The MD and CEO said,”It is a cliché to say that the choice of a life partner is the single-most important choice you will make in your life…it is a cliché because it is true. As H. Jackson Brown Jr wrote, “Choose your life’s mate carefully. From this one decision will come 90% of all your happiness and misery.” I don’t know about the 90%…but the fact is that much of the joy you derive on the journey of life does hark back to whom you choose to share this journey with. A lot of what I am today, the achievements that were so kindly mentioned in the introduction, are a function of the partner I was lucky to have alongside on my journey.”
Shikha Sharma also spoke about her husband and her IIM-A batchmate Sanjaya Sharma. She said,”Sanjaya and I are very different people. He is widely read, divergent (in) thinking, and creative; I am a lot more linear (in) thinking and introverted. But on the most important thing, we are not different at all—we have very similar core values. If I were to point out the one thing that has made our partnership successful, it is just that—the alignment on core values. Indulge me for a minute if I sound like a mom! When you are out there looking for a partner, look beyond their looks, their success, their style. The durability and strength of your relationship is not going to come from your partner’s personality—it is going to come from their character. So remember to look well beneath the surface. My discussion of partner choice has so far been about life partners.”
“But as professionals you will find that you are frequently faced with a very similar choice—that of organisations or teams. The principles of what makes for lasting relationships with your work team or with your organisation aren’t terribly different from those that make lasting personal partnerships. It is easy to get enamored by the visible but superficial details of a new job you are considering—the money, the fancy title, the foosball table in the break-room. But in most cases, that is not what makes for a fulfilling career. You want to join an organization that has values that match yours; that has people you can be yourself with; that gives you the space to be who you have the potential be as a professional. These are not things that any firm can tell you in their pre-placement talk. It is something you can only find out the hard way, by doing your own research, by looking beneath the surface,” she added.
Now that’s one advice we all needed!
Her speech was also gripping and interesting. She also spoke about moral dilemmas and said,”When faced with the minor moral dilemmas of everyday, what do you choose to do? You can do the expedient thing, make the practical choice, take the short cut. Or you can be led by what you believe to be the right thing to do. Every time you decide to take the harder but more principled path, you add one more brick to the foundation of your character. And every time you choose to compromise with what you believe in, you give yourself the licence to do it again, and you take a brick away. We live in a world today that is infinitely connected and has unlimited memory. No part of your history ever truly fades away. This is particularly true if you intend to be a successful professional. Each and every one of you today, with the privilege of these robes you are wearing, has the opportunity to be among the most successful people of your generation. Unless you veer away from your moral compass.”
You May Also Like: ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar’s Letter To Her Daughter Is a Must Read For Every Woman