Memoirs of my campus days!
MALCOLM FRANK
Senior Vice President - Marketing & Strategy,
From Yale University.
Now @ Cognizant
One of my most enduring memories from college continues to guide me in my work. It's of a very specific moment in time, no more than 5 seconds long; that of a cold November afternoon in 1986 during my sophomore years. I played football at Yale University in Connecticut and that day we were playing against Harvard, our chief rival. It was near the end of the game and my 10 teammates and I huddled together at the center of the field, the vaunted Harvard offense just a few yards away, cheered by 65,000 odd screaming fans!
We had all worked so hard, for years, for this single moment in time. Would we do what it takes, together, to make it happen? Well, we came through, held Harvard back, and won that day.
A few months earlier, I was having dinner with the Dean of my college. She was Russian, with an intellect and a personality to match, and I respected her deeply. She asked me about football, and why I played the sport. When I shared with her that it was a weekly commitment of 50 to 60 hours a week, she pounced. She said “You are at one of the world's finest academic institutions. Why are you wasting so much valuable time on this barbaric and silly sport? You should consider quitting football and, if not, maybe your slot at Yale would have been better utilized by somebody willing to devote those hours to academic pursuits.” Those words forced me to introspect, “Is my commitment to this sport worth it?” It's a question I asked myself several times during my remaining three years at the school.
Two decades later I can answer that question with an unambiguous clarity. Not only was it worth it, but it was an activity which has been central to many of the professional successes I've experienced.
By no means do I wish to minimize my educational experience. Through the 36 courses needed for graduation, I established an intellectual curiosity and an ability to think critically. But in the business world, you will find your academic achievements only one of the ingredients for success. Particularly in the high-tech industry, you will be surrounded by very intelligent people with equally strong academic pedigrees. And your academics will not provide you much distinction. The greatest keys for success often came down to your ability to work well with others, to generate results with, and through others. To learn how to succeed, and to learn how to fail and to get up the next day and try again.
Cognizant is all about teamwork. We're driven, success-oriented, and always strive to be the best. But we're also very team-oriented, whether internally with one another or with our clients and partners. This has been the key ingredient in our industry-leading growth and high levels of employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.
Looking back on college, I cherish the memories, and feel grateful to have been afforded the experience. But when the chips are down at work and we need to pull together to get a result, my mind goes back to me standing on that football field. Cold, tired, bruised but never beaten. Relying on one another to make it happen. Barbaric and silly? No, invaluable life lessons.
It doesn't matter what the activity is. It can be sport or theatre; student government, community service or starting a company as a student. What does matter is engaging in a meaningful pursuit that you can throw yourself into fully, and that you do it with others upon whom you will rely, just as much as they will rely on you. Experiences such as these will help you build the skills necessary to lead, and win in a corporate environment.
