At BrilliantRead Media, it is our constant endeavour to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this, we invited Biswajit Chakraborty for an exclusive interview with us. He is a Leader, Mentor, Speaker, Life Coach and Trainer. Let’s learn more about his incredible journey, background, and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Biswajit;
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
I was born in a small town called Agartala in Tripura in 1968. I was the youngest of 8 siblings. I did my initial schooling in Agartala. I lost both my parents by the time I was 8. Our eldest brother who was working in Mumbai decided to relocate all of us to Mumbai where 6 of us lived in a single room for more than 2 years.
It was a tough decision for all of us as we were uprooted from a small town to a mega city. Since I was just 11 then I had an edge to absorb the mighty Mumbai culture and I just loved it. I kind of fell in love with this city. I finished the rest of my schooling from the only Bengali school in Mumbai. I must say I was a below-average student but my sister always I had great potential which I never used. All parents think alike I believe.
I then did my graduation from Mumbai University in commerce. I had to start working when I was 18 to support my education. I did some odd jobs like selling crackers, umbrellas at footpaths just to earn some pocket money. It was hard but it was fun. I had no clarity as to what to do after graduation and hence I got married at the age of 21 without a proper job in hand. Back then there were no job portals on online facilities.
I used to roam around in with a one-pager biodata in the streets of Nariman Point without any much success. I finally got through an accountant job with the help of my college friend. Fortunately, my wife had a job as a steno-typist which was of great support but it was still tough to manage the ends.
The real breakthrough came in when I got a job with Dabhol Power Company which was a joint venture of Enron, Bechtel and GE. It was my first tryst with a multinational company. It was a great opportunity to work with some great leaders and there was no looking back from there on. In 2003 I got into a people management role with KPMG, Fidelity and Willis Towers Watson. I grew up in leadership roles and became a COO in 2012 managing teams across India, UK and North America.
My last job was with WTW as a head of operations. It was during my stint with WTW I realized that I could influence youngsters with my people skills and make positive impacts in their lives. I quit my highly-paid corporate career in 2023 and decided to start my own venture as a life coach, trainer and public speaker.
How did you discover your passion?
In 2012 when I was promoted as a COO my manager assigned me a personal coach to make me think like a senior leader. My coach worked with me for 10 sessions and I could see the transformation in my approach to life in general and people engagement in specific.
It was at this junction I realized the power of coaching and how a good coach can transform lives. I decided to become a coach and did my neuro leadership coaching certification from Franklin Covey. I felt I was content with life and wanted to spread this completeness to others.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
There were many people whose work of life motivated me. To begin with, it was my elder brother who has sacrificed a lot to provide for us. It was my wife who stood by my side during the toughest times of life and never complained. Today if I look back, I can confidently say that getting married at 21 with the right partner was one of the best decisions of my life.
There are others like Ratan Tata, Narayan Murthy and Anand Mahindra who have worked for nation-building rather than wealth accumulation for self. Amongst the speakers, I follow Simon Sinek who I think speaks like me when it comes to people and their purpose. I strongly believe that ‘you don’t know your business if you don’t know your people who run it’.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
Keep learning is the best strategy. Leadership is a learnable skill and everyone can become a leader. Someone may choose not to lead but in today’s work environment, you need people skills to accomplish any given task. I believe a coach needs to bring in the transformation in himself or herself before embarking on this noble profession.
I did three things to become a coach apart from getting the certificate. I coached some of the leaders in my organization and outside for free. I attended a 10 days Vipasana course to gain control on myself and then underwent a course on the ‘Happiness Index’ from the Brahma Kumaris Foundation to understand how less we need to remain happy.
The one principle that runs common across all these courses is to introspect and gain self-control. Another strategy would be to read books on self-help and autobiographies. As they say, failures in life are the greatest teachers. Allow yourself some failures.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
The key to success is to understand the purpose of your life, align the purpose to the environment you are in and make the ecosystem that suits you best and value your relationships. Relationships are at the core of every success. They create a sense of trust and hope in others and you need to stay committed to these.
What advice you would give to your readers?
Take responsibility for your happiness. No one can make you happy. Life is like a book. Don’t skip a page, don’t imagine the end. Enjoy every chapter and at the end, you will be happy with your role in it.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
