Living in the present...thank you PDE!

When we talk of a MBA program, most of us can easily identify the professional and academic goals we have during the program but personal goals tend to be a bit more difficult to identify and quantify…but,yesterday, I had my PDE appointment with Lisa and came out of the appointment feeling like I had made a breakthrough in my personal development.

Like a lot of Indians from their generation, my parents left India in the late 70’s in search of better opportunities and they were completely focused on helping their extended families and ensuring that their children had the best opportunities and education. I can’t thank my family enough for continuing to be the backbone of my fantastic life where I have enjoyed a great many privileges and luxuries…a great education system also helped me build the foundations to a successful professional background. In the process to ensure that their kids got the best, my parents (as normal parents, especially Indian parents) constantly pushed me and "encouraged" me to push my limits and strive for the very best…I still remember my dad would say that “Second place is one less than first!” and while I attribute most all my success in my life so far to this motivation….it also led to the fact that through my life, 80% of the time I am unable to live and enjoy the present…

Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong in being super ambitious and goal driven (And I like being that!) but when you are constantly thinking about the next best thing and the next big milestone/achievement, you start losing out on TODAY…a lot of times, I come back home from IMD and find myself naturally drifting in thoughts about the next exams, the ICP, my resume and where that next job is going to be…and for someone like my partner who enjoys living in the present, this is “interesting” behavior to say the least…

So one of my goals coming to the MBA this year was being able to live in today, enjoy it and appreciate it…we regularly spoke about this in my PDE sessions but yesterday, I realized that some of the things I enjoy doing most like driving, cooking and working out/sports are activities that force you to be in the present and keep your senses very focused on the NOW. Why is all this important? – Because in weeks when I don’t have the time to do either, I find myself more stressed and lost in thoughts about the future which further drain me and leads to a less happier me…so it’s important that I continue to make time for some of these activities on a regular basis to be more aware of today and keep myself happy and free of stress…

Some of you might think I’m merely exaggerating a straight-forward PDE meeting but unfortunately, I can’t share all the details since that would expose how “weird” my thoughts generally are :-) however, I can definitely say that the PDE sessions are definitely helping me become more aware, positive and well-rounded, all important attributes for an aspiring global leader but also important attributes to keep happy and content in life....so thank you Lisa!

So last night was Italian –bruschetta, caprese and ravioli and today is Indian – egg and chicken curry with “raita”(a yogurt preparation with vegetables)…and of course, I picked one of the coldest days to go for a run but nevertheless it got me focused on the present and how cold it was!!!

Some finance reading later on tonight followed by the excitement of meeting our ICP client tomorrow….

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment - Buddha 

At your service,

Chef Vikas Menon

 

A mid-week change to break the routine and reflect…

For the first time since I started the IMD program, I am actually hesitant about writing the blog…not because I don’t have enough to talk about or share…but simply because I’m tired and as my fellow bloggers shared, we have been doing a lot of self-reflection and retrospection…this week!

Today, tired from the daily routines, I wanted to break out and do something out of the norm…so after a quick run on the beautiful Ouchy lakeshore, some dinner and a few power point slides, I convinced my wife and we joined a few of my classmates at MGM (the other famous IMD hangout apart from Whitehorse) and whilst the conversations were all around IMD, it felt good to have some sort of a change from a regular school night…

Every once in a while when we get really tired with the lack of sleep, millions of cases, thousands of things to do around the program, job search, networking, resume, ICP’s, etc…I am reminded of my what my dad always said “Life is too serious to be taken seriously!”

Goodnight!

Vikas “routines get to me” Menon​

Leadership experiential 2 and Module 1 results…and thank you Juno!

​As Natalia mentioned, we finished our second leadership experiential this weekend and when the clock hit noon on Saturday, we also received our Module 1 exam results in our mailbox!!!! You can imagine the excitement and anxiety after an already mentally intense weekend at the experiential…

I don’t want to get into the details of the results but all I will say is that I was happy that I performed ahead of my expectations and I was pleasantly surprised with the amount I have grasped in an intense 4 months!

