Remembering Sanjay Dada

The past few days have seen tributes to Sanjay Gupta, Sales Director and Chief Operating Officer at Stonefield Flavours, from friends and colleagues in the business. It's amazing to see how he impacted so many people's lives during his time as a leader at several companies. How do I recount Sanjay's story while I absorb his passing and try to find the right words to pay tribute to his life? Although I only knew him for a few years, his influence on me will never fade.?

Here are the things I saw, what I discovered, and how his approach to developing relationships has benefited me both personally and professionally.

Sanjay always had his clients in mind and worked extremely hard to deliver the "numbers" for the business and value for his clients. Sanjay cherished his clients! He constantly put his customer's trust and satisfaction first. He frequently advised me to put my attention on developing relationships first, and everything else will fall into place. Everywhere you went, you could hear him repeating things like, "Get connected," "Go visit them in person," "What are you doing for the customer," and "Why should they buy from you - are you solving their problem?"

Sanjay loved his colleagues as much as he loved his friends and family. He was the HAPPIEST when we made his people happy. He believed in people and their abilities, he always pushed people to do their best. His meetings were raw, they were real and they talked about issues out in the open. He got people to go straight to the point and solve problems. He said this is what I am here for, this is who I am, now let's stop wasting time and go get results. That’s the ‘Sanjay Culture’ – ownership, accountability, inclusivity, and most importantly, his faith in you.

I never got the feeling that he ever looked at his job as ‘work’, instead, he felt THRILLED to be in the office every single day. People who have worked with him throughout his career would understand exactly what I mean when I say that you simply had to be there to understand his love for his profession. Was it all worth it? Yes, it absolutely was because that was his journey and that’s what made him happy. Sanjay lived his life doing what he loved most and doing it for his people.

I started the Stonefield journey with him from a small service apartment and he built the company to what it is today. We can proudly hold our head high and say we are the fastest growing flavour house in India. Sanjay brought us here!

No challenge was too great, no ask was ever too daunting - he just simply made things happen! It is humbling to think how our lives would have turned out so differently had it not been for one man – Sanjay Gupta.?

Live on Dada.

Stonefield Flavours