Nusrat Khondaker, once a final year undergrad business student from the Institute of Business Administration- Jahangirnagar University, always kept her eyes and ears open to see what sort of learning opportunities were avaialable around her. Just for that hang, she got inspired by a small video posted on her university’s career site; her team participated in one-of-its-kind BizMaestros, which is Unilever’s flagship business competition, promising to provide final year undergraduates with “The Thrill of Real Business”.
In her words, “Any sort of competition is an opportunity to understand the companies better, that’s how business students learn.” But she never knew that; her team and her were embarking on a great life-changing journey, representing Bangladesh in the global arena Future Leaders League (FLL) in London competing against the 30 best of the best teams around the world.
Mentionable, the champions get the outstanding opportunity to represent Bangladesh on the global platform of Unilever Future Leader’s League (FLL). It was Nusrat, who started a quest to change her stars. Nusrat along with her team created a new identity for Bangladesh in Unilever’s global competition, Future Leader’s League. Declaration of Nusrat’s team positioned as the first runners up in FLL is hailed as a remarkable triumph, as they were the first Bangladeshi team to reach the top three in the history of Future Leader’s League.
Her team set a legacy, every year since then, Unilever Bangladesh’s BizMaestros winning team, has been representing Bangladesh on the global platform and consistently they have made it to the finals. It goes to Nusrat's team for being a source of inspiration for the youths of Bangladesh to have the confidence to go toe to toe with participants from different countries in the prestigious platform of Future Leaders League. When it comes to FLL, Bangladesh’s youth image or Unilever BizMaestros Champion’s luminescence and credibility in the international platform is unparalleled.
Nusrat, who is currently the Brand Manager, Vim of Unilever Bangladesh, in her words, “There is nothing more fascinating than self-discovery, and unfolding cases one after another, advancing through phases and finally winning the championship title. Question is who doesn’t like winning, especially when one is triumphant in representing your country in an international arena.”
Nusrat fondly remembers the importance her mentor had on the project. In the semi-finals the young minds got the golden opportunity to have a 20-minute session with a senior manager, who mentored them about ‘how important it is to establish an idea’ and ‘sharpening the insights’. Nusrat said, “What helped us establish our idea was the mentorship that we received from a senior manager. He mentioned that logic and magic both need to be there in the presentation to convince a group of very difficult judges.
Their solution for a market development model for Glow and Lovely, then known as Fair and Lovely, facewash that helped them win BizMaestros in 2014! “We were guided to focus on establishing Facewash as ‘Mukher Shaban of Bangladesh’, apprehending the consumer insights. The concept that there is subtle shame in using the same body soap on your face which might also be harmful for your face, helped us win the competition.”
In her words three skills are important to win BizMaestros, “One, a good communication skill or open mentality to talk to different levels of people to get your consumer insights for your case study. Secondly, teamwork, or segmenting your work otherwise you won’t be able to finish the mammoth task. Three different people should work on three different things and choosing the right team is of paramount importance. Having diverse people in a team will benefit you and delegate the right task to the suitable person”.
Disagreement during the process helps find the right solution. Constructive arguments, difference in opinions are needed to get the optimized solution. Lastly, a coherent solution, presented in an interesting yet simple format to keep your audience hooked. It needs to be a whole package that will set your team apart from other teams.”
Nusrat’s final words to students would be to be prepared for challenges, learn to think of their feet and most importantly make connections and enjoy their time during their BizMaestros journey!
Another virtuoso individual Shanil Shazab was, a member champion of BizMaestros of 2011, the 2nd year of Bizmaestros, an alumnus of Institute of Business Administration- University of Dhaka, who is at the zenith of his career is now currently based in the USA. This is the story of another BizMaestro winner of early times who got to know about it through campus roadshows. He shared his experience of when it was a novel thing to university students of the country.