…but more than the exam results, I was extremely pleased with the outcome of the second leadership experiential…the first one was very intense for me and our group but we stuck together and came out stronger as a group and as individuals…hence, the second one albeit intense, was much more easier than the previous one…I was happy to know that a lot of the deliberate changes I have started making in my leadership style had taken flight and my group members were able to tell the difference…and this my dear readers is sometimes the impact of painful intense experiences. I know some of my classmates who are not completely immersed or interested in the leadership experience find it less valuable; however, for me one of the primary reasons I chose IMD is the leadership stream and the results of my second experiential helped me confirm my decision in choosing IMD for leadership…as Prof. Bryant​ often states, “You will get as much as you are ready to put in” and that is the absolute truth about the overall program but all the more about the leadership stream and with the PDE electives, etc

After my NEO test, I remember meeting my NEO coach trying to address/fix some of the potential "areas of concern' in my personality and I remember asking her “what if I try to make all these changes with no success and in the process also dilute my strengths??” and she smiled and said, “Trust me, its too late to lose your strengths after 30 years and as for the changes…remember you have invested a lot of time, money and your career to be at IMD…if you don’t experiment with yourself here…you definitely won’t next year at the work place! Just do it!” so, here I am trying and experimenting with myself as much as I can and thank you my group mates for bearing with me through all these experiments! J

Finally, here’s a story for you…I was running to class on Saturday morning on the verge of being late when all of a sudden I saw my classmate, Juno stepping out of a bus and running in the direction of IMD…she said “don’t wait for me, just run!” and I did, only to slow down later to catch some air and down the hill came Juno and pulled me and kept me running…Thanks Juno for reminding me that amidst all the competition and drive to excel, IMD is really a collaborative effort where we must remember to help each other!!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Vikas Menon

 

Thank you IMD Class of 2012 and the IMD 2013 Social Committee

It’s 1:30 am in the morning and I have a lot to say about our “diverse” experiences today starting from Prof. Carlos Braga’s GPE (Global Political Economy) session this morning followed by Prof. Mike Wade’s innovation class which took us to the Dupont European Innovation center(thank you Dupont & thank you IMD alumnus Sanjar for organizing a great visit!) followed by a “networking simulation” with a leading multinational in Europe where we got to interact with senior executives thanks to Prof.Martha’s OB class……I would need at least 3 separate entries to talk about each of these….but instead, I would like to talk about something we missed over the weekend!......

Last thursday afternoon and Friday were busy days for us at IMD with our final start-up presentations to venture capitalists ...but after all that hard work, the IMD Social committee (Carine, Arthur, Nizar and Juno) organized the first “official” party of the year for us to mark the end of Module 1……and I speak on behalf of the class when I say that it was one of the best celebrations we have ever had and thank you Social Committee for organizing a great event!!!

We must thank the amazing class of 2012 for gifting us a ginormous bottle of champagne to celebrate the end of our first integrative exercise and module 1! I’m not sure how many of you readers have noticed so far(if indeed, we bloggers even have any readers at all!) but the sense of community and tradition is very strong in the IMD MBA family……and many from the class of 2012 have helped us with our applications, pre-MBA preparations and continue to help us with our MBA journey and post MBA goals…..for instance, one of my closest mentors is an alumnus from the class of 2008 who over the past year has been a source of inspiration or for example  - my wife works for a NGO where her colleagues were IMD MBA Partners from previous years and she found her job through our partner support network led by Marcella Rispo(IMD MBA Partner Program Coordinator) who was also an IMD MBA partner a few years ago.....

…so why am I speaking about this today…because when you are away from home and in a completely new place, you need a support system and this is precisely where my classmates(who I meet more than my wife these days J) and the IMD alumni and the community show up and remind you….no matter who you are or where you are…..you will always be IMD!

Thank you class of IMD 2012 for showing us what the IMD family means!

From the IMD family,

Vikas Menon​

‘Start-up’ land…where things are exciting and happy…but are they really?

​In one of my first blogs of the year, I referred to our Entrepreneurship class and our start up projects​. Today, after 3 months of working on our start up project with our entrepreneurs, we finally presented our results and have our final presentations with Venture Capitalists scheduled for Friday morning and this marks the end of our start up projects.

We’ve been spending intense hours in the dungeons this week focused on these presentations and trying to wrap up our projects; and in the many discussions we’ve had about our various projects (rather ‘challenges’ ’seems to be a more appropriate word!), the common theme is the craziness of some of the ideas, the passion of most of these entrepreneurs and their excitement to get their “babies/concepts” out to the world and to capitalize on these innovative ideas. But every one of these stories also has a “not so pretty” side that involves the challenges, the competition, the financial feasibility (or infeasibility!), the fact that many of our groups had to reposition our entrepreneur’s vision or convince him to try something else with his idea…

In our group, we had to reposition our entrepreneur’s current product, develop a new version and help them design a project plan to launch this new mobile app in the ever so competitive world of android mobile apps! Luckily for us, our entrepreneur is very receptive to new thoughts and had already realized that his current idea was not going to cut it but I can’t help but admire his team’s passion to have attempted and tried their ideas for over a year, a year filled with up’s and down’s…launching a mobile app on their own and winning a start-up competition, the many hours of coding and then networking with the tech-entrepreneurial community in the Geneva area…but wait, I forgot to mention that our team of 3 entrepreneur’s had successful careers in a large multi-national corporation and decided to leave all that to pursue their dreams! (Something to this day, most of us can’t understand or imagine)

In these past 3 months, I have learnt a tremendous amount about android mobile apps and about the start-up ecosystem, but the most important lesson for me comes from the fact that after more than a year of challenges/struggles, our entrepreneurs have still not accepted defeat…yet, they are also realistic and are currently looking for full time jobs but are doing that to simply find money to continue feeding their “babies” – their ideas and their vision!

