sound made me jump out of my seat. It was Shraddha, our HR-Business Partner. She mentioned that Labs India is going to offer a mentorship program for women in leadership positions and senior leaders like Ferose, Navaneet, Uma, Bhuvan will be the mentors. The moment I heard about the possible mentors my interest got ten-folded. Shraddha wanted to know if I would be interested in such a program. There is a saying in hindi "neki aur pooch pooch" and I immediately blurted out "of course". Shraddha responded back with a throaty laughter, but in my opinion it was a very short & sweet answer :).
We were asked to provide our 2 choices for the mentors. By default, my first choice was Ferose. I was sure that lot of colleagues will opt for him and there is a very thin possibility that I get him as my mentor. It's only later I got to know that almost everyone had given Ferose as the first choice. Having said that, I was quite lucky that he is my mentor.
So, I had my first meeting with Ferose. And you won't believe I actually prepared and noted down all the questions I can ask him. I learnt my first lesson in time management when he asked to take a walk around the campus and have our chat side by side. He mentioned that this way he can also get some exercise. I also got to know that many times he meets his mentor "Dr. Kiran Bedi" while she is on a journey from airport to home or viceversa. My first lesson : There are only 24 hours in the day and one needs to make the best possible use of it.
I have known Ferose from last 9 years, but it is only now I got to closely interact with him. Naturally my first question was, "what was the secret behind his success?", a question which he has probably answered many times by now. I got to know how one needs to excel at work, it could be any task that you perform but you need to deliver it in the best possible quality. Also important is that one cannot rely on past successes. One needs to continously prove oneselves. My second lesson : Be the best in whatever you do. Deliver, deliver, deliver.
I have always found Ferose very approachable. He mentioned how people sensibilities are important in all roles. You need to make people feel that you care and you think that the work done by them is important. My third lesson : People sensibilities are important in all roles.
Well this was my first interaction with my mentor. I look forward to my next interaction. Until then,
Keep enjoying work.
Best Regards,
Priyanka
p.s. If I have not been able to interest you in the blog, it's only due to my shortcomings as a writer and surely not due to lack of substance.
