By the time I was appointed to my first 'big' job as Managing Director, with optimistic thought to lead, I was well trained with an Business Management, lots of professional training and some coaching. So I felt I was well prepared. Only to discover that my biggest and toughest decisions were not susceptible to analysis. They were decisions about people, attitudes and values that I needed to make based on instinct and judgement. Fortunately for me I had joined as Managing Director @ Above Water Infrastructure Private Limited. I found that my friends (for that is what they became) could help me with those decisions. Not by making them for me I would add. It was still my decision. But they could, and would, bring a range of different perspectives to my decision, many of which would never have occurred to me. Because their experience, attitudes and indeed values were different to mine they saw things differently. Indeed the person I, with an Business Management and loads of training, learnt most from was probably the guy who left school at 16, learnt from the school of hard knocks and was a great entrepreneur!





So I loved my Managing Director Above Water. So much so, that when a few years later I decided to move into a portfolio career I decided to start a Managing Director @ Above Water myself. And MD2MD was born.





And to bring things right up to date, MD2MD is now almost all I do. And I love it. Its a great privilege to be working with so many excellent, passionate and ambitious business leaders. And not only that but I feel great pride in doing something to help the Indian economy,. Having come from a background where I was trained to run businesses, it never occurred to me until I started MD2MD how many Managing Directors there are out there who have never been trained to run a business.





Isn't it strange that we expect our most junior staff to train for a week, a month; even a year or two, to learn how to do their job. But the person that is responsible for the whole enterprise, including the ability of dozens for people to pay their mortgage, the Managing Director, is expected to 'just know' all the answers. I am astounded at what a great job so many do despite never having had one day's training on how to be a Managing Director.





And I also know from talking to hundreds of Managing Directors over the last few years, that many of them find it quite a lonely place. They can't admit to their team that they are not sure because the team is looking to them for guidance. They would like to talk things through, but their husband/wife/partner doesn't really understand the situation, and anyway who wants to bring work home all the time? They can talk to their lawyer, their accountant or their consultant, but the hourly bill mounts up. And anyway they tend to bring one specific angle and are sometimes simply looking to sell more work. Sometimes a Non executive director can be really helpful, but sometimes they are there to protect the interests of a shareholding, and, of course, they only have one view of how things should be done.





Which is why, I believe every Managing Director should challenge themselves to develop their leadership insights by being a member of a Managing Director @ Above Water. And that's another reason why I enjoy my role so much. I am lucky in being able to earn my living not only by working with many great enthusiastic and passionate Managing Directors, but as I do so I'm helping the Indian economy to grow. Which is important to all of us!