Young executives and MBA students must introspect about their skill-sets and likes, and choose career accordingly. In a hyper competitive world, success in work life comes only when you are best-in-class and motivated to learn everyday.
In a hyper competitive world, success in work life comes only when you are best-in-class and motivated to learn everyday. That’s the message from Sailesh Rao, MD, Google India when he was delivering a lecture organized by The Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in New Delhi on August 6, 2008. MBAUniverse.com was the Official Management Portal of this initiative.
On his career path:
“I took over as the MD of Google in India in March 2007. Earlier, I was with Google based at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. I did my BA from the University of Pennsylvania with Honors, a BS from the Wharton School with a concentration in finance, and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management.”
“I worked with companies like Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), AOL, and a start-up Yoodle. In my career I have made many switches, but was always focussed on learning new areas that were of interest to me. After working in the financial sector, I realized that my heart wasn’t into it, and then I moved into technology. I love the technology space, because it brings change. Change leads to decision-making, and then I can judge myself.”
On how Google is reshaping the landscape:
“Google's search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users.”
“Google has changed the landscape because it has put the consumer or the web-surfer in the center, and asked them what they wanted to read or see on net. This was different from the portal model of websites, where editors (just like with the traditional media like newspaper or TV news-channel) dictated what they want to present to the reader. That’s a seismic change!”
On how Google is focussing on India:
“India is very important part of Google’s global strategy. In 2005, Google CEO Eric Schmitt, said, we want to turbocharge the Indian internet market. I took over the charge in early 2007. In India, Google is pursuing a localization strategy. We want to be relevant to the community we serve. And we are taking a host of step to do that. We are present in eight local Indian languages, are experimenting with mobile (search), are focusing on making our search more local and relevant.”
On Google way of marketing:
“We believe that you can not force your way with the new consumer. They have to adopt you. We believe in putting together great products, spreading awareness and then letting the community adopt it.”
On advice on Career Planning:
“My first advice is that while choosing the domain of work, students and executives should introspect about their skills and interest areas. Introspection and self-analysis is key. Then, they must choose only those domains that fall into their interest areas and skill set. You have to be very good at what you are doing and then you have to like what you are doing. Personally, I choose to change my sector finance & consulting (at Goldman Sachs and BCG) to technology because I believed I can give more than 100% in tech space. And it has turned out to be true.”
“Then, long-term career planning is important. Life and career is a marathon, not a sprint! I see youngsters in a huge rush to change jobs and titles sometimes without a rationale.”
“Finally, while in your career, focus on learning. If you think you are not learning, change your job profile or company. In my career, I switched to lower designations a few times only because I wanted to learn new areas like Product Management and Marketing. Continuous learning along the career path is key to long term career growth.”
Advice to Entrepreneurs:
“I believe Business Success is based on two pillars: Great People and Great Products. Entrepreneur must focus on these two aspects. Then, entrepreneurs must have a ‘blue-collar’ mentality. They should be ready to roll-up their sleeves.”
“Finally, we must understand that failures are important part of learning. In US a lot of recruiters value failures on a CV. It is beginning to happen in India too.”
