Sumeet Singh, group chief marketing officer, Info Edge India, practices gratitude and positivity as a key to staying happy. “Life will always have ups and downs, work will always have some good days and some bad days, but, by being optimistic, by being positive, one can sail through those challenges very easily,” she tells Storyboard18 in an interview.
Edited excerpts:
The creator economy has taken the world by storm. Which influencers and trends are you following?
I follow a varied type of influencer set. Some because of my job, and some we have either worked with or we are evaluating. So for our brand, Jeevansathi, we do a lot of influencer marketing. Hence, influencers who are in the space of stand up comedy. I personally love Gaurav Gupta, but I follow Amit Tandon and Gaurav Kapoor. I also follow people like AiyyoShraddha.
With RJ Karishma, we’ve done a lot of work with her in Jeevansathi. Then, I also follow some people who my children follow just out of inquisitiveness. Then, I follow some celebrities who have also become influencers. Hence, that is the mix.
There is a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity and hustle culture. What steps have you taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself, and your colleagues, and what advice would you give?
After Covid-19, we came up with a hybrid model which also helped a lot of people who come from different backgrounds.
But more than that, I think there is an underlying understanding of compassion and empathy and therefore flexibility. We try to understand people’s problems, and where they are coming from.
And if for that, they need to come a little late to the office or go a little early, I’m perfectly fine with it. Hence, I think flexibility, empathy and compassion help.
If I send out mail during weekends, I don’t expect that my team members should reply to it. I tell them that even if you’re receiving mail, please do not feel that you are obligated to reply to that.
Sometimes, we are so busy during the week that we take out two to three hours over the weekend to finish a lot of things. I think that has worked well because if you don’t specify it sometimes, as a subordinate, there’s that pressure that the boss has sent a mail. And, I need to reply immediately. I think it is not fair.
Hence, respecting boundaries stands paramount. So, some of these things help build that culture of empathy, compassion, flexibility and camaraderie. When you build a culture of collaboration and camaraderie, then even coming to the office is a pleasure.
Is there any sport or fitness routine you practice to steal a few minutes of me-time?
I wish I was, but to be very honest, I do meditate and I chant every morning since I follow Nichiren Buddhism. I will do yoga for 20 days, then get bored of it and start walking. So I can’t say that I have a spot for a hobby.
I cannot also claim that there’s something that I’m consistently doing every day. What I do consistently is my chanting. But, I do different things. I’ve practiced something called Doin which is a Japanese and Korean way of therapy. So, I keep dabbling with everything, but I’m not too much of a sports person.
What does your weekend look like?
I have two children. One goes to college and the other is in grade nine.
Weekend is a time with family, and time with friends. I also love cooking. I like gardening. There’s a little bit of shopping sometimes.
It’s also a time that I binge watch. I wait for some new web series so that I can watch it in the afternoon for two to three hours. So there’s that also happening. And, sometimes, there is also at least an hour or so that I would give myself on a Saturday morning to maybe complete a backlog if I would have emails during the week.
Since I also follow Nichiren Buddhism, at least three Sundays in a month, we have some meetings and one and a half to two hours are very productively spent.
Any work hack or life hack you swear by?
I really practice gratitude, and I think that gratitude and positivity always lead to happiness. Because, it is very easy to complain, and this could be professional or personal. I think it’s very difficult to really demarcate professionally or personally. Life will always have ups and downs, work will always have some good days and some bad days, but, by being optimistic and positive, one can sail through those challenges very easily.
One of the work hacks, if I really had to talk about it, is delegating and empowering. I have a very talented team. I’ve always tried to hire people who are smarter than me, and from whom I can learn. I have always believed in delegating and empowering, because it’s just not important to delegate your tasks to somebody, but I think it’s extremely important to basically also empower them, so that they can do that task properly. If there is basic trust in a relationship, then there’s much more you can get out of that, right?
What are you watching or streaming this weekend?
I watched two to three episodes of Gilmore Girls with my daughter and I found it very interesting. Somebody recommended a web series called Rajneeti (on JioCinema) and it was quite interesting.
What are you reading? Any recommendations?
I do a lot of reading which is written in my faith. I follow Nichiren Buddhism as a philosophy of life. So I’m reading a very interesting book written by my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda (former president of Soka Gakkai), and it’s called Human Revolution. It has a lot of volumes.
I’m on volume nine and it’s really talking about post World War II Japan and what the society in Japan is going through, followed by China and Japan relationships. How is Europe responding to Japan, etc?
Hence, I’m finding it very interesting because in one book, you are also reading about how religion plays a role, and it’s a lot about the global, political and economic environment.
I still like books in their printed form. I’m reading Michelle Obama’s biography, ‘Becoming’. I’m generally dabbling between three to four books. Sometimes, I go to my children’s desks and pick up Harry Potter.
A piece of wisdom you would like to share
I think life will throw what it has on us, and it will have challenges. My mother, who was a very strong and a very positive person, always said that if you do not have challenges, you will never appreciate when you don’t have them.
She used to always say that if there was no darkness, none of us would ever appreciate light. Similarly, if life was always up, you would never even know that you’re up. You would just think this is the only way of life. So life is going to throw its challenges on us. We need to kind of stand up, be hopeful, be optimistic and sail through those challenges.
And most importantly, I truly feel that happiness is most important. End of the day, we could have everything in the world and not necessarily still be happy. I would just say that practising optimism helps you sail through things beautifully.