I was reading some of the job postings in #linkedin recently where the hiring managers had described the 100% fit candidates for the roles perhaps not wanting to take any chance.
 
This took me down the memory lane to early 2001 when I was employed in the e-procurement business of an IT services major based in Chennai in the Sales function. It was Q1 of the financial year when my manager asked me to come prepared to work from Bangalore for a week. I met him in the Mission Road office with many questions in mind.

My manager came straight to the point. He asked me to take over the Delivery responsibility for South India with immediate effect. I was not fully prepared for this challenge and hesitated to take the new path. I was also worried about the dual reporting to a Functional Manager who was in favor of a hard-core delivery professional for the role.
 
My manager said “I have full faith in your capability and am sure that you will deliver. Just take the plunge. I am taking a bigger risk by taking a novice for a demanding role”. He asked me to take the new responsibility, prove in it and later pursue whatever I like. I agreed to take up the role and initial 6 months was challenging. I did commit mistakes in the job and learnt by trial & error method. But the unconditional support my manager offered motivated me to work hard. At the end of the year, we were judged as the best region.
 
I fondly recollect and reminiscence nearly two decades of my association with Ramkumar Ratnam. #MyMagician to whom I express my sincere #gratitude. He is not in the material world now, but his great memories do.

Have you taken a pause to acknowledge your #magicians?