Continuing the series based on my observations and key takeaways Vice President, EMEA & APAC, Anant Patel,

Having worked with Anant for the last 7 years, I had my own ideas but what I really wanted to hear was his own view. So, the second part of the interview focussed on some of those things that make Anant, well ... Anant.

What makes Anant, a super curious servant leader, continue to learn?

Anant:

● Sees his curiosity, wanting to know more about people and things, as something that it is in his DNA. He grew up in a very curious family and I think that that environment had a huge part to play in fostering his curiosity.

● Genuinely cares about people, so it feels natural to him to want to know more about them.

● Gets a feel-good factor from learning more about anybody and to find out if he can help them. This makes him fit for growth.

● Has a personality and approach that is all about growth - he can create a ground swell of opportunities. Recently, in a business that isn't growing, he has needed to adapt his approach to focus on cost management and optimization and keeping people motivated. Taking this balanced approach is something that he has learned a lot about from his current line manager- an ex McKinsey consultant who is brilliant financially.

● Loves learning, which is a valuable skill that he has capitalised on to stay constantly adaptive and move forward in his career.

What does winning mean to Anant?

I know that Anant likes to win, but what I really wanted to know was his view on how to win. Infact, he told me that there are only certain things that he is keen on winning:

● Football - as a big Leicester City fan, he’s still dining out on the fact that they won the league title in 2016 at 5000:1!

● When everybody is happy to win - he likes everyone to be happy and the competitive side of him wants to know how to help to achieve that. He firmly believes that behaviours drive culture and that culture drives results.

● He believes everything is a learning process and his competitive side continually reflects on that and asks: What can we do to make our work culture better?

Why does Anant choose to work in 30-minute compartments?

Over the years of working with Anant, I have noticed that this way of working enables him to thrive. Here’s what he told me about this approach:

● It is deliberate.

● He gets his energy from people and wants to speak to as many people as possible in a day. So, if he scheduled 1-hour calls during, say, an 8 hour working day, he could only speak to eight people. Whereas, by limiting his calls to 30 minutes, he can speak to 16 people in the same 8 hours.

● This approach keeps his mind occupied and energised and enables him to grow and move forward.

● He finds that, after about half an hour, conversations tend to ‘fall into the ocean” a little resulting in diminishing returns. He’s happy to take a 30 minute call to 35 minutes.

● This approach has worked very well for Anant and he sees it very much as a leadership trait and executive way of doing things.

You can listen to the full show

https://soundcloud.com/user-778251999/adrian-adrians-personal-room-2020-10-01-10-04-26

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