Discussing about emotions and logic with Ellen Petry Leanse, Board Member, Apple Inc.

Ellen is someone who watched the valley change and changed the world over 35 years. Though our discussion was an amalgamation of diverse, in-depth experiences and learnings (something I can spend ages researching on). Still, in the given timeframe, she framed every single thought in the most beautiful way and validated my philosophies, learnings, views on world, ecosystem, and individuals. Until the time I'll keep myself busy collecting more dots.

P.S: She has worked closely with Steve Jobs from her early days at Apple, and presently she's teaching at Stanford GSB and the Center for Continuing Studies. 

Medium link: https://medium.com/@chep2m

Meeting Mr. Ratan Tata, Bangalore, India

Met Mr. Tata and shared the work I was doing in communities space and with TATA Trust was once in a lifetime experience.

Before meeting him I had heard about him from his family members & executives. I was lucky enough to be a part of the same ecosystem where I got to collaborate with leaders at TATA Trust, TCS, XPrize on Education, Healthcare, Innovation & Social Impact in various capacities. So, here's my takeaway from our interaction:

1. Patient listener

Despite a packed schedule, he patiently listened to all the projects that I did with different teams and then asked me very specific follow-up questions. He never made me feel that he has to rush for other engagements.

2. Humble & Grounded

After our discussion, he asked about my professional life and told me to keep him posted on that front as well. Which made me feel that he really care about the people he meet.

3. Gratitude

Instead of me thanking him for his time, he shook my hand first and said "It was really a pleasure meeting you Akash". This was totally unexpected but that very moment will always remain etched in my memory. And validated all my assumptions about him.

In 2020-21, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $103 billion (INR 7.7 trillion) and TATA collectively employs over 800,000 people. Even now, whenever I meet the executives from TATA I always sense that humbleness, gratitude, and calmness engrained within them.