Sports enthusiast and Director, Marketing at Futurice, Siddharth Asokan shares his story of building new teams and designing strategies for various marketing campaigns

Please describe your typical day as a Director at Futurice?

Well! everyday brings its new challenges, so I would rather describe my weekly routine.  I spend a lot of time working with my team on building strategies for specific marketing campaigns. I also hold a few meetings with key stakeholders from the sales and country leadership teams on a weekly basis. I am required to spend sometime with my CEO and the core leadership team overviewing the growth of the business and other strategic initiatives - not necessarily related to marketing. I specifically try and block a few hours in the week to do some "thinking" and focus on new ideas and initiatives, but it doesn't always work out.

What has been your biggest achievement in life/career?

Though I think the best is yet to come. Till now, the most satisfying experience has probably been building a new team and taking the marketing function to the next level at ThoughtWorks. I'm on a similar journey at Futurice in my current role. 

What are the life- long learning lessons your one year MBA at Great Lakes taught you?

Great Lakes was a turning point in my life both professionally and personally. The one year journey helped me in switching careers and I also met my wife at the campus.

Things I learnt:

• To be curious and very well read
• The importance of team work and listening to different perspectives

Share a few words of advice for future Great Lakers.

Keep an open mind and absorb as much as you can while you are on campus. Role/company and the exposure you will get in your first few years on the job is significantly more important than money. It will set you up well for long run. So don't only look at salary while choosing a job during placement season. Do your research well. One final piece of advice coming from my experience, jargons are overrated so learn to speak in simple terms in the real world.

How do you like to spend your free time?

With a close group of my friends and family. Binge watching shows on Netflix and Amazon.

What inspires you most in life?

Everybody loves a good underdog story. I'm inspired by stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things across all walks of life. (particularly in sports)