Your dream journal
For internal circulation only All rights reserved Š Godrej Industries Limited 2017
YOU MAY SAY I’M A DREAMER, BUT I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE. I HOPE SOMEDAY YOU’LL JOIN US. AND THE WORLD WILL LIVE AS ONE. - John Lennon
Dreams don’t come with rules. Neither does this journal. It is just a toolkit that we hope you will find helpful.
THE GOLDEN RULE IS THAT - George Bernard Shaw THERE ARE NO GOLDEN RULES
LOUD AND LEADING SELF About LOUD, passion and our ‘Leading Self’ journey at Godrej. And why this is so close to our hearts.
KNOW YOURSELF Let’s start with you. Dig deeper. Find out what makes you, ‘you’.
DEVELOP YOURSELF Never stop looking for new ways to learn. And keep at it.
EXPRESS YOURSELF Live out your dream. Make it real. Here’s how to, in 5 steps.
YOUR BIG DREAMS We share some of our favourite stories and hopefully inspire you to dream BIG!
LET’S DIVE INTO IT!
WE ALL LIVE IN A
YELLOW SUBMARINE
LOUD AND LEADING SELF
1
About LOUD, passion and our ‘Leading Self’ journey at Godrej. And why this is so close to our hearts.
GODREJ LOUD IS ABOUT YOU LIVING OUT YOUR DREAM AND US FINDING PASSIONATE PEOPLE HOW DOES IT WORK? Simple. All you need to do is share your big dream with us. You could win 1.5 lakh rupees and a pre-placement internship offer!
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR? Passionate people
WHY? Because we believe that if you are truly passionate about something, then you will potentially bring that passion to your work. And to Godrej.
GROWTH
DELIGHT
LOUD
INNOVATION PASSIONATE PEOPLE
PASSIONATE GODREJITES
WE ARE DESIGNED FOR THE CLIMB, NOT FOR TAKING OUR EASE, EITHER IN THE VALLEY OR AT THE SUMMIT - John Gardner
We are convinced that only when we are able to
UNLEASH
the unique and powerful potential of all Godrejites, will we be able to realise our exciting and ambitious growth aspirations as a Group
Watch ‘Why Godrej?’, a poem by Nadir Godrej and write down your favourite line here
THIS JOURNEY FOR EACH OF US STARTS WITH WHAT WE CALL LEADING SELF IT IS ABOUT BECOMING THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE AND EXPRESSING YOURSELF IN A WAY MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU It has 3 interconnected blocks
KNOW YOURSELF
DEVELOP YOURSELF
EXPRESS YOURSELF
OVER TO YOU We hope you find this journal helpful, as you start on your exploration
KNOW YOURSELF
2
Let’s start with you. Dig deeper. Find out what makes you, ‘you’.
HAVE THE COURAGE TO FOLLOW YOUR - Steve Jobs HEART AND INTUITION. THEY SOMEHOW KNOW WHAT YOU TRULY WANT TO BECOME.
MY STORY
Born
10 years
Pause. Look back on your journey so far. Think about some of your milestones. The big wins. And the more difficult times. Mark them out on your life map.
20 years
30 years
IT’S VERY IMPORTANT - Elon Musk TO HAVE A FEEDBACK LOOP, WHERE YOU’RE CONSTANTLY THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE AND HOW YOU COULD BE DOING IT BETTER. I THINK THAT’S THE SINGLE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE.
Sometimes, you need to see yourself through someone else’s eyes, so
ASK A REALLY CLOSE FRIEND TO FILL THIS OUT (Not someone you have met in the last 2 weeks)
START
STOP
CONTINUE
WINNIE THE POOH
PROMISE ME YOU'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER: YOU'RE BRAVER THAN YOU BELIEVE, AND STRONGER THAN YOU SEEM, AND SMARTER THAN YOU THINK. - Winnie the Pooh
DEVELOP YOURSELF
3
Never stop looking for new ways to learn. And keep at it.
IF YOU ONLY DO WHAT YOU CAN DO, YOU WILL NEVER BE MORE THAN WHO YOU ARE. - Master Shifu, Kung Fu Panda
http://simplywallpaper.net/
YOU CAN’T PUT A LIMIT ON ANYTHING. THE MORE YOU DREAM, THE FARTHER YOU GET. - Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), while in school. But that didn’t hold him back. Maniacal focus, self-discipline and hard work helped him move ahead steadily. By the time he was 10 years old, he held a national swimming record for his age group. Ian Thorpe, Phelps’ teenage idol, said it was impossible for him to win 8 medals in the 2008 Olympics. Phelps wrote down Thorpe’s statement on a note and put it on his locker. When he won the record 8 medals, Thorpe said that he had never been so happy to have been proved wrong. Phelps retired in 2016. He is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals - 23 of them gold, spanning over four Games.
