ABG - A Glint In Your Life, A Lighthouse For The Corporate World - Geoffrey Joy, IIM Sirmaur

In ways unseen and unheard, the group today is home to an impressive roster of brands, both renowned and revered, in India and the world. At the same time, it is a business house that boasts an equally impressive pipeline of bright talent and leaders for tomorrow.

To take an example of the ubiquitous nature of the company, the life of any business school student is influenced by the corporate attire prescribed by the society. Naturally, I proceeded to update my corporate appearance by purchasing multiple sets of Allen Solly and Louis Philippe outfits. To my surprise, both of these are flagship brands of the same company. Ditto with Van Heusen!

And don’t take it from me, my father is a fan too!

In fact, thanks to its merger with Vodafone, the Idea brand of the company now forms the lifeblood of my stay here in campus. Why you ask? It is the best mobile phone service provider wherever I go. And my loyalty to this brand is unmatched!

Built on its legacy of Hindalco, the company’s aluminium foils under the Freshwrapp brand is a go-to for the food industry which itself is housed by the myriad construction-related products manufactured by this global powerhouse.

To say that India is housed by Ultratech Cement is actually an understatement… India is built on the brand!

One can, quite literally, go on and on about how ABG positively influences his or her life. Yet, at this point, it is not so much wonder that pervades as does awe for the sheer importance of the Aditya Birla Group, thanks to the variety of its products and services and more importantly the support it provides to society it operates in.

 In a country of business families, the company truly shines as a beacon of inspirational leadership, unquestionable trust and above all exemplary service to every life it touches.

How do I try to emulate this in my personal life?

Everyone loves the story of an underdog. This isn’t one of those. This isn’t the story of a top dog either. Have never been one of those.

But what it is, is an account of commitment, sincerity and honesty that is truly relatable across generations and time. Hopefully, to you.

As the first-of-my-generation child in my family, I have always been looked up to as a role model for my siblings. Commensurate with the adulation, comes the realization, that even a single misstep can be catastrophic in the grand scheme of things. Hailing from a simple background in the bright city of lights, Mumbai, my family has thankfully not seen very hard times. Yet, at this juncture, it is the expectation to use this as a springboard to a higher ground, that does make me sit up and think of all that I have to achieve to make this a reality.

It was with this thought that I went about preparing to lay a strong foundation for my future career and life. Considering I have not been particularly gifted from a sports or artistic point of view, the thrust on education was the way for me.

And this method has been successful for me. I say this since I have always been a consistent performer through school, college, graduation and so far, through post-graduation as well. But this has come solely through the long hours of persistent efforts put into understanding the reasons for learning and every concept therein. And this does not mean long nights… Oh no!

What this entailed was a thorough management of the 24 hours of the day, 7 days of the week, 365 days of the year, for every academic year so far. This includes the recent, initial years of my career as well, utilizing the maximum possible time to prioritize what was important.

During this time, I discovered that staying true to plan is truly hard work. Pushing oneself to complete a set of tasks on time is a challenge for many and overcoming this is a struggle in itself.

Not every person is challenged in the conventional sense. Not every story might make your hair stand on end. It is the act of taking on your circumstances that is a genuine test of one’s mettle. To take things as they come and succeed along the way.

To all those who feel they’ve led a relatively comfortable life, dig deep. You’ll find that it is the hardest choices you have made that has made you the person you are.