“I WILL” will always beat “IQ”

This week I had an opportunity to have a fireside chat with COEP (College of Engineering, Pune - my alma mater) alumnus Nitin Paranjpe at a truly amazing COEP CXO Global Meet. His charisma, humility, clarity of thought and his snippets of professional experience (The latest as COO at Unilever) stole the limelight! I had to bring some of his quotes straight to you:)

“The only difference between a manager and an entrepreneur is the relationship between the two alphabets “A & R”. Managerial mindset is where ambition(A) is equal to resource(R) .....While there’s no entrepreneur worth his/her salt who would ever allow there to be any relationship between their aspiration and their resource” - CK Prahlad’s words that stayed with Nitin.

“I was driven to be the best I can be and being the best I can be is up to me. I like it when the locus of control is within me.”

“Each one of us has near infinite capabilities within us. But we are so afraid of failing that we don't have the courage to imagine something bold and stick our necks out.”

“I WILL” will always beat “IQ”

“Firstly, as a leader, create a vision which is collectively inspired and individually relatable! Secondly, everyone wants to be a hero. Create conditions where someone has a chance to do something heroic!”

“If you aim for a global role - build a global perspective and recognise that softer aspects are just as important.”

“WHY you do something is probably more important than WHAT you do. Do the things that give you fulfillment and joy. It won't feel like work, it will feel like fun.”

“As a leader, find a way to give meaning to the seemingly mundane things we do.”

“Intelligence is a great quality, it will take you far. But intelligence combined with humility is an irresistible quality.”

“If you don’t confront an issue, the issue doesn’t disappear. The longer you wait, the bigger it becomes. The cheapest thing to do is solve an expensive problem now. Confront the issue on time.”

“When your chips are down, your team doesn't need you to doubt them. Your team needs you to build their confidence and give them hope.”

“The nature of the pyramid is such that sooner or later someone younger, someone smarter, someone brighter than you will get ahead of you.” 

“Work is important but it is not your life. Don't define yourself by work. This doesn't mean I am relaxed or casual or that I don’t care. It means you do your best but after all that, you leave the result. Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don't.”

“If you obsess about the NEXT job - you will never be better than someone who is 100% focussed on the current job.

Many thanks Nitin!

CC Sujit Pardeshi, Anup Sable, Nishad Dravid, Ankita Chordia, Sudhir Agashe, Shrinivas Mahajan, and Suruchi Wagh