ONE WRONG MOVE, I COULD DIE. BUT TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING, WE HAD TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. - Dipa Karmakar
Dipa Karmakar was only five years old when she faced her first big obstacle. The Sports Authority of India refused to accept her as a trainee. Her flat feet, they said, would be a major deterrent to her dream of becoming a gymnast. But nothing could stop Dipa. She worked tirelessly. Her coach put her through many strenuous exercises; one required her to stand with the feet bent, to create the arch in them. 18 years later, she became the first Indian female gymnast to compete in the Olympics. And the first Indian gymnast to do so in 52 years. She finished fourth in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but not before performing the daredevil Produnova vault, the most dangerous move in women’s gymnastics. Dipa is one of five women to have landed the vault. She is also the only Indian to have ever done so.
IN 1897, ARDESHIR GODREJ, FOUNDER OF THE GODREJ GROUP, LEARNT THE FIRST LESSON OF SUCCESS: FAILURE Not one, but two of his businesses went bust. Then, he set up a lock company and what followed is the stuff of legends. Today, 1.1 billion people globally use a Godrej product. His perseverance is our inspiration.
THE ONLY THING THAT I SEE THAT IS DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT ABOUT ME IS I’M NOT AFRAID TO DIE ON A TREADMILL. I WILL NOT BE OUTWORKED, PERIOD. YOU MIGHT HAVE MORE TALENT THAN ME, YOU MIGHT BE SMARTER THAN ME, YOU MIGHT BE SEXIER THAN ME, YOU MIGHT BE ALL OF THOSE THINGS YOU GOT IT ON ME IN NINE CATEGORIES. BUT IF WE GET ON THE TREADMILL TOGETHER, THERE’S TWO THINGS: YOU’RE GETTING OFF FIRST, OR I’M GOING TO DIE. IT’S REALLY THAT SIMPLE.
- Will Smith
INSPIRATION IS EVERYWHERE! BOOKS
MOVIES
The Power of Full Engagement Tony Schwartz
Jiro Dreams of Sushi The World’s Fastest Indian
Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham The Happiness Hypothesis Jonathan Haidt
The Shawshank Redemption Forrest Gump Gandhi
The How of Happiness Sonja Lyubomirsky The War of Art Steven Pressfield
Good Will Hunting The Lion King Kung Fu Panda
Change Anything Joseph Grenny Ignore Everybody Hugh MacLeod Flourish Martin Seligman Authentic Happiness Martin Seligman The Fountainhead Ayn Rand Originals Adam Grant
Fermat’s Last Theorem
Here are some of our favourites. What’s on your list?
WEBSITES
PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS
www.gapingvoid.com
www.careeranchorsonline.com
www.brainpickings.org
www.gallupstrengthscenter.co m
www.farnamstreetblog.com www.viacharacter.org www.viacharacter.org www.theenergyproject.com
ONE BOOK, ONE PEN, ONE CHILD, AND ONE TEACHER CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. - Malala Yousafzai
EXPRESS YOURSELF
4
Live out your dream. Make it real. Here’s how to, in 5 steps.
Start somewhere and then iterate
Go on, ask for help if you need to
Be flexible: everything will almost always not go according to plan
Add value. Show value.
Be prepared for magic
MY DREAM Seeing Godrej Consumer Products become a leading emerging markets multinational company in its categories of choice and within emerging markets; to build Africa’s best loved brands by helping millions of African women look good, feel good and have safe, healthy homes.
MY STORY I joined Godrej in 2001 as a graduate chemical engineer in its Oleochemicals business. I did my MBA in between and was Executive Assistant to our Chairman for about two years. Since 2008, I have been part of GCPL’s internationalisation journey through our 3 x 3 strategy. We have focused on building businesses in high-growth, large middle-class markets like Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America in categories that have been core to us. We are already the global leaders in hair care for women of African descent and want to make that position even stronger. In Africa, we aspire to become the largest home and personal care business over the next decade.
