The Hindu Business Line : `EQ works'

<167,2p>It's EQ and not IQ that will get you far even with an MBA from the country's premier business school. So says Sangeetha Ramachander, a 2002 graduate of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, and currently an Associate with Ernst & Young.

On what B-school taught her

Remember the poem — `There will always be people greater than you and people lesser than you.' Comparisons will get MBAs nowhere. You will have people you can look up to and people who look up to you. In my batch, there were some people from the IITs. There was no way I was going to compete with them. There were areas like communication where I could hold my own against them, but in other areas I could not.

On what B-schools must teach

B-schools create an environment where you are exposed to the best minds, whether it's professors or colleagues. One thing MBAs would be wise to realise is — be open to failure. We set such high expectations of ourselves that it's hard to accept we too can make mistakes. Students should be taught to manage expectations better.

On a defining moment at ISB

Being in the first batch of ISB itself was a big deal, and in my case my father was from the first batch of IIM-A. It has been such an awesome experience right from the time the PM inaugurated it till graduation day, that it's difficult to be blasé about it.

On applying what she learnt

After school, I went into the banking sector where I led a large team. I learnt some intangibles like organisation culture and employee loyalty. But I decided to move out of retail banking as I enjoyed corporate finance. Most people didn't believe I had taken a 40 per cent cut in salary. But I decided to go ahead as I had to apply what I had learnt in my MBA.