A Thoughtful Gift from Sudhir - Much Appreciated

 When I first met Sudhir while getting feedback from the leadership team at Backflipt, I was thoroughly impressed. He had one all his research and was fully prepared - apart from knowing my story, the books i had written, the film I was involved with, he also knew the number of blogs I had written and could put that into perspective. I knew right away that this was a person who was finely organised, who thought ahead and was highly organised with his time and effort. I also found out his highly creative side when he shared his short films with me (which I will share on my blog).

Then during the cricket match, he came on time, and not just he - he got his entire team with him except one. His was the only team that was so organised which meant that he knew how to plan backwards so there were no surprises. During the game he showed a lot of skill but what impressed me more was how he worked in the background to coach and improve the team, to strategise and plan tactics, without disturbing the energy of the team. It was a revelation to me. 

It was no surprise to me to see the same qualities being exhibited when we did our workshops - his insights were always spot on and his responses were immediate nay even ahead of time. His help in designing stuff for the team Town Hall on January 23 was critical - he designed all the stuff we needed and the team got into the act to complete a good show. Sudhir shot videos of each talk, edited them and slotted them in the right context to view easily. All of that would have taken time but he did it without complaining - rather he did it with enthusiasm. 

And when we were doing the strategy plan for the coming 6 months - Sudhir came up with a lovely presentation and so many fabulous inputs - like the GTM (marketing strategy) which put everything in context. Even on a critical day when his wife needed a check up in her advanced state of pregnancy, he made it to a meeting because he did not want to let down the team (now has a fine baby boy who keeps him up at nights!. Wonderful, wonderful, leadership qualities. 

Unfortunately, Sudhir decided to move on, since he got a better opportunity. I still hope he come back. But typical of Sudhir he instantly started training his team - in public speaking, in presentations, in skill gap analysis - so they keep growing.

And even more typically of Sudhir - he quietly gifted me this well thought out gift -a Sheaffer pen and notebook thanking me for the leadership lessons. I remember telling him to stay back and promised to transfer all that I knew about leadership - it would have been brilliant to work with someone like him in this team. But I am sure he will learn all that and more with his learning mindset and quick grasp of things. Thanks Sudhir for the wonderful gift - and for teaching me many interesting things as well. I have learned many things just watching you.  Express yourself in as many ways as you can and use all your gifts well.