My first year at work: Mohit Kampani, President and CEO, Spencer’s Retail

‘Change is Inevitable’

The Brief and What I did in the First 100 Days

My first job, after my MBA from XIM Bhubaneswar, was with Jumbo Electronics in Dubai. I was a management trainee in the marketing team. My brief, as a product officer, was to shadow an existing category manager for a few weeks and get ready to handle a category on my own. I started with car stereos, then graduated to washing machines and subsequently refrigerators.

The best leadership lesson I learnt

One thing I learnt fast is that change is inevitable. Do not react immediately, stay the course and things will get better.

My biggest innovation

I developed our own private label range of car stereos under the brand ‘Supra’. It was very exciting to be creating something real within the first few weeks of one’s working career. These car stereos were essentially targeted at the export market.

The worst mistake I made

I ordered a container of washing machines with the wrong power rating and sent them to the Middle East. The best part was that everyone supported me to set the mistake right.

How I managed my work-life balance

In Dubai you start work early and close around 4.30-5 pm. We managed to have a lot of fun — mostly running for exercise in the evenings and meeting friends.

—As told to Sreeradha D Basu