Changes Are In The Air
I’ve not updated this blog for some time now.
Mainly because there were so many changes in my professional life that I didn’t
even know where to begin. Now as I am onboard a plane en route to Kerala, one
of my favorite states in India, and about to attend a press conference to announce
an exciting new project I can take a deep breath, smile and comfortably share
what has been and is currently going on in my world.
The big news is that I’ve resigned from my role
as CEO, DSK Shivajians FC and have joined the management team of India On
Track, a Sports Management and Development agency. The transition has been
somewhat seamless and while I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to run a
professional football club and help my friend and DSK Owner, Shirish Kulkarni,
grow his football project I’m truly happy to be back hustling for a global
sports agency.
I started my journey with DSK Shivajians in
2012 when I first met Shirish through my colleagues at Libero Sports. During
one of our initial conversations, he expressed his interest in establishing a
world class football Academy. This
conversation led to many meetings, international trips together and eventually
the launch of the Liverpool FC International Academy – DSK in April 2014, an event
that I will never forget.
I served as an external consultant for the
Academy and watched it quickly become India’s best residential football
programme and was so proud of everyone involved with the project. Then when AIFF invited DSK Shivajians FC to
join the I-League and Shirish accepted, I was over the moon. Finally, a professional football club in
India with its own world class football facility and youth development
programme. I didn’t care if the I-League
team won or lost all of their matches, what mattered most to me was that a
system was being built which would support the sustainable development of the
club for many years to come which is something that most other professional
clubs in India lacked.
Then in early 2016, just a month into DSK
Shivajians’ first season in the I-League, I got a call from Shirish asking if I
was interested in becoming the CEO of the entire DSK football project. While I had never dreamed of being a
professional football club CEO, I’ve always dreamed of leading the growth of a football
project that could serve as a model for other sports investors around the world
to emulate. This project had the right
Owner, a place in the country’s first division, the best youth academy and infrastructure
in the country and a long-term partnership with global football giants
Liverpool FC. Knowing that this foundation was already in place and that the
Owner’s ambitions were high, the offer was, in fact, a dream come true and
aligned with one of the primary reasons for me to move to India in the first
place.
I officially began my role as CEO, DSK
Shivajians FC on May 1, 2016 and I can honestly share that going from being a
Director of a football agency to CEO of a professional club was a big transition.
I’ve always been comfortable with the Strategy,
Marketing, Business Development and Administrative areas of the sport but what
was the biggest learning was getting comfortable with the technical side of the
business. Playing and being associated
with a sport for your whole life doesn’t necessarily prepare you to be a sound
mind when it comes to technical decision-making or even managing your technical
staff. Needless to say, I had a lot to learn during my first few weeks on the job.
It was truly an extraordinary experience
serving as CEO DSK Shivajians FC for the 2016 / 17 season. There is nothing
like being in the stadium with your family, colleagues and friends cheering on
a team that you helped design. And watching our boys dominate teams like
Bengaluru FC, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan is a high which cannot be described
through words. The smile just wouldn’t come off of my face for days after a big
win and I could watch the highlights of these victorious matches over and over
and over. I had the same feeling when watching some of the boys that we scouted
for the Academy back in 2014 score goals at the professional level years later.
Unfortunately, as we were already in preparations
for the second season, a few national policy changes were implemented which
impacted the Indian real estate industry. Given the fact that DSK Group is
deeply rooted in this industry and has been a funding source for the club,
these policy changes as well as a few other external issues led to the decision
to shut down the senior team and reduce the scope of the football project.
It was an incredibly frustrating and
disheartening time for everyone associated with the club as this was something
that we could not have seem coming. But not everything is in our control and we
all had to respond to the new scenario presented to us. I chose to work with Shirish and our COO to
identify ways to generate more revenue for the Academy through commercial
programmes and facility rentals. This
continued until India On Track, a group I have tremendous respect for, offered
me an opportunity to join their management team and work on a passion project
of mine (more on this later). So with an excited and, somewhat heavy, heart I
made the decision to move on from DSK Shivajians FC although the club and the
people associated with it will always feel like family.
I learned so many new aspects about management,
people and life while serving as a professional football club CEO, a few points
of which I’ve mentioned below:
- Take the time to get to know and understand external and internal culture of your organization before implementing any major changes
- It is critical to do comprehensive 360 degree due diligence before making a decision that will impact other people’s lives and the future of the organization
- Be willing to set your ego aside and request support from your colleagues if there are areas where you require education
- Do not take things personally and do your best not to bring your challenges home to your family
- Live inside of possibility but operate inside of sustainability
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