OMAR MOMIN Head - M&A, Business Development and Africa, Godrej Consumer Products
MY DREAM Seeing India become an agricultural superpower (via exports and food processing) in my lifetime
MY STORY I joined Godrej Agrovet in 2008 as the Executive Vice President (Strategy and Business Development). In 2010, I proposed that Godrej help launch India’s first venture capital fund focused on breakthrough technologies for food and agriculture. Omnivore Partners did our first venture deal (Skymet) in August 2011 and successfully raised INR 260 crore from outside investors including SBI, LIC, NABARD, and SIDBI. Today, Omnivore has 12 agriculture and food technology startups in its portfolio.
MARK KAHN Founding Partner, Omnivore Partners
MY DREAM I truly believe that good designs must be accessible to everyone. My dream is to touch the hearts of millions of African women, Indian youth and Indonesian families. I want to meet their aspirations through continued focus on creating disproportionate desirability and purpose for all our brands. We will do this through a global, design-driven approach.
MY STORY My journey at Godrej began with designing the SPACE office in 2008. We created a prototype of a work culture of the future, fostering openness, ideation and creativity. In 2009, the GCPL Design Lab was formed to integrate design-driven thinking. We wanted to transform our brands through delightful product offerings for the rapidly evolving Indian consumer - and do so in a ‘Godrej’ way. While architecting brands like Cinthol, B Expert, aer and BBLUNT, I adapted tools like need-based user-centric segmentation, prototyping and product mapping, to develop a unique approach. This, I believe, is our competitive advantage. Today, we are a leading in-house design lab with some very talented graphic and structure designers, who work across India, Africa and Indonesia.
DARSHAN GANDHI Head - Design, Godrej Consumer Products
MY PASSION My deep interest in Psychology was why I opted for a career in HR. While I enjoyed my work, I always had a nagging regret that it wasn’t close enough to my ‘core’ – my desire to develop deep expertise in Psychology. There was even a phase when I left my job to pursue a PhD in Psychology in the US. But I realised that I didn’t enjoy work that was only theoretical. So, I moved back to HR.
MY STORY I joined in a generalist HR role. When I attended a ‘Personal Leadership’ workshop here by Dr. Hitendra Wadhwa of Columbia Business School, I thought that this was the kind of work I could possibly explore. So, I designed my own workshop and piloted it. This opened up a whole new area of work. With incredible support from Godrej, I started to lead Talent and Leadership Development. I get to design solutions by studying Psychology and Leadership – work that is as close to my core as possible. The regret has completely vanished. Though, I must confess that now once in a while, I have sleepless nights thinking about whether my team and I will be able to do justice to the exciting work that lies ahead of us!
SHAILESH DESHPANDE Head - Talent and Leadership Development, Godrej Industries
MY DREAM For India to recognise its LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) citizens, and offer them the same rights as that of other citizens, including the right to marry their partners of choice. I am so glad that Godrej is leading the way as one of India’s leading LGBT friendly companies.
MY STORY I joined Godrej in 2010 to set up the Godrej India Culture Lab, a new kind of public platform in the country where we could cross-pollinate academics, artists, business people and others in an ongoing conversation about what it means to be modern and Indian. Over the past few years, the Lab has been acknowledged as one of the most exciting experiments out of corporate India, and awarded with several honours including the 2015 India Today Award for Corporate Commitment to the Arts. I am also involved in various other leadership initiatives at Godrej – whether in LOUD, or our senior annual Godrej Leadership Forum, or in diversity and inclusion – and in all of these, I am fulfilling my dream of helping create a better India for future generations.
PARMESH SHAHANI Head - Godrej India Culture Lab
OUR DREAM For Godrej Properties to be a design led company; setting up the GPL Design Studio as an innovation engine tasked with powering growth and delivering on our ‘Design for Business’ mandate.
OUR STORY The GPL Design Studio was incepted in 2013 as a diverse group of designers, thinkers, builders, urbanists, artists and storytellers. We sketch, ideate, prototype, hold charrettes and workshops. We incubate subject matter expertise and engage with universities through a successful intern programme. Founded on shared principles of co-creation and co-ideation, all intellectual property created is jointly credited to the Studio and our consultant partners. We have been able to successfully use design thinking to transform multiple areas of the real estate business, showing clear demonstrable business results with high customer satisfaction scores for our design led projects. Our development work integrates the business of design and the design of business, creating a ‘win-win’ proposition for all stakeholders.
