Anything can go wrong anytime�one has to learn to manage uncertainty and ambiguity. That's one of the most important lessons I learnt outside B-school.

It doesn't matter if you hire the best talent, have inspiring vision orientation and bring in the best consultants. Change and ambiguity are always just a phone call away.

Often, simple, sealed deals disintegrate and within minutes a whole new set of variables come into play. No case study or visiting faculty could bring to life the ambiguity that reality brings, the uncertainty each day of work actually has in it. And, therefore, managing and adapting to change and mastering it are emerging as key traits for successful managers today.

Developing and retaining talent is a key-focus area for leaders.

B-schools don't teach you how to get the best out of diverse talent. Additionally, whereas my management institute taught fierce competitiveness, and encouraged me to become indifferent to the "deserter", life taught me that it makes sense to keep relationships alive, to have a loyal and engaged alumni in the corporate sector.

I had to figure out through trial and error - and tons of blood and sweat - the median point between aspirations and results. How far to pitch which demand, how seriously to pursue which vision, and take calculated risks which no framework or excel sheets can tell you. And this exactly is the problem at the workplace to take structured decisions.

From being told I was the elite and the only person who mattered, time and again my work has made me eat humble pie. The value of being on the ground, in touch with people and their fears and dreams was totally lost in the world of "the best grades".

Saugata Gupta, is head, marketing, Marico. He graduated from IIM Bangalore in 1991.

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