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Gaurav Joshi

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Gaurav Joshi

Enterprise Transformation Consultant

Nihilent Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Thoughts on Education system of our country

I think education system in India has grown inorganically over past decade. There are lots of schools & colleges, but quality of education has gone down & no. of great teachers has thinned over the years. We are more focused on either continuing with our old ways or blindly copying western education system.
Following measures can be taken to improve the education quality:
* Syllabus should be practical problem based rather than just theory. Students should arrive at solutions than just memorizing the answers
* Professionals can dedicate some of their time to teach the next generation. This teaching can be experience based & more practical
* Practical & easier ways to teach needs to be invented

Qualities needed to become a successful leader

I think a leader needs to possess these qualities:
* Visionary: He/she should possess an ability to peep into the future. This would help a leader to take more strategic decisions
* Integrity: He/she should be honest, not only with others but also with him/herself
* Ingenuity: He/she should be creative and innovative while taking decisions, hence thinking out of the box
* Well connected: He/she should keep all his senses open to receive stimuli from all the sources of information. The stimuli could be an idea or a feedback and information sources can be his/her friends, sub-ordinates, internet, newspapers etc

My family background

My father, Sadashiv Ganesh Joshi is a retired banker and my mother, Mrudul Sadashiv Joshi is a housewife. I have an elder sister, Prachi Deshpande who is married and currently staying in UK. I am married to Smriti Tiwari and both of us are currently working and staying in Pune, Maharashtra, India

My strongest skill

I think I possess these professional skills: creativity (innovativeness), domain expertise, analytical skills, problem solving, listening skills and inquisitiveness

Important lesson learned

There is no substitute for hard work.
One needs to be patient and persuasive to reach the goals he/she wishes to achieve

Couple of years from now

I would love to see myself as an industry expert for Media & Entertainment. Also would love to manage various IT related products/services for organizations from Media & Entertainment industry

Ensuring success

I would divide my answer in 2 parts:
* What do I do to ensure my professional growth and development: Being in the field of management consulting, I need to make sure what is going on globally w.r.t. consulting. Are there any new frameworks, research work or future trends for not only management consulting but also for various industries of my interest viz. media and entertainment, IT and ITES, innovation management etc. Read various books related to my fields of interest. Try to apply various fundamentals in my assignments. Create approaches, white papers, new concepts, templates to implement my learnings, experiences and past mistakes etc.
* What do I do to ensure my personal growth and development: I try to dedicatedly spend some time for my hobbies i.e. reading and writing (poems, short stories, articles etc.) This helps me to grow internally. I get recharged and refreshed once I do the above

My role model

My role model is the great Maratha visionary and strategist Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He is my role model purely because of the management & leadership lessons I’ve learnt from him. Few of his teachings & representative management principles:
* War tactics to sustain & grow in fierce competition (Marketing Warfare Strategies & Blue Ocean Strategy)
* Flourish with limited resources (time, money and human capital) (Inventory/Resource Mgmt, Project Mgmt)
* Pick right people for the right jobs (HR Strategies, Job Progression, Job Fit)
* Transform mindsets of individuals (The Iceberg Model of Systems Thinking)
* Motivate someone to the level that his loyalty is not compromised at any cost (All the motivation)
* Understand internal & external environment (PEST Analysis)
* Understand one’s own strengths and weaknesses (SWOT analysis)
* Human Values

Brief description about me

I am working as an Enterprise Transformation Consultant with Nihilent Technologies Pvt. Ltd. since last 5 years. I have worked on various assignments related with Strategy Execution (using Strategy Maps and Balanced Scorecard), Process Optimization, Change Management, Innovation Management (commercialization of a concept/idea from inception phase to execution phase) and Business Analysis. I have worked in industries like – Banking (Non-profit associations and Procurement) and Media & Entertainment.
I hold Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) in Marketing with a Bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation and Control Engineering

Initiative to develop a country

As professionals, we should focus on excellence in our own field. We should attain highest degree of expertise in the fields of our operation. We should not be seen as a country with cheap labor, but a country with great brains. This would definitely help us to become a developed country

Important decision

One of the most important decisions I have made was to leave a job and do my post-graduation (PGDBM). This helped me to find what exactly I wanted to do with my life. I became more serious about future and my goal in life.
Another important decision was to join comparatively medium scale management consulting firm- Nihilent Technologies, rather than going for higher packages or brands or other industries. This experience has been enriching both professionally as well as personally. I got an opportunity to try my hands on various assignments in varied industries and getting clarity about my own interest during this journey

My achievements

* While working for one of the biggest banks of South Africa, achieved following:
- Set up the call centre within 3 months as PoC (Proof of Concept) – This call centre was later rolled out at national level and is still operational
- Project was awarded with The ‘Best Process Improvement Initiative’ in 2010 CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) Southern Africa Procurement Awards
* One of my assignment for a non-profit association for banking industry in South Africa, has been recognized by the Witwatersrand (WITS) University, South Africa and they have created a case study which is taught under their curriculum
* Created a sellable new service offering and online tool to measure customer loyalty within an year (including the product and delivery mechanism)

Influenced by

I won’t be able to mention any one person, but my parents, my wife and couple of best friends have the greatest impact on my life so far. From my father, I have learned the patience and diligence. I think I have received gift of logical thinking from him. My mother has inspired me by showing great commitment towards whatever she does. I think I have picked up my creativity from her. My wife has influenced me by benig a strict a teacher, letting me know my mistakes and weaknesses. By performing each & every task without expectations, even if her work is not appreciated sometimes, she keeps on giving the same great results over and over again, every day.
My close friends (Sumeet & Praveen) have helped & encouraged me all the way along. All of them have guided me & have made me the person who I am today. Most of all I have experienced the selfless love from all of them which has supported me through all the hard times in the past.