Associate Vice President - Design, Godrej Properties
ANUBHAV GUPTA & NAMRATA MEHRA Chief Design Officer, Business Head - Vikhroli, Head - CSR & Sustainability (Mumbai HO), Godrej Properties
OUR DREAM FOR VIKHROLI Pirojsha Godrej Executive Chairman, Godrej Properties
Vikhroli in the 1940s
Vikhroli has been integral to the history of the Godrej Group. In the 1940s, my great grandfather Pirojsha Godrej dreamed of creating a modern and forward-looking industrial township. This was realised in a series of world-class manufacturing units that crafted hundreds of quality products. For the first time in India and as one of a handful of global examples, Vikhroli offered an environment where the workers building Godrej products could flourish and develop themselves. Housing, schooling and healthcare for all along with a well-planned and naturally beautiful location ensured that Vikhroli offered all Godrejites a unique and progressive environment. It is now time for the next phase of this vision. It is time to build on the present and enrich the future. We will do this by developing Vikhroli into a progressive and integrated mini-city with a quality of design, planning and execution that has largely been missing from modern India’s urban life. Our dream is big and we have started on the first small steps towards it. Our first phase of development, The Trees, has the recently completed headquarters for the Godrej Group, Godrej One, and will also offer world-class residential, hospitality,
retail, and cultural facilities to its residents. We understand that great buildings alone do not make a great destination. In the midst of a thriving urban metropolis, Vikhroli offers a natural oasis with mangroves thriving across 2,000 acres nearly three times the size of New York’s famed Central Park - ensuring a lasting and deep connection to nature. We are totally committed to building on the natural beauty of the site, so Vikhroli testifies that urban life and natural beauty can exist in perfect harmony. Three quarters of a century ago, it was important to our predecessors to build a progressive social environment to accompany the modern industrial development they had planned at Vikhroli. Similarly, creating a social fabric for a new age to go along the physical form is of paramount importance to us.
Clockwise from left The Trees Master Plan; The Imagine Studio; Godrej One
Watch the making of the Imagine Studio
20 YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL BE MORE DISAPPOINTED BY THE THINGS THAT YOU DIDN’T DO THAN BY THE ONES YOU DID DO. EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER. - Mark Twain
YOUR BIG DREAMS
5
We share some of our favourite stories and hopefully, inspire you to dream BIG!
2012 Ali Kapadia NITIE
Helping solve the water problem in Rui, Madhya Pradesh
Amanpreet Kalra IIFT
Going on a painting holiday in Spain
Aneev Davis IIFT
Creating a comic strip
Brijraj Desai SIBM
Studying the Dangi way of life in a village in The Dangs, Gujarat
Nikhil Mundra IIFT
Travelling to South Africa to trace Mahatma Gandhi's life for a book on stamps
Rupesh Chauhan NITIE
Learning how to fly
Shailesh Nirala IIFT
Setting up an information centre in Dhuska in Uttar Pradesh
2013 Abhishek Iyer SIBM
Hosting a video-blog on football
Digant Bhatt XIMB
Recording a music video in the Himalayas
Gopi Reddy FMS
Becoming a role model to the students in Ravulapenta in Telangana
Kanika Virmani MDI
Scuba-diving in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Praveen Gupta NITIE
Dirt-biking in Thailand
Shikhar Mathur IIFT
Enabling a school for girl children in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh with solar power
Shipra Agarwal IIM Kozhikode
Helping clean up the area around the lakes in Jaipur
Shreyas Dwivedi IIFT
Visiting the major sites of World War II in Auschwitz, Normandy and Berlin
2014 Abhist Gaurav FMS
Making a silent film
Akhil Kalia IIFT
Sketching automobile museums and factories in Italy
Amrit Karan Singh SIBM
Building an affordable wheel-chair for under-privileged handicapped children
Divya Bhojane NITIE
Racing at the Formula racing track in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Keerthi Sindhuri IIM Kozhikode
Establishing piping systems to collect Abhishekam products to be distributed to orphanages
Praful Lakhe NITIE
Going on the treacherous Chadar Lake trek in Ladakh
Vemparala Gopala Krishna NITIE
Installing a water purifier in Gani Atkuru in Andhra Pradesh
2015 Akshay Dongarwar IIFT
Helping eliminate LPG gas accidents through disruptive research
Disha Bhuraria SIMC
Travelling across state capitals in India and doodling the experiences
H S Krrithiya IIFT
Using community art to improve public living spaces at a slum in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Nansi Mahajan SIBM
Designing daily living aids for people with impaired limb functions
Navonil Dutta SIBM
Studying music production and composition techniques at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA
Yogesh Singla FMS
Publishing a book of poetry
2016 Adyasha Hota XIMB
Training in Origamic Architecture from Ingrid Siliakus
Aishwarya Jain IIFT
Making an automated machine to sort through garbage and preventing cattle eating poly bags
Archita Mitra IIFT
Transmitting the love of reading to the next generation by publishing an engaging kids' novel
Revanth Kaza NITIE
Attending the Urban Dance Camp 2016 at Mumbai
Shantnu Kukreja NITIE
Attending a fine arts workshop by Dirk Dzimirsky in Germany
Snehil Nigam SIBM
Learning the flute and becoming the best fluteboxer in India
Sourav Dutta SIBM
Training with the best and representing India in archery
MY DREAM Installing a water tank in Rui, Madhya Pradesh, to enable easy access to drinking water
HOW I LIVED MY DREAM I had visited Rui when I was in school and seen how much the villagers had to struggle for drinking water. Children bunked schools and travelled very far by foot to fetch water every day. I chalked out a detailed plan to install a water tank here, keeping the time and budget in mind. I finalised the tube-well location and after a lot of pleading and bargaining with the contractor, the work finally began!
