The author reflects on things they would do differently if given the chance to redo their career. Some key lessons include setting aside more time for strategic thinking, celebrating successes more openly, socializing over lunch instead of eating alone, maintaining humility, being a lifelong learner, managing stress through laughter, building fewer barriers with others, and nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit in those they lead. The author encourages readers to consider asking interview candidates what they would change and do differently to gain insight into their character.

1. The Marketing Solutions & Services Provider
Ten Things I Would Have Done Differently
I have some favorite questions to ask candidates to get to know them
better, and to loosen them up for the interview. “How would one of your
friends describe you in college? When did you know what you wanted to
do after college? How did you get your first job? Was there a friend, a
teacher or a mentor that taught you something that’s proven invaluable
to this point in your career?”
Certainly, you can’t do this with all people, but in most cases, you can
get to know the person, not just the candidate. Is she self-made, or
simply well-connected? Is he a more mature version of the person he’s
always been, or has he reinvented himself along the way? Does he like
change, or is he set in his ways? Has he learned from the people
around him, or has he always been the one who knew more than
everyone around him? Is he a team player or a lone ranger?
Traveling home from an interview recently, I asked myself a question I
almost always ask my candidates, “If you were given the chance to do it
all over again, what would you do differently?” When I ask my
candidates this question, I’m looking for specific information. Did he
learn from his mistakes, and does he have the courage to make more?
Is he still open to new ideas and change? Is he content in what he’s
accomplished? Could he have done a better job with things, or does he
believe he was perfect in every way?
Many readers know that before Innovista Consulting, I was a career
sales and marketing guy. My answer to my own question surprised me
a little. In short, I’d change plenty. I’m offering this list to readers still on
the management/hiring/mentoring side of the desk; the ones still dealing
with these things every day.

2. The Marketing Solutions & Services Provider
Set aside more think time. Thinking on the run is a great skill, but
dedicating time to unplug and simply think is masterful. It may take a
day each month, or an hour each week. If I had it to do over again, I’d
find time to separate myself from the day-to-day; pen and pad in hand,
and look at what we’re doing (and what we should be doing) from a
different perspective. I would get out from under the details to ensure
the plan is still relevant, that we’re doing the right things -- and doing
them right.
Celebrate the good more often. No matter how hard we try, each of us
hits a low point every so often. We’re presented with challenges we
didn’t anticipate, or things don’t go exactly as planned. It seems that
focusing on what’s gone wrong, who is to blame and how to fix it is the
American standard. As important as that may be, do we do enough to
celebrate what’s gone right? Since the beginning of my career I’ve kept
a “Feels Good” file in my desk. It consists of letters from satisfied
customers, magazine articles extolling our accomplishments, and
handwritten notes from associates who were proud and happy to be
part of the team. Rereading these can pick you up quickly, providing
balance and recognizing that which is positive and noteworthy. But
maybe the file spent too much time in my desk. If I had it to do over, I’d
share the “Feels Good” stuff with associates more often to help make
the bad more bearable -- and to instill a greater sense that the good is a
lot more fun!
Eat in my office less often. We go to lunch with the same people
every day. Or worse, we grab a sandwich or a salad and stay immersed
in the challenge-at-hand through one of the most important times of the
day. The greatest harm is not to your diet or your physical well-being.
It’s to your loss of the daily socialization with anywhere from twenty to a
hundred of your greatest champions eating lunch, talking, smiling,

3. The Marketing Solutions & Services Provider
sharing insight into their lives and sharing stories and ideas. Can you
accomplish more by spending time with the same people every day (or
eating at your desk) or by listening to the people on your front line? I’d
spend more time with my troops.
Take myself less seriously. Let’s face it, most of us get a bit more
impressed with ourselves when we climb the food chain or take on
additional responsibility. We become the job and the job becomes us.
We carry it with us wherever we go. But we should never lose sight of
the reality that the job (at least for most of us) is not to find a cure for
cancer. We’re delivering marketing services or information…not oxygen.
Stay grounded. Find a balance between doing the best you can do, and
being the best person you can be. Intensity, passion, focus, drive,
energy and a strong work ethic are all good things. But given a chance
to do it over again, I’d balance these things more consistently with being
a better friend, employee and team member, father, husband and
citizen.
Be a better student. In the 1990’s, when we created new power point
presentations and excel modules for cost comparisons following the
advent of notebook computers in India, we used robust marketing
programs and modules to steal customers from our old and new
competitors. Others wanted to learn how we did it. And later, when we
scaled one of the leading international brands for mycoplasma
prevention during the first avian flu outbreak in India, even more people
wanted to know how we did our marketing and what logic we used to
sell during such times of deep crisis. Being the teacher is dangerous
only when you stop being the student, as well. Given the chance to do it
over again, I’d listen more -- to our current customers, to the people who
aren’t our customers, to our front-line troops, and to the people who
walked our halls long before us.

