First Step Is Most Important

Gautam H Mohapatra–Sr. Manager Marketing NALCO in an exclusive interview with Gautam Babbar talks about his corporate journey and the milestones achieved in life.

“One of the key differences between the private and the public sector is the problems faced by them; for private it’s the targets and for the public it’s the targets along with the set of rules which one has to follow to achieve them,” replied Mr. Gautam H Mohapatra, Sr. Manager Marketing, NALCO when asked about working in the public sector as compared to the private.

A thorough professional at work, Mr. Mohapatra is an alumni of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management from the 1991 batch. He has spent a major chunk of his career at NALCO, where he has a dual role. As a Technical Secretary to the Executive Director of Marketing, he scrutinizes the business proposals and conducts feasibility studies. It is his job to ensure that the decisions taken are in the best interest of the organisation. Another portfolio which he handles is that of marketing, where he along with his team, are one point of contact with external customers. He is responsible for improving the existing business along with generating new business.

Just after passing out of IIPM, he worked with Lloyd, where his marketing skills were nurtured. One really has to be fortunate to have a mentor at the initial stages of one’s career, thinks he. In his case he remembers Mr. Kaushik Das, who was instrumental in shaping his career in the right direction. Mr Das taught him the basics and made sure he was present at most of the client meetings. This made Mr. Mohapatra confident and improved his ability to lead from the front.

Being stable in one’s career is one of the most important parameter in order to be successful. Mr. Mohapatra has proved this right as he has spent almost 17 years with NALCO. A calm and composed individual, feels that an important trait that a marketing professional should possess apart from being a great communicator, is being a patient listener. In a marketing job, one encounters all kinds of customers. Some will be positive but a lot will be negative in their approach. Th e main motive should be to remain calm and generate maximum business for the organisation.

Often when traveling abroad, he addresses huge gatherings and promotes NALCO as a potential aluminum exporter. He admires Mr. Ratan Tata as a great leader and says that there is a lot to learn from him in terms of leadership and management skills. The scope of his work is such that he has to spend long hours in office, as majority of his clients are in the US, UK and the middle east. As a leader, he adopts a collaborative approach, where he gives a free hand to all his team members in performing their duties. However, this cannot be practiced in all situations. He feels leadership is situational in nature and a true leader is someone who is flexible enough to adapt to different situations.