MY SUMMER PROJECT I worked on a real time project with the Darling business in Africa. I travelled over 10,000 kilometres, learnt about hair extensions, met some incredibly talented people and got to share my ideas with the GCPL Leadership Team. It was an enriching experience. (Ali currently works as a Supply Chain Manager at Godrej Consumer Products in South Africa)
ALI KAPADIA NITIE, Mumbai
MY DREAM To attend the Music Production Summer program at the Berklee College of Music, Boston
HOW I LIVED MY DREAM I've been a singer and musician since my childhood. I'm a trained vocalist in Hindustani classical music and an amateur composer. My LOUD dream helped me get my first hands-on experience in different stages of music production - composing, arranging, mastering and post-production. I gained immensely from sessions conducted by world-class professors and some of the legendary music producers in the industry today. Most importantly, it helped me make lifelong connections with a group of like-minded individuals who are extremely passionate about creating music.
MY SUMMER PROJECT I worked with B BLUNT, our premium hair care brand in India, on an exciting category expansion project. The most amazing thing about Gurukul was that I worked on such a comprehensive project - including concept development, testing and new product recommendations. I was also given full autonomy by my guide. Overall, it was very challenging and required me to stretch myself. (Navonil has joined us as a Management Trainee in Sales at Godrej Consumer Products)
NAVONIL DUTTA SIBM, Pune
MY DREAM To visit automobile museums and factories in Italy
HOW I LIVED MY DREAM Ever since my childhood, I’ve loved sketching automobiles. Godrej LOUD gave me the opportunity to take this one step further. I went on a backpacking trip to the Terra di Motori (the motor valley) in Northern Italy, home to the factories of Maserati, Lamborghini, Pagani and Ferrari. I was in heaven! I also got to visit an Italian car design firm. It was amazing to see the nuances that go into automotive design. This trip comes closest to a pilgrimage for me!
MY SUMMER PROJECT I worked on product testing and determining the marketing mix in the Wet Hair category in West Africa. It was an extremely exciting project and gave me a sense of all that goes into working on a new category of products. It was months of hard work and amazing learning! (Akhil currently works as the Area Sales Manager for Punjab at Godrej Consumer Products)
AKHIL KALIA IIFT, Delhi
MY DREAM To sky dive at the mecca of adventure sports New Zealand!
HOW I LIVED MY DREAM I’m an adventure sports enthusiast. I have checked most of them off my bucket list. The only one left was sky diving. Personally, this was a more special dream, as it came after my knee replacement. I’m a cancer survivor. Jumping off 15,000 feet seemed like a real test of (mental) strength. Post intense preparation, I finally lived out my dream. It was a transformational experience!
MY DREAM MANTRA I believe that if God gives you a dream, He also gives you the capability to achieve it. My journey was a reaffirmation of this belief. It is also a message to all cancer survivors that life does not end after cancer. (Jatin currently leads Sales Development and E-commerce for Godrej Consumer Products in India)
JATIN PANCHAL Godrej Consumer Products
CARPE DIEM. SEIZE THE DAY. MAKE YOUR LIVES EXTRAORDINARY. - Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society
IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, THE ANSWERS AREN’T IN THE BACK. - Charlie Brown
MBAs
WANTED for a dream journey
1.5 LAKH SPONSORSHIP PRE - PLACEMENT INTERNSHIP OFFER
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hidden catches
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fine print
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