The students of IIM Indore were captivated in the one hour interactive session with Mr. Anand Khurana, the circle (Bihar and Jharkhand) CEO of Airtel, who visited the Institute on August 10, 2015. ‘There is no magic formula’ were the first words he said as he addressed the classroom full of enthusiastic EPGP, PGP as well as IPM students.
Mr. Khurana shared his academic, professional and personal experiences with the budding managers of IIM Indore. The students were excited to hear about the journey of the self-proclaimed ‘happy go lucky’ guy, from being a confused person to the head of the 4th largest telecom circle of Airtel in India. Mr. Khurana shared how after two 1-week stints with law school and hotel management, he went to UK only to find himself working in McDonalds and selling T-shirts at Oxford street and yet being unable to pay his tuition fee. ‘My life changed when I became the first PGP participant from TAPMI to get selected for HUL in 6 years’, he said. Henceforth, the rise in the stature fuelled by Mr. Khurana’s dedication to excellence is hidden from none.
The few fortunate IIM students were lucky to hear about the key factors of success in Mr. Khurana’s life which he elegantly put down as the “7 Cs to success”. Common sense and Confidence were the top two in his list. Courage to act and take ownership with a Character of a go-getter and the Competence to deal with any required situation took up the next three spots. The two most important Cs according to him were Compassion and Charisma, where he emphasized on the fact that people management ability is the most vital attribute that takes a man to the top.
Mr. Khurana, prior to his current role was with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (Unilever India) for close to 17 years. He has over 5 years of experience in the Home and Personal Care (HPC) International division as Customer Business Manager-Exports. He has also spent around 2.5 years as Senior Brand Manager Hair Care and as the head of Modern Trade Channel. Prior to making his move to Airtel he also served as the business Head at HUL for over 5 years in Out of Home (F&B Services) & Modern Foods department (Bakery Division).
Mr. Khurana’s voyage to the top coupled with his life experiences can be called nothing short of a journey filled with grit, courage and the desire to make big in life.
He concluded his speech mentioning that Business is about winning minds and at the same time winning hearts.’
These unique words of wisdom reverberated round the minds of every young promising business mind in the classroom.