The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, OCT 4, 2021
The common perception about top corporate jobs is that these often come with lots of stress and challenges, all points of time. The level of stress and challenges goes manifold in sales-oriented businesses and sectors. However, successful corporate executives are often seen putting quite much effort and adopting innovative approaches to maintain their calmness while pursuing the goals of business.
A case in point is Pradeep Rout, the Odisha Head and CEO of a leading telecom service provider in the state. While Rout agrees that his job is very demanding in terms of business goals, he simultaneously mentions about his two innovative approaches which have helped him to keep work related stress at bay all the time.
He has spent a major part of his three decades long corporate career outside Odisha leading the businesses at top MNCs and brands including Xerox, Tata, Reliance etc. and is now on the mission to connect the hitherto unconnected in the hinterlands of Odisha as the State Business Head and CEO of Reliance Jio in the state of Odisha. Under his leadership, Reliance Jio went on to become the No. 1 digital service provider in Odisha both with highest number of subscribers and highest revenue market share in the sector in Odisha.
All this success also came nonetheless with a very demanding work schedule and the so-called work stress. On how he manages to maintain his calmness intact even amidst the very challenges the corporate sector throws at him, Pradeep explains his two-pronged innovative strategy of farming and fitness, which has helped him keep away stress while focussing more on his work and building a successful team.
He shares his interesting experiment of turning to week-end farming in his native village of Koro Mirzapur in Kendrapara district of Odisha, as a crucial stress buster. He has turned nearly one acre ancestral land in his village into an open farm, cultivating vegetables, medicinal herbs, fruits, flowers etc. within the compound. Whenever he gets time in the weekends, he travels to his native village and gets engaged in farm activities along with motivating village youth for pursuing meaningful career opportunities. The medicinal herbs, especially those related to diabetes management has helped many of the elderly villagers, he adds.
An avid fitness freak, Pradeep says regular workouts, running and yoga have also helped him in managing stress in everyday life. The open farm in his village also has a beautiful walkway along with a nicely designed gazebo for small meetings of villagers. While Pradeep offers counselling on importance of fitness for leading a successful life, the beautifully paved walkway inside the open farm also had a positive impact on the village youth as well as elderly who often use it for morning or evening walks and for meetings on village development.
