After graduating from Delhi University and doing an MBA from San Jose State University, California, my first real job experience was at HP in 1995, where I was working on new business initiatives and portfolio management. The first few months went soaking in the atmosphere, learning the nuances of working in a team, building trust and respect. Fortunately, the sense of belonging was for real and any new recruit could feel it right from the start. The culture was uniform. One of the first lessons I learnt was that it is important to understand a product’s viability quotient, the concept behind its making etc., so that you are well informed from stage one.

When I became the finan-cial operations manager for the division, I understood the crucial point that the day you start pleasing everybody, you cease to be a manager. A balanced manager should try and help his team get the work done, to put in that extra effort. Even today, I encourage employees to get involved, make the effort, bring in new initiatives and look out for new challenges. Haath pau marna or to use the American football term, ‘blocking and tackling’ is required if you don’t want to become a stereotype. Today’s young workforce should spread their wings and not get settled into a comfort zone. This is significant if you want to grow as an individual. Horizontal gr-owth is just as imperative as your vertical growth.

The writer is president and country general manager, Agilent Technologies