Shanil is currently designated as Chief of Staff for East Region and Financial services at Lumen Technology, which is roughly $2 billion market that his team manages. His company’s vast operation stretches all the way from Philadelphia to South West Coast of United States of Florida. Shanil moved to the USA back in 2013, started his career in the telecom industry and then shifted his career into a different sector.
During his time in Bangladesh, there were limited nationally recognized platforms for students to compete. Unilever’s BizMaestors sparked an aura of excitement across all university students in Bangladesh. The visibility and grandeur of the Bizmaestros platform was fantastic and served as the new benchmark. “Each milestone of the competition is challenging, cleverly thought out and designed with a specific purpose to test you,” says Shanil.
Then, his business case study was to introduce Knorr Soup, a new product for consumers at that point of time. “We had to envision a way to shape consumer behavior and position Knorr as a leading nutritional snack. We crafted the "Knorrishing Minutes" campaign: designed to build greater awareness of the brand. A combination of creative advertising across multiple media channels and guerrilla marketing was instrumental in capturing attention and building awareness. The campaign was augmented by creating a social media strategy, which was relatively limited in 2011,” Shanil mentioned.
According to him, “One needs a combination of leadership spirit, teamwork and innovative mentality to win the Bizmaestros. You will be thrown into an unknown environment of challenge that you never experienced before. It requires critical thinking to dissect the problem. Your team has to come up with creative and innovative solutions to the problems you are looking at. So, without having that vision and your team’s work coming together you can’t win BizMaestros”.
Shanil believes in team dynamics to stand out, shared his learning from BizMaestros, “The biggest learning from BizMaestros is really about ‘Leadership’, ‘Critical Thinking’, and ‘Decision Making’.”
Students spend most of their time in academic life immersed in books, spending countless hours at the libraries and lecture rooms reading, understanding theories, formulae, and hypothetical case studies. As As a result, dealings of the corporate world are absolutely novel and alien for the students. BizMaestros gives the 4th year Business students a rare chance, a golden opportunity to have a glimpse of how the corporate world works. This competition provides students with a brief enthralling journey of the corporates and helps them prepare for the workforce in their future.
“The competition is designed to push you out of your comfort zone. As you go through the competition you are tested around multiple times. How to work in constrains and see the outcome of your decision as you go through this competition” adds Shanil.
He believes, if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together! He claims to be part of very talented and supportive friends, who worked throughout university lives, says “It is the team chemistry, we all shared the passion and desire to prove that we were the best out there and pushed our limits, trusted each other and had fun along the way. So, it is the team dynamics, sense of unity, vision and trust that can make you do extra ordinary things in life.”
For those who are just about to join the workforce, this BizMaestros experience will push you out of your comfort zone and get a glimpse of the corporate world. Shanil iterated the significance that the mentor had on his project and how his team benefitted from their guidance. Shanil gracefully remembers the effort the managers had put on the team, saying “My team was privileged to benefit from the mentorship of visionary leaders. Leaders serve as sources of inspiration when going through a challenging phase of the competition. Leaders have that innate ability to take a holistic and unbiased view of a team's performance and identify blind spots. My team benefitted from these attributes, and it shaped our team's synergy and execution.’’
Shanil concluded by saying, “Be bold and humble at the same time! We are in our own ways are all gifted to do extraordinary things. This is a great opportunity to filter out the best version of yourself. You will learn as you go through this experience but you need to also push your limits and trust your intuition. Surround yourself with good people and believe in your team. And no matter what, have fun!”
New business whiz kids aspiring to be the next Nusrat and Shanil are always encouraged by the grandest stages like Unilever’s BizMaestros. To add to its unique repertoire, the event was held fully virtually in its latest edition, owing to the ongoing pandemic.
These two individuals have uplifted the image of Bangladesh through this competition globally and encouraged others to set the same examples.
With its uninterrupted journey, BizMaestros is growing over times, focusing to provide young, talented business minds the right platform at the right juncture of their lives.
Writer: Tarekuzzaman Shimul, a freelance journalist
BDST: 1133 HRS, NOV 12, 2020
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