Sanjoy Roy is a corporate with a successful career spanning multiple industries and is one of the best strategy and sales professionals in India. I consider myself very lucky that he also happens to be my father and my hero.

I have always been close to my father. Once I started my professional career, that bond just became stronger. He shared many pearls of wisdom, most of which I truly started appreciating once I became a manager and took charge of a 25 member cross functional team. Whatever little success I’ve had so far in my career, I owe to these pearls of wisdom.

Here are some of the learnings I thought worth sharing.

1)Present Insights Not Data

“Tell the story. No one needs you to tell them sales went up 13% over last quarter, they can already see that. Tell them how you identified specific pain points of your customers and solved it resulting in this revenue growth.”

2)Correlate Suggested Action/Idea To Topline Or Bottomline

“The best way to get your boss to align with your idea or plan is to describe how your proposed activity will either lead to increase in revenue or decrease in cost. Gold if it can do both.”

3)Don’t Say No To Additional Responsibility

“When additional responsibility is offered, take it. If the work gets too much to handle, ask for additional resources but never say no.”

4)Listen To Your Team

“Your team members will have plenty of insights and inputs to share. Use their experience and knowledge to your advantage.Don’t ever forget they’re in the team because of their skills and achievements.”

5)Appreciate In Public, Reprimand In Private

“If someone is doing a good job, ensure you give them due credit and appreciate them in front of everyone. If someone has not been up to mark, talk to them in private to understand why they’re not performing upto their potential.”

6)Manage Your Stress

Probably the most important life lesson I’ve learnt. “You can’t let the stress of the job get to you. As you go higher up the ranks, it only gets worse. Learn to be calm and enjoy the process. Work will continue to happen irrespective of whether you stress about it or not. There are people who would give anything to be in your position and enjoy this kind of responsibility. ”

7)Don’t Be Afraid To Ask

“No one expects you to know all the answers. If you ask, people will help. If you don’t, how will they know you need it?”

What are the pearls of wisdom that have influenced your life? Feel free to share in the comments.

Shomik Roy is a second year MBA student at Schulich School of Business, Toronto majoring in marketing. Shomik’s area of expertise lies in marketing strategy and scaling up sales and operations networks.