Surrender the “Me” for “We”

“Teamwork requires some sacrifice up front; people who work as a team have to put the collective needs of the group ahead of their individual interests”

– Patrick Lencioni

The above words have held true at OfBusiness beyond time, territories, and team members. Individual commitment to a group effort has taken us from scratch to where we stand today and is in the basic DNA of our organization. They say inspiration can come in any form and from anyone, you just have to be receptive enough and if you look around in our organization, all of us can teach each one of us a new thing or two. From starting my career in secured financing to moving to unsecured business loan, I thought I had seen it all.

But the last 3.5 years have taught me much more than I could ever learn in the previous 7 years. Unlearn and relearn have become a part of me. It was like kindergarten all over with Asish and Nitin taking me back to the basics of lending, team building, and self-development…

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulder of giants”

– Isaac Newton

Personally, I have been blessed with an amazing team who have gone beyond limits to make sure that the team outperforms itself every month. We have followed the 4 D’s to the core (Diverse, Dispersed, Digital, and Dynamic) and that is what has made the team one of the best performing teams across India in terms of per-person productivity.

One thing at OfBusiness which stands out is that we have always avoided the “Us vs. Them” battle. We might compete externally or internally between teams, yet the environment is always so electric and competitive that people have been pushing and redefining new boundaries every day. At all levels of my stint here, I have been fortunate to meet some extraordinary individuals and have shared some close bonds with each one of them.

For example, the teddy boy of Mumbai (Amaan Kaushal) taught me to be aggressive without ever raising my voice, Our Bihar ke lalla (Arvind Tiwari) taught me how to be a great negotiator with the DSA channels and the Pocket Dynamite (Rahul Nayak) showed me the virtue of perseverance.

“ To Improve is to change; To be perfect is to change often”

– Winston Churchill

We, at OfBusiness, have been pioneers of catching the winds of change well in advance, which in turn has ensured that we stay prepared for any new opportunities or hurdles coming our way. Whether it is the start of a new product or a new region, we have always been prepared and willing to adapt. Time and again, we have gone back to changing our skill sets and not just to adapt and survive, but to prosper.

This is what brought me to the City of Dreams, The land of the big canvas- Mumbai. A Delhi boy like me would have never even thought of shifting here for work, let alone moving bases lock stock barrels with my entire family, but it was a dream that we had seen collectively of making it the next growth story at OFB. And what a journey it has been since then!

A huge contribution to this successful maneuvering is a basic trait that all OFBians have i.e. Being hungry, always! Like wolves, we have been fearlessly led by Alpha Nitin Jain into territories unknown, fearless, and head held high, always in search of new avenues of growth.

We have been trained to hunt in packs and have utilized it for the phenomenal growth story that West has become. Coming back to the matter of being, it was never easy for the likes of Tamarish, Arvind, Rahul, and Nitin to leave friends and family at the drop of a hat and shift bases. It is one of the most daunting things to do and many of us are still getting used to the cultural differences but we have taken each hurdle as just another step towards our goal of making the West the next big thing.

So cheers to that undaunting spirit and watch out for more fireworks in times to come! We are sailing the winds of change but there are a few things that should be left unchanged. Some of that includes our indomitable love for team get-togethers (read lots and lots of alcohol), Tammy still living 80% of his life out of a suitcase, Asish’s constant jibe at my hairline (Somehow he completely forgets his own thinning hairline and increasing waistline) or Nitin’s insatiable hunger for both food and numbers on the board. These are the small things that I wish never change in times to come as we welcome a new decade of growth at OfBusiness!

In this roller coaster ride, there is only one thing that is constant in our belief i.e. “Dream it. Wish it. Do it.”