Note to readers: Fit to lead is a series of interviews with business leaders on their approach to fitness, leadership and navigating the new normal.
Growing up in Arunachal Pradesh and Shillong, Anirban Nandi, director (emerging business and strategy, India leadership team), Mars, recalls he wasn’t an “athlete” but did play some sports. It wasn’t until he was working in Dubai when the scale was inching towards three figures that he realized he had to do something. “I was obese, had an unhealthy lifestyle and didn’t like what I had become,” he says. So, about 10 years ago he started running on the treadmill. The results came quickly, he moved from the treadmill to the road and within a few months ran a 10km race too.
Edited excerpts:
How do you achieve your health and fitness goals?
I am intentional about fitness. I run twice a week averaging 25 km to 35 km per week, strength training four times and yoga once a week. Occasionally, I cycle. On average, I spend 90 to 120 minutes a day, six days a week on fitness activity.
Favourite fitness activity…
Long distance running. It allows me ample time to reflect on multiple aspects of my professional and personal life. I find that highly therapeutic.
Your toughest?
As much as I want to swim, I have not been able to learn swimming.
Your new normal…
There was no point worrying about how the normal has changed. You find out ways and means to navigate through these complex times… find innovative ways and means to progress and connect at work. I calendarized business and offline connects to ensure we spend quality time on both, similar to what we would do in office. So technically, the new normal is more similar than different.
Has your fitness routine, in any way, helped you navigate the uncertainties of the current times?
I don’t have empirical evidence to support it… but I worry less and have developed a more solution-driven mindset. I use marathon metaphors like ‘one mile at a time’ when managing or navigating complex and ambiguous challenges. The discipline that I have been able to maintain has given me more confidence in my abilities and made my resilience stronger.
The one change you would encourage your teammates to make to deal with the challenges of current times…
I propagate health and wellness, probably overdo it… because I believe you can only do better if you are fit and healthy.
Leadership lessons in your fitness journey…
Too often we spend a lot of energy on competition and external factors. In fitness, you can be overwhelmed with what everyone is doing… I realized the importance of focusing on myself and the process defined every achievement or miss, professionally and personally with very little interference of luck.
Preparing for my first marathon required me to train in a disciplined and planned manner. Same applies to leadership: make a plan, focus on the next step and review it not to find faults but to unlock bottlenecks and progress.
Passion is overrated, resilience is underrated. You are bound to hit roadblocks like injuries while training. The passion and motivation could end abruptly. It is your resilience which can bring you back. This is so similar to work, we all wish every project, every task goes smoothly, but it never does.
What impact does your image of a “fit leader” have on your team?
You will need to ask the team that… I like to believe I am inspiring them to pick up healthy habits. These habits also allow me to keep pace with all the younger members of my team and the organization, and I don’t mind teasing and challenging them to beat me on the fitness front.
Has being fit helped you become a better leader?
I think and feel better, I am more energetic and resilient… This allows me to lead by example and practice what I preach.
Your leadership style…
An authentic leader, a thinker who derives energy and insights from people, details, and experiences. My leadership style is based on the fundamental principle of trust, empowerment, and the ultimate belief that you are only as good as your team. I look forward every time to be very intentional in the team’s overall development, in both personal and professional capacity.
On achieving work-life balance…
Once you are a slave to your habits, you work around your tasks to ensure you get the right balance. I also try to be intentional on the place I stay at so that it saves time commuting to and from office. So, planning your hours to the tee is probably what you might say is the secret sauce towards maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Goals for the year…
I have a dream to run the 72 km Khardungla Ultra—an unpredictable race that you run in extreme cold at a height of 18,000 feet. Similar challenges excite me at work, where we are scripting a disruptive growth story, unleashing initiatives for exponential growth in e-commerce and unlocking some innovative profitable business models for the unit.
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