The automotive industry has long been recognised as “Growth Accelerator” and best boost for GDP growth and urban development. When Henry Ford chose Detroit in Michigan to concentrate on automobile manufacturing, not only he revolutionised the industry with a mechanised assembly line, but changed the socio-cultural landscape with standardised wages, rapid urbanisation and boosted taxes.
The automotive industry’s condition is an indicator of health of an economy. India is the fifth largest carmaker in the world, with its automotive sector contributing a whopping 49% of its manufacturing GDP and about 7.1% to the national GDP. The sector’s value chain employs about 35 million people with every one job created in an OEM resulting in eight to nine jobs within the ecosystem.
Personally, it makes people dream – dream of owning a prized possession, building a strong career and of unstoppable learning, to mature from an early prototype to an established professional.
Today, a car is believed to be an extension of your personality, as well as a hub of connected devices. While modern cars adapt space-tech and deliver car innovations to improve performance and safety, IoT and robotics in autonomous navigation have made them intelligent. How cars are sold by appealing to consumers’ emotions is an art in itself, while efficiency in operations is management case-studies. This sunshine industry gives a 360° exposure to your intelligence and personality.
Enriching Expedition
After having spent more than two decades in this industry, I can say it’s been a memorable and enriching expedition. The industry is never short of presenting daunting challenges, right in your face. But it never stops to amaze you too, as no two days are alike. The challenges could be a result of a policy shortcoming, long and intensive investment lifecycles and return dividends, the chaos of amalgamation of multi-functional, multi-disciplinary operations and shortage of ever evolving skillset and talent.
Keeping abreast with paradigm shifts in knowledge, intelligence & constant innovation, and to up-skill is a fundamental right as well an opportunity of differentiation.
If I have to draw an analogy with a car and a career in automotive, It’s like, you can speed your growth from 1st to 2nd to 3rd gear but to get to top speed, you must engage the 5th gear. I call it the Gear of Mentoring – the lubricant that propels energy, motivation, speed and agility. And here’s why?
The human resources, like in any other industry outlines employee growth plan. There are leadership development programmes, succession planning for mid, senior and top levels, exchange programmes, global assignments and more, but it’s not for one and all. It’s your hard work, networking and drive to make the climb. However, competency mapping is your personal responsibility and one has to take charge, find the gaps and press the paddle to define a roadmap for personal aspirations and growth.
Sticky Notes
There are great mentors all around you. When I first came into the industry, automotive journalists and friends became my set of guides and mentors. They gave me a perspective of an appreciator and a critic – the equalisers – that helped me question, understand and deliberate. I maintained a bundle of sticky notes from umpteen conversations. And several functional leaders and subject matter experts were an instant wealth of wisdom.
The global stint added several new dimensions. Every Friday, we had our Business Process Review meetings, where every function was represented to discuss progress and table business issues. In my first-ever, when a roomful of seasoned colleagues introduced themselves, I felt a pattern emerging. Everyone, literally everyone around the boardroom was a veteran with an average 20 plus years of automotive experience. The collective knowledge in the boardroom was something that comes over a lifetime. And, my sticky notes started to pop up again, while the list of mentors started to widen.
I can safely say, mentors in our industry not only help you survive, but thrive.
Five Tips
For all auto enthusiasts, who want to start, build or grow their careers, here are five tips to be in the driver’s seat.
Visionary Biopics: It’s the men and women that make this a learning greenfield. You learn from their successes, but don’t ignore their failures. Game-changing visionaries, who have been ahead of the game in their respective times, are life lessons. From Henry Ford to Ford’s change leader Alan Mulally, to Tesla’s incubation heart-throb Elon Musk, to General Motors’ woman powerhouse Mary Barra, to the infamous Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn – every leadership is a curriculum in themselves.
Closer to home, our very own growth leaders such as Ratan Tata, who showed us how to make the cheapest car in the world, to iconic Anand Mahindra, who is enterprising his electrification plans to Hero MotoCorps’ innovation and business magnet Pawan Munjal, are living case studies. Grab their autobiography, follow their work and leverage the power of social media to make your connections.
Find Your Mentor: There are hidden gems and rich expertise at different levels of OEMs in this diverse and multi-disciplinary landscape. Finding a mentor may not be easy, but through some research, you can identify the right person. Look within your own field and start taking note of the people you admire. Observe their work and ask yourself if they have the skills you want to learn. Do they command the respect of the professionals in your industry? Are they known for supporting the idea of mentoring? Are they accessible? If you find these answer, don’t shy away to seek veterans. Platforms like CompliMentors were envisioned to find your confidants.
The Mobility Buzzword: Human-machine connections are becoming disruptive. Trends in electrification, autonomous, connected vehicles and shared transportation is reimagining mobility within the auto sector or auto within mobility industry. Getting mentored to acquire new skills is fundamental now. Everyone needs to upgrade their core skills. There is no choice; no one can engage a reverse gear.
Whether you are an engineer, a techie, a communicator, a digital expert, a legal or finance professional, changing environment demands one to fast charge yourself. Will there ever be a down time to do this? No!! You have to make time to brush up. Ignite your curiosity to explore a new-age skill from a cross-functional area, or different geographies or a job work you never did before but willing to take as a challenge.
The Extended Ecosphere: Dealers, suppliers, agency partners is the backbone – all of those sharing the dream to make an automotive player successful. An advertisement you see pop up on your OTT today, is a collaborative effort and would have been through a minimum of 100 pair of eyes, and not only people inside the company. This ecosphere is a huge learning ground. Even if you start on one side, your career can skid on the other side. For example, several marketing leaders often start their careers with agencies. First-hand experience of the field to face a customer can make you a strong sales leader. Keep an eye for opportunities and mentors on both sides of this world.
Start-up Revolution: It’s an old school thought to believe that being part of the OEM is the only place to drive best of automotive experience and contribute meaningfully. Some of the biggest Unicorns in the mobility and transportation sectors are racing at top speeds. Uber, Lyft, Didi Chuxing, Argo AI are big names globally, and Ola, Cars24, Shuttl, Zoomcar and several others have gained strong grounds in the domestic market.
Tesla has been in the news for its plans of coming to India, and its co-founder Elon Musk is a technological icon. He once said that “a company is a group organised to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating.” So don’t hesitate to create, follow your idea and work with a mentor club that teaches and inspires you to think, be nimble and help shape you or your ideas into reality.
Wrap-Up
There is no definitive rule of when mentorship can kick in or at what stage of your career should you be thinking about working with a mentor – only when you are stuck or generally. It is an achievement toolkit in your glove box that can help young aspirants better their own craft and help you navigate to your goals.
It’s never too early or late to bring a mentor in your life. It’s important that you don’t apply the brakes and become complacent.
About the Author: Deeptie Sethi is the Co-Founder of CompliMentors, and a global communications specialist.