Mayank Singhal - Perseverance & Consistency Is the Key to Success as There Are No Shortcuts in Life (Associate Director Planning Analytics - Indigo Airlines)

I feel formal education is important but not compulsory, it depends on what you want to do in your life. If you have enough resources, time & passion to learn from a school, then you should go ahead and pursue formal education. But even without a formal education, you still have a chance to make it bigger, and you could count me as an example.

Tell us about your background, journey, and upbringing.

I am a Delhite, born and brought up in West Delhi. I completed my 12th grade from Adarsh Public School. Post which I did not have the financial strength to go ahead and pursue what I really wanted to pursue hence I decided to go for Distance Learning BCOM from Delhi University and along with it I started a full-time job.

I spent 11+ years working in 5 different organizations from Bajaj, IBM, Convergys, FIS & now Indigo Airlines. The journey has been full of struggle yet wonderful. I will always cherish my entire journey & feel proud of it.

“Opportunities are Usually Disguised as hard Work, So Most People Don’t Recognize them” Alongside I managed to get my masters degree & many other certifications /diplomas like Six Sigma, Prince 2, PGCDBA & CBAP.

My upbringing has been very strong & grounded, Out of all sufferings, one emerges as the strongest soul, a massive character in conjunction with experienced scars.

When I lost my dad at an age of 16, I was totally saddened and could not imagine
how my life going to be. Sitting in an airplane & traveling overseas was my dream but it sounded next to impossible as I couldn’t afford even my studies. But today I’ve traveled to 10+ countries (Personally + Professionally), represented India’s Biggest Airline in Analytics Conferences in the USA & Japan.

How did you rise to the highest echelons and what are your future plans?

Perseverance & Consistency is the key to success as there are no shortcuts in life. Refuse to be offended by people, circumstances & outcomes. I really enjoy what I do, my passion is data analytics, therefore I see myself adding value not just to my current organization but to our aviation industry by making it better and better over time with the help of data.

Studies today show that an organization can lose INR 10 lakh (~ $17,000) on average on a wrong hire or for hiring someone with a false degree. The only tried and tested way to prevent frauds is via a thorough background verification process. Download SpringVerify's e-book for a comprehensive guide to Employee Background Verification in India.

What does your typical workday look like?

I feel over the past 10 years the one thing I did extremely well in comparison to many other successful individuals is to manage my work-life balance. I start my day drinking lots of water and right after that I water my plants / do some basic gardening, after which I get into a good session of Sudarshan kriya that keeps my smile up the entire day no matter what.

My work usually starts around 9 am with scheduled calls with stakeholders & with my team. Every day I keep brainstorming or task follow-up sessions with my team in which we talk about work, ongoing projects, or anything outside work too like external factors impacting airlines or corporates or anything funny/trendy.

Mostly I get free at 5 pm or 6 pm, post which I spend my time with my family or
read books.

Several global companies have come out and thrown their support behind not needing a formal education. What is your opinion about this?

I feel formal education is important but not compulsory, it depends on what you want to do in your life. If you have enough resources, time & passion to learn from a school, then you should go ahead and pursue formal education. But even without a formal education, you still have a chance to make it bigger, and you could count me as an example. 

Being the youngest Associate Director in my organization without even going to a regular college, Dealing with intelligent minds from premier institutes all around the world. But all of this comes after prolonged hard work.

How do you handle someone who has lied on their resume?

The problem is not that they have lied on their resume, I feel everybody does to some extent, for example – nobody would say they were an average or below-
average performer in their current or previous organization.

The problem is when they sound underconfident to reciprocate what they have
shared on their resume. People always get hired when they sound confident & have proper knowledge of what they have on their resume even if they have very little experience in that field.

How has covid changed things at your workplace & which of these changes do you intend to make permanently?

Covid has changed many organizations’ approaches upside down. One thing that I like about this change is 100% focus on cost-effectiveness, everybody is running after automation, analytics & process improvements to cut the cost down to a minimum.

I believe this approach must stay permanent in the veins of the organization to keep succeeding.

What advice do you have for those starting their career and those who are eyeing the top job?

There are few lessons that I have learned throughout my career, That I really want to share :

• Start your career as soon as possible, do not wait for a perfect job or a salary
• Your first 3-4 years of the career is very important, that is what makes your base stronger.
• PR is very important, always maintain mutual respect & credibility whosoever you meet in professional life, you never know when you might need them.
• Always be positive & spread positivity even in the most pessimistic situations.
• Last & Very important – Every crisis is an opportunity, every additional work you do is adding more value to you.

                              

Which is your favorite book/show and why?

I've recently read ‘Ikigai’ & ‘Think like a monk by Jay Shetty’. I have loved these books as they tell you the real meaning and purpose of life and the approach to achieve your goals too.

What's your Passion apart from work?

I love traveling, my first trip was to Japan through my work until then I did not know much about what traveling is, But I loved Japan so much that I asked my boss to give me a week vacation right after my conference as it was once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

After completing my first trip to Japan, I got so influenced that I traveled to 10+ countries in less than 3 years after that, and of course almost half of India.

Travelling got on my mind so much, that I started writing about my experiences through a blog on many websites like Curly Tales, Tripoto, Woovly, and many others.

My blogs did extremely well and but then covid hit us hard & since then I could not travel

My Travel Library - Insta Page – Mayank_Singhalofficial.