Mr. Swami Krishnan shared the mantras for achieving success in life with the new students. He urged the students to understand what success means to each one of them.

Success is not a sprint; it is a marathon. He also emphasized the fact that it is important to succeed, but it is critical to be content.

“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time”. – Steve Jobs

Mr. Krishnan urged the students to “Stay Current” referring to Habit 7 – Sharpen The Saw – envisaged as being very important by Stephen Covey in his famous book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”.

Mr. Krishnan stressed the importance of developing three critical attributes – strategic thinking ability, technical and people skills. The ability and skill of managing people are difficult. It can only be acquired through a sincere amount of practice. He further stated that as humans, we are unique, so if we do not differentiate ourselves from the monkeys, we will just be led by the pack. He told the students that they have to make efforts in order to acquire knowledge and build their skills. If they do not do so, they will only know how to interact with their cellphones.

Mr. Krishnan emphasized the fact that the power of a network is proportional to the number of nodes which are connected. The power of a network depends on the amount of learning one can actually gain from being a part of the network. The importance of building and maintaining one’s “social reputation” by engaging in responsible behaviour on social media can hardly be underestimated.

“The value of a network is proportional to the square of connections.” – Bob Metcalfe’s

Mr. Krishnan next focused on the importance of stress management. He emphasized the fact that smoking, drinking or social media engagement will not help us in managing stress better. In fact, we have given control of our lives to social media by excessive engagement on whatsapp which is harmful in the long term from the point of view of one’s productivity. Many young people are being diagnosed with mobile addiction disorder so the practice of psychiatric medicine will be the fastest growing profession in India.

“It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” – Hans Selye

Mr. Krishnan focused on the need to “Stay Fit” and asked the students to go for a jog and engage in meditation in order to take care of their physical and psychological well-being.

“Take care of your body; it is the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn

The next principle stressed by Mr. Krishnan was “Simplify”. Rather than focusing on acquisition, we need to declutter. The principle we need to follow is – “don’t just acquire, start giving”.

“Our life is frittered away by detail – simplify, simplify” – Henry David Thoreau

Mr. Krishnan next urged the students to learn the habit to “Save Money” by delaying gratification. The ability to save is also about being content. So we need to give up the blind rush to acquire and focus more on contentment in life.

“Delayed gratification is knowing the best is not right now, it is yet to be”. – Maximillian Degenerez

Mr. Krishnan asked the students to focus their energies on “Service” as the ability to serve sets us apart. Selfless service of people in our lives is responsible for where we are today. He then focused on the value of “Spirituality” and stated that management without ethics is of no value. He gave the examples of Phanish Murthy in Infosys and Ramalinga Raju, founder of Satyam who ruined their careers due to lack of integrity. He asked the students to read the book, “The Difficulty of Being Good” by Gurcharan Das, and emphasized the point that it is much easier to take shortcuts in life than to stay on the right course. The reputations of individuals and organizations can be destroyed due to lack of ethics and integrity

Building The Brand You” by Mr. Ganesh Kumar Ramanathan, Director, Strategy & Operations, CISCO India

Mr. Ganesh Kumar Ramanathan delivered a very encouraging and insightful talk on “Building The Brand You”. He told the students that each one of them will create different opportunities. They have to create and manage their brand on their own. This is important as they will be impacting the businesses they work for in future. They are both the brand owner and the brand builder. He stated that rapid change is leading to digital transformation but the fundamentals of the business will remain the same.

Mr. Ramanathan enumerated the five Golden rules of Brand Building, which are as follows:

1. 1. It takes time to build a brand.

Be clear about your goals and be patient.

1. 2. You are unique. Create your own brand.

One has to create one’s own identity. One has to believe in oneself and think that one is truly unique.

1. 3. You are unique, but never indispensable.

It is helpful to remember that the world keeps evolving and humans are mortals.

1. 4. Don’t compare yourself with others or compete with other brands.

It is important to focus on one’s strengths and not start a rage bull kind of race with others.

1. 5. Brands go through tough time. Resiliency and consistency are important.

The grit shown to overcome challenges defines who a person truly is. It is also critical to balance conflicting priorities in life in order to be successful.

Just as it is true for an organization, the brand building for an individual requires one to focus on defining the vision, mission and values that will define and guide one’s career path. It is imperative to focus on one’s values as if one loses them, then one is lost and without a map. In order to find out what our “core” values are, we must identify our strengths, our interests and then try to see if these strengths and interests benefit others or not.

Mr. Ramanathan then dwelt on ways one can use in order to define one’s personal brand. He urged students to keep the following important points in mind:

• Who you are and what is your position in the industry?
• What are your values and how do you want to get them across?
• What are you most knowledgeable and passionate about?
• What do you want to achieve with your brand?
• How will you best communicate your message to your target audience?
• Who is your current audience and what kind of audience would you like to attract?

It is crucial to focus one’s energies on one’s strengths and be clear about what one wants to achieve. It is also important to communicate with people and build one’s target audience.

Mr. Ramanathan then outlined the main pillars of “Brand You”, which are as follows:

1. 1. Ambassadors are crucial.

One has to be a great teammate and supportive colleague and only then can expect others to help in one’s advancement.

1. 2. Have a real value.

It is important to be an exceptional expert in something which has real value. Marketing one’s brand can give one the needed push or break, but marketing cannot help salvage a poor brand, so the value of one’s brand must be focused upon.

1. 3. Define your horizon.

It is critical to be a broad-gauged visionary – a teacher, a leader, a farsighted “imagineer”.

1. 4. Follow a pragmatic approach.

It may be helpful to think like a business person and be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes.

Mr. Ramanthan encouraged the students by stating that they have time to build their attributes and yet must be prepared to reinvent themselves at various points of time. He substantiated his point by referring to the book, “What got you here, cannot take you there”. The importance of mentorship or seeking advice from experts in one’s field can hardly be ignored.

Based on the concept of transforming from a “fixed mindset” to a “growth mindset”, outlined in the famous book written by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Mr. Ramanathan shared various mindset shifts that managers must make in order to achieve individual and organizational goals. For example, having a “fixed mindset” makes one believe that the skills and intelligence one possesses are “set and hence cannot be changed”. However, a person with a “growth mindset” believes that his or her “skills and intelligence can be grown and developed”. Also, in the face of tough challenges, a person with a “fixed mindset” may want to “give up”, but a person with a “growth mindset” will tend “to persevere and work through the obstacles by showing more grit or determination”.