There has been a myriad array of key takeaways for me during my short time here, but what has stood out is how Capgemini the organisation breathes its core values, that I have briefly listed above. Senior leaders who have been with the industry for decades were not afraid to talk strategy outside the boardroom with a bunch of newbies from B-schools, nor were they perplexed by the difficult questions peppered to them about a troubled industry – in my experience, there were a lot more honest assessments than overarching but hollow statements. The focus was always on doing things right and ensuring that the team had a blast doing it. This fact was highlighted by the Pinnacle sessions – brutal to face honest, unbridled truths about your deficiencies in presentation and elocution, and no trainee came out unscathed from the two-day experience, but everyone came out a better speaker, a better presenter and had incredible fun doing so!
This focus on working hard and having fun at the same time has been a constant theme during the five weeks of on-boarding, and it was most evident in the final week, which took us to the heart of Capgemini, the beautiful Les Fontaines castle just outside Paris, that houses Capgemini University. It was three gruelling days of Consulting Skills Workshop (CSW), designed to enable us to navigate through ambiguity in the corporate set-up with confidence and aplomb – how to do things right, how to make the right connections, how to create the right impact. In retrospect, it sounds easy, but anyone who has worked in a peer group on open-ended projects with a 9-hour deadline knows better. What made those three days memorable is the fact that the heated discussions were immediately followed by French wine on a pleasant French evening in the embrace of a French castle, and how we learned that what makes the cohort work is an appreciation of each other’s differences rather than similarities!
Lastly, this piece will never be complete without acknowledging its key characters: the meticulous planning and admirable execution of the on-boarding program by the E.L.I.T.E. core team of Chirag Thakral, David P. Wilson, William Sullivan and Heena Mehta, the very demanding yet masterful facilitators for both Pinnacle and CSW sessions - Minita Gandhi, Kevin Douglas, Kees Langbroek, and Stefan Cornelius, the entire leadership of Capgemini FS business unit for their time, experiences and patience to help us navigate the complex Capgemini world, the entire Market Intelligence team for their dedicated support at each step, and last but not the least, the 18 E.L.I.T.E. trainees I have been fortunate to share the stage with, my co-passengers on an exciting journey ahead!
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