Today, 25th August 2025, is a big day for me – my consulting practice turned 10! However, my entrepreneurial story started exactly a year before that. I thought it would be worthwhile to share my backstory and what I’ve learnt over the last decade regarding unlocking excellence, both professionally and personally.
It was late Aug 2014, and I was working for Kellogg. Since I was supporting Operational Excellence for the Asia Pac region, it was a job that came with a lot of hotels, planes and lounges. I had to travel to India (Chennai to be specific) frequently to support the new Kellogg site that was being built.
My boys were little, and my older son would often ask two to three questions almost every time he saw me packing my bags: 1) Where are you going? 2) How long will you be away for? Those were the two easy questions to answer; the longest trips were to South Africa for around 10 days. Now and then, my son would ask me a third question – Can you find a job where you don’t have to travel? My eyes would begin to tear up, and my throat would dry up whenever I tried to answer that question with a “let’s see”.
I loved my job, and in fact, I think it was the job that I enjoyed the most in my corporate career. So, I was torn between a job that I enjoyed and the family that I loved.
So, I remember this particular day in August 2014, in Chennai, India – it was a terribly hot day. Sweat was pouring down as I walked the streets near the hotel, in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, early morning before work. The roads were chaotic with street vendors, bicycles, tuk-tuks, cars and buses. The surroundings were dusty with the road works and the construction of the new metro line.
And as busy as it was, to me, it seemed like time had come to a standstill. Have you seen those TV commercials or movie scenes where someone knocks over a glass of red wine over a clean white tablecloth and everyone reaches out to prevent the spill in s…l…o…w m..o..t..i..o..n? Well, it was like that. To me, time had stopped. I couldn’t hear the traffic noise, I didn’t feel the hot sun on my neck, I didn’t see the dust from the busy streets. All I could think of was that my older son was turning 10 today.
To me, it felt like it was just last week that I held him in my arms, with his little head in my palm and his feet barely reaching my elbow, and it was just like two days ago that I pushed him in his tricycle. And I couldn’t believe he had turned 10!
That was my moment of epiphany. When I made the usual morning call to my wife, I told her that I wanted to do something on my own, so I could spend more time with the family. I remember saying to her that if the next ten years were to fly as fast as the first ten years, we would not have enough time to engage in the childhood of our sons. Although I knew what I had to do, I didn’t know how I was going to get started. My heart was racing, and I felt my stomach knotting. It was daunting for both of us – my wife had left her professional career to focus on family and charity work, and here I was talking about quitting my job which supported all of us!
As I continued to focus on my dream and making it work, 10 months later, in June 2015, I had an opportunity to get a redundancy from Kellogg. The universe had answered! I made plans in the next couple of months, and on my son’s 11th birthday in 2015, I registered my business. So, every year, as he turns a year older, I turn another chapter in my practice. And every year, it allows me to stop and reflect on my achievements, purpose and direction. It has been an incredible journey over the last decade, which I thoroughly enjoyed – learning heaps, changing a lot and sharing my thoughts.
As promised at the beginning of this blog, I want to share what I’ve learnt both personally and professionally over the last decade, with respect to unlocking excellence from within and in our teams. So, here they are.
Personally
- It’s ok to take personal risks in life to pursue your dreams. Weigh up the pros and cons first. Rally your dearest and nearest (the key people around you), as these decisions often have an impact on them as well.
- It’s ok to dream big, however audacious it may be. You need to firmly believe in it (the outcome) and also have a big enough ‘why’.
- Mindset matters the most. I believe it was Henry Ford who once said, ‘Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right!’. So, believe in yourself and back yourself up.
Professionally
- Problem solving is the biggest problem with businesses globally. Lack of structured problem-solving skills is holding organisations back from unlocking their true excellence. Help teams and individual with the skills needed to embed a culture of productivity.
- Frontline leadership skills are not where they need to be to support the shop-floor teams. Frontline Leaders are the linchpins in organisations. They make or break the organisations as they drive engagement, productivity and synergy of the shop-floor teams. So, help them to become better frontline leaders.
- We make business improvement far too complicated and complex than it needs to be. Pick the tools, focus on the frontline leaders and support them.
Before wrapping up this post with one important point, a question for you, I need to thank the people who have helped me immensely to get to this point.
- My parents – with more of my hair going grey, I’m realising the importance of the solid foundations of excellence you’ve laid for my life. Immense gratitude and love.
- My darling wife and soulmate – nothing is too hard or impossible for you. I’m inspired by the world you’re trying to create for humanity and your dedication. Thank you for your love and support for nearly three decades and many more to come.
- My beloved sons – for giving me the biggest reason to excel in life. Thank you for your love, hugs and the memories we create.
- My mentors, coaches, supporters and friends – I’m grateful for your inspiration, support and wisdom. Thank you for walking this journey with me.
- The business leaders who placed their trust in me to unlock excellence in their teams and organisations. With each team, I got the opportunity to improve and refine my thinking. The ADVANCE and UNLOCK frameworks were born out of these collective experiences. Thank you.
- Finally, to the reader; that’s you – thanks for reading this blog/newsletter and for allowing me to present some ideas to unlock excellence in your teams.
Question for you – if you have an opportunity to magically speak to yourself in 10 years’ time, to time travel to August 2035, what will you be telling yourself? What advice will you be giving yourself? What decisions will you be asking yourself to take in 2025?