Start-up land is not always happy and exciting but where’s the fun if there are no challenges in life! Now, since it’s 1am and I still have many challenges...

From start-up land, with great respect for our entrepreneurs,

Vikas Menon

Can business education change the world?

When I left Dubai for the MBA, one of the last things a senior mentor told me was “if becoming a executive or CEO is your ultimate goal post MBA, then you are wasting your education..…the real purpose is to use that business education to make a difference in society and help people”

I thought of it for a little but the next question was – How do I balance helping the society with my personal/professional/financial obligations post MBA – for instance, paying off loans, getting started on that “dream career”, the family etc. I know a lot of friends who have always wanted to be involved with NGO’s post MBA but had no choice when they were confronted with loan repayment and other debts post MBA; they had to land a job in the corporate world and then of course you get so consumed by the challenges of daily life that you can easily forget everything about contributing to the greater society in general.

So why am I mumbling away on this topic today – because every once in a while you get to meet people or hear stories about MBA’s making a difference and proving that a Business Education can indeed change the world and help people; and on Monday, we will have an opportunity to hear from Jesper Hornberg (IMD MBA 2008) Founder and CEO of Givewatts​ – A non-profit bringing clean and safe energy to people in developing nations.

“The mission of GIVEWATTS is to provide clean energy to schools and clinics in developing nations. We don’t give to individuals, or to households, but work with institutions in communities, building the necessary infrastructure for the community together with the community, so that they become better equipped to care for their members.”……

“This is not the story of an individual. It is not the story of the founders’ of GIVEWATTS……..Whatever it will be, it will be our story. It involves you and me. It also includes the school children that get access to better light. It includes mothers and their babies that can benefit from clean light in the maternity ward. It includes their whole families……This is a story of that ambition. Our mutual ambition to facilitate change for the better. “

So my dear readers (if I have any) and my classmates, let’s help promote Givewatts and the impact of a business education by visiting the link below and VOTING for them!  (and please remember that you can VOTE everyday!)...and thank you Mathieu Pointeau(IMD MBA 2008) for introducing me to GiveWatts! 

http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/302/contests/316681/voteable_entries/66295822

Thanks

Happy weekend!

Vikas Menon

Escaping Easter: A weekend away from the IMD bubble...

As Natalia mentioned, it’s been a tough couple days realizing that the short vacation is now done and Module 2 has started in full force with a fantastic variety of assignments! J  Hammad also mentioned the many international journeys we have made over the easter weekend!

Thanks to my partner, I enjoyed amazing sunny weather, beautiful landscapes and great food in Nice and Monaco! What can I say about Monaco -  Most times, I have only come across Monaco as a tax haven and the land of the rich with expensive houses, large yachts and fancy cars…so for me, I expected this to be another trip back home to Dubai but I was amazed to see that while many of these things about Monaco were true, the one thing that is not mentioned enough is how beautifully green and natural it is and how the government continues to promote horticulture through the many gardens including the very famous Jardin Exotique and the caves which took us 80 m below ground level! Of course, it’s always a great trip when you manage to come back with more money than you went with (courtesy to Monte Carlo and Nice Casinos!)

 



But when I got back to IMD, I realized that while I thoroughly enjoy most of my days at school, I also do miss the world outside IMD! Most days, it’s extremely difficult to even keep track of world news with our schedule!  Today, once again I was reminded of my previous life when my wife was excitedly watching the first cricket match of the Indian Premier League​ and I had to get myself focused to prepare for our Global Political Economy and Strategy class tomorrow and it’s days like this that I wish life was a bit more normal and easier J

But then I start reading my strategy case prep and I realize how much I didn’t know before coming to IMD, for instance - did you know that the word strategy comes from the greek word “strategos” which means art of the general? In 48 hours of being back in the bubble, we have learnt about globalization, personality and cultural traits that can shape the future of a group and an organization and tomorrow will be strategy! and that’s when I realize, that even within this IMD bubble, I am learning so much more than I did in years of being in the “real world” and that makes this IMD bubble worthwhile and interesting!

More interesting facts coming soon!

Your IMD bubble writer/learner,

Vikas Menon