Introduction: The Global Bug Bites

In early 2000s, I was sitting pretty. Armed with an MBA from one of the premier Indian B Schools and a job with one of the most sought after FMCG companies, I saw myself in the upper echelons of Indian corporate world. Things were going well professionally; so much so that after just 3-4 years of experience my employer decided to give me additional responsibilities that entailed working and collaborating with US and Europe based colleagues. Such responsibilities come your way typically after 8-10 years (of course this depends on the industry you are in; this estimate is for FMCG as it was back in early 2000s). And it was in the very first such project that the BUG bit me!

Then, I was a Brand Manager, responsible for building and managing several top global brands in India. The additional responsibility entailed collaborating with the global brand team and affiliate teams in over 30+ countries across the world to understand brand-need-culture fit troika for over 100 global and local brands, evaluate fit for these brands for India and build a business case for launching some the relevant brands in the country. Naturally, this opportunity enabled me to work closely with global team members as well as colleagues in geographies as diverse as North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. I also interacted with some of the top bosses (read CXOs) in these regions. Finally, I was provided a global mentor for this project - some top shot from the global brand team.

First thing I noted about my global mentor was that he was 'younger' than me. He had been the organization for only about 2 years and yet his title was 'Global Brand Manager XYZ Brand'. I was impressed by his ability to quickly grasp local knowledge (as it pertained to our brands) and ask the right questions. He was clearly a smart, bright chap - but I felt so was I and hundreds of other IIMs, JBIMS grads. That's when I realized there existed a clear global career track vs. a local career track.

As I spoke with more and more colleagues including my mentor, HR from global HQ and CXOs from other affiliate countries, I realized that getting on a global career track was imperative if one wanted to become a Global CXO and an MBA from one of the top global schools was an accelerated way of embarking on such a track. While it's true that there some from top Indian MBA schools who have made their mark as a Global CXO (e.g. Ajay Banga from MasterCard), I realized that these were exceptional cases. 

If one wanted to been seen as part of global talent pool and not just a local talent pool, if one wanted a ready global network vs. local network and of course if one wanted to enjoy the lifestyle, the accelerated roles/responsibilities and the salary/perks that come with them, then one would have to look beyond just an Indian MBA. My project mentor whom I alluded to above had a total of 5 years of experience (3 prior to B School) before making a Global Brand Manager role; working in global HQ he was able to network and build relationships with top business leaders within the company, he knew the right people even outside the company (for example, I dined along with him and top shot head hunter in midtown Manhattan and a key decision maker in a global VC in London). 

My project mentor was an MBA from a top-10 USA MBA program. These contacts that I mentioned that were a part of his personal network originally belonged to his school's alumni network. Many of the senior management and CXOs in my employer's global HQ were alumni from his school. It was a system that cared for its own provided one gave it time and effort to know others in the network (he, of course, excelled at it). These were the kind of people who made it on the global career track. 

I realized that I needed to be part of such a network. The bug had bit me hard. To my surprise, many of my peers from IIMs and other elite Indian programs also felt the same way. It was time to start the process!

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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