Winston Churchill said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts” and Adarsh Kumar, the Executive Head of Tata Motors Pvt. Ltd. strongly believes in these words. At the Jubilate 2013 Alumni Reunion of FORE School of Management, New Delhi, Adarsh was felicitated with the Executive Leadership award. Having started as a management trainee, the working hours were demanding for the alumnus. However, that hardly deterred the professional from climbing up the ladder of success, because the word “No” barely exists in his dictionary.
Having won several awards in a span of 20 years, Kumar seemed engulfed in happiness. Lifting a trophy of recognition from one’s own school after years of passing out is no mean feat. Adarsh’s hard work and contribution to the industry and his own school could not be over looked.
Apart from being tactful and smart, Adarsh also started analysing what was important and what was not – and his career benefited greatly from his insight. He never said no to his seniors, even if his bosses demanded a mammoth commitment from him. Soon Adarsh would realise that it was quick and clear thinking, and a go-for-it attitude that worked in the corporate world.
The FORE School alumnus moreover recognised how he needed to step out of the shoes of a dedicated student and slip into the boots of a corporate man. Kumar says that after seeing his seniors, he learnt how to be flexible and this zeal has taken him to the position where he is right now. He also quickly realised that the first couple of years were crucial for him, as a time for him to explore his options and someday reach the top position. And that is exactly what he did. Adarsh started his career from the grass roots level; he was a simple management trainee who worked hard, almost day and night. This was not because he wanted to earn more for working overtime, but because he had the determination to learn more. Despite Adarsh’s father expecting to see his son become an IAS Officer, Adarsh thought of holding the corporate world in the palm of his hand. He took tuitions to pay for his FORE course fees.. Gradually, as he took his first steps as a management trainee, he understood the value of money and hard work. Adarsh’s career started off at Bajaj Auto Finance. He was already handling the consumer finance section of the company, which was suffering a 500 crore INR loss. He says that presence of mind coupled with tactfulness and luck helped him grow.
The FORE alumnus later found a prestigious position in Tata Motor Finance. Sticking to a schedule and not wasting time over petty issues have been a priority for the executive head of Tata motors. Mr. Adarsh Kumar strongly feels that despite being assisted by new media and having lot of other advantages, the younger generation lacks the zeal to take up challenges because today, everything is easily accessible. He deeply feels that flexibility is the need of the hour, since bigger corporations are spreading out to the semi-urban fringes where the placement requirements are high. At the same time, while the need for good strategists is increasing, Adarsh feels that industry primarily requires workable strategic execution. The FORE alumnus feels that hard work can hardly be replaced and sticking to an organisation for three years or more will help a careerist climb up the first rung of the ladder of success.
Today, FORE is flooded with applications from aspirants and is choosing the crème de la crème from the lot, as they are later groomed for the flourishing corporate world. Adarsh advises his juniors to optimise these two years that they are spending in the classroom in order to step out into the real world with more skill-sets than most.
Note: This is a sponsored article and has NOT been written by the PaGaLGuY Editorial Team. It is intended from an informational perspective only and it is upto the readers to research and verify the claims and judgements in the article before reaching a conclusion.