"The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time".

-Field Marshal Chetwode

Recently, en route to Lavasa, I made a pit stop at my alma mater – the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla. This is the place where it all began - and it fired up a million memories.

So, what was it that attracted me into the military academy so many decades ago? Was it about fighting a war? Or about the famed camaraderie amongst brothers over sundowners at the Officers’ Mess? Was it the dream that one day, liveried men will accompany me in a four-starred, flagged car to an official dinner?

Whatever my reasons then at the age of 16 - they were most nothing compared to the amazing life that unraveled in the years that followed.

The NDA is the training ground for our forces, and inevitably anyone joining it will find a purpose that outlasts the initial impressions they carry through the front gates. Life at the NDA is not a montage of quick breezy experiences. Here, cadets are broken down, and then remade. But I don’t tell this to young aspirants – they discover this on their own. The most significant change, the one that goes deeper than the smart uniform and peak fitness, is internal fortitude.

Never a dull moment at NDA, we never had enough time to harbour stray thoughts. Instead, we found our joy in thrills. Be it developing riding skills at the Equestrian lines with some of India’s finest horses, or practising close-combat battle charges, we were taught to act instantly. We had to soldier on with equanimity, irrespective of the load in our rucksack or the rigour of the terrain. For an army man, there are no Starbucks to strategise over coffee. The jungle has no gentle ‘Onboarding’ that modern managers are accustomed to. When boots hit the ground at 0500h, skills keep men alive; there is little place for complacency.

Courage means much more than bravery. It means having the character traits that make you an effective leader on the battlefield – and in the C-Suite. Even today, 28 years after graduating from NDA and pursuing a corporate life, I look to steer my teams towards ventures that surprise them, help them realise the sweat equity and risks involved. Without a fighting spirit, it would be difficult to achieve consistency in profits or scale. There were important lessons to be learned from every step of my training. Most critical perhaps, was for a soldier to become an iceberg - strong and hard on the surface, with resilience and depth.

And finally, my greatest learning at the NDA has been about honour. It is ingrained in every cadet’s DNA to honour and be honourable. Honour is the basis of selfless service, the NDA motto that has been woven into our every fibre. Entire units function cohesively in times of crisis because the team unites to do what is right. Honour can never be taught on paper; it is experienced and learned.

I can recall the countless times I’ve been asked if my training at the National Defense Academy, has shaped my business acumen with a unique perspective. The answer to the question has always been in the affirmative. The experience has set in stone some crucial pillars of conduct that have followed me till the boardroom and undoubtedly, helped me become who I am.

The perspective I gained almost three decades ago still defines the way I build teams in a corporate set up and charge towards growth. It has affected every aspect of my role from recruiting to strategic planning. During recruitment, I usually lean away from the idea of a perfect employee and look for two things - innate endurance, and a drive to innovate. Much like the army, where soldiers are expected to be fearless and creative, the narrative applies well in a corporate setting to make employees function without inhibitions or doubt. While endurance leads to employees targeting the very idea of perfect work, innovation imbibes creativity to create unique solutions instantaneously and to stay ahead of the market. This fortifies the overall strategy and ensures that the vision of the company does not wane.

And as I marched my final steps at the Passing Out parade to the tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, I realised that it was not about me anymore. I had become part of a much larger family that continued to march together – with a promise to live and die for each other.