4. The Marketing Solutions & Services Provider
Laugh more and stress less. It sounds simple, really. Any leader or
manager who says he doesn’t worry isn’t being entirely truthful. We all
worry. But the most skilled leaders are the ones who can channel their
worry into constructive action. Another boss in my life (my wife, of
course) once embroidered a small plaque for my office that wasn’t
appropriate for public display. To paraphrase, it said, “Certain Things
Happen.” Worrying doesn’t fix anything. It simply infects the spirit of the
team and blurs your focus on the solution. I’d get over it more quickly
and move on. I’d laugh more with my team. I’d recognize that they
worry, as well, but they will worry a lot less when they see me
confidently and optimistically moving forward.
Build fewer fences. Ambition is a funny, and often dangerous thing. It
can be good and bad for you and your company -- at the same time.
Undoubtedly, a few former associates still wish they’d thrown me under
the bus when they had the chance. It has taken time, but I regret the
same feelings I had about them, and some of the barriers I built around
me. In every career, some people may stand as an obstacle to your
success, or, in your opinion, to the success of the company. I recognize
now that it’s natural, and not always personal. Tolerance and
forgiveness are difficult, but often necessary for the good of the
company. It’s easy to look back and wish you’d done it differently. It’s
much harder to recognize that you are being obstinate when it’s
happening, and manage the conflict differently. Time, experience and
maturity change things. If I had a chance to do it over again, I’d be more
open to the idea that (gasp!) perhaps I was wrong. Maybe I made a
mistake. And I’d be less eager to build a wall against the source of the
conflict.
Run it like you own it. Entrepreneurship is a terribly overused word in
the corporate hiring process. Everyone says that’s what they want in
their managers and future leaders, what do we really mean? Do we
know how to support that culture and environment? I’ve never been

5. The Marketing Solutions & Services Provider
more satisfied in my career than I am now, and for the first time, I truly
understand that you don’t have to own your own business to be an
effective entrepreneur. You can be entrepreneurial in any company, if
your leadership supports you. Throughout my career I thought I was
breeding entrepreneurs on my team, but now I recognize that I could
have done more to nurture the environment in which business leaders
could flourish. Too often, I meddled too much. I second-guessed
people. I tried to help them get things done. I infringed on their
ownership space. Given a chance to do it over, I’d try harder to let
people run it like they own it. I would take more responsibility for the big
picture, and less for how the picture is created.
Have more fun. That sounds easy. Looking back, I can honestly say
that I had fun almost every day in my career. But did I recognize I was
having fun while it was unfolding around me? Not often enough. And
since I didn’t recognize it at the time, that means I didn’t do enough to
make sure the people around me were having fun, too. Hard work and
success breed fun. Fun breeds success and hard work. And all of these
things result in pride -- in you, in your company, and in what you do for
your customers. I’d be a better champion of fun. And my associates and
customers would be better for it.
So ask yourself, “If you were given the chance to do it all over again,
what would you do differently?” Reading back over my answers, I asked
myself another question, “Who cares what I’d do differently?” The truth
is, this article isn’t about me as much as it is about you.
Consider making this question part of your interviews. I believe that few
people can (or should) answer, “I wouldn’t change a thing.” For better
interviews, lighten up a little. Don’t just dive into the routine. Don’t just
replay the mental script of how an interview should run. Get people
talking. See how they communicate. Witness their passion, their
emotions, their open-mindedness, and their life lessons. Let them offer
the things they’re most proud of; the things that might be more about

6. The Marketing Solutions & Services Provider
their life than their career. Get a better glimpse of who they are before
you determine what they are.
And consider asking yourself the question in a different way. “What can
I do differently before it’s too late?” I wish you great success and much
happiness
Send in your comments to:
Dr. Sekhar Basak,
Managing Director,
Innovista Consulting,
Better known for “RobiDon” and “Megacox”
Email: md@innovistaconsulting.com
HP: +91-9871203111
Skype: sekhar_basak
Homepage: www.innovistaconsulting.com