Several B-schools hand out case studies for discussion during the admission process. As part of the preparation, I gave this case study to my students: "You are an organisation coach who has been asked to resolve a problem at a bank. The heads of the retail and investment banking divisions are at loggerheads. They were in a mentor-mentee relationship earlier, but now, the younger man has risen to head the investment banking arm, while his mentor continues to head the retail division. This has led to some bad blood between them which the juniors are having a field day with. What will you do?"
Roy, the boss, was also present. We have had a mixed relationship. While I admire his deep knowledge of the Common Admission Test (CAT) coaching industry, we have had differences in regard to work responsibilities. Some of these issues have again come to the fore as the institute faces declining admissions. The buzz is positively flight-inducing.
Not one to lose an opportunity, he said to the students: "Imagine the two of us." He meant himself and me. "Now say, this young man becomes a famous CAT faculty and decides to start his own venture which, God willing, becomes more successful than this place, and then he refuses to acknowledge his stay here, his relations with this institute, with me, how would you, as a professional coach, come in to resolve any differences that crop up between us?"
Oh, how exciting! The boss is a player, isn't he? Look at all the innuendo flying around. He had laid out the terms clearly: "Will you stay on with us, mister?"
It was my turn. When the discussion got over, I addressed the students: "This is a complex case. We have discussed in earlier cases how not to let personal morality affect our professional decisions since we are responsible to senior management for our performance and the role we perform."
"However," I continued, "in this scenario, it might be a good idea for the mentee to make the first move since it was the mentor who guided and trained him during the initial years. True, the mentor may have aged and may not possess the skills needed to sustain performance in a high-pressure environment but that does not take away from the contribution he made to the mentee's success."
I looked at Roy. A well-fed baby never looked as happy. If the case was a challenge that he had slyly thrown in my direction, testing my commitment to the institute and of his expectations of me, I seemed to have passed with flying colours.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for one of the students at the case discussion. I remembered him as articulate and engaging during the CAT sessions, but now that he had failed to secure admission, he wore a sullen look and spoke little. At today's case discussion, he had displayed particularly determined ennui. I asked him to stay back after class for a one-on-one.
At length, he revealed that he was sick of the process. This was his second attempt at CAT and this time he had been discarded by four institutes of some standing. He had decent group discussions and interviews at all of them, and was hoping he would convert at least one.
I told him the usual. That this is common and happens with many people. That CAT is hardly an exact exam in terms of determining who gets in and who is left out. Countless brilliant people have missed studying at the Indian Institutes of Management, and many mediocre ones have made the cut. That it hardly behoves him - a smart, young man - to get depressed about this.
He nodded, in that familiar way that people nod at those they have no patience for. My spiel was not working. I had to tell him something else. I tried a different, more personal tack. I told him that hindsight changes things. I am 28, and I was very different when I was his age, 23. Then, I had received an admission offer from a US-based university for a journalism programme, but had returned within a month because I could not settle.
Today that experience is a bitter-sweet memory, I continued. Somewhere it affects me that I missed a chance to live and study in New York. But I am also glad that I did not pay a bomb to learn journalism since ultimately there is no better way to learn the trade than on the job. As I spoke, I felt a familiar pang grip my heart. Wow, I was such a boy back then.
Now the student was listening to me with interest. The distant, advice-spewing instructor had become human.
Don't worry about an MBA, I told him. Take a break. Do nothing academic. See if you want to come back to it. This is a difficult time for everyone - trying to prove oneself, making one's way in the world. Things don't remain so distressing. Life does get easier.
He thanked me and left, looking relieved.
The author has switched too many jobs in the past and hopes he can hold down this one
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
