Half Done!

It’s Saturday afternoon and I find myself back in Ottawa. Geeta and I decided to take a spontaneous trip back home after my team presentation (which was on “religionomics – the impact of religion on economic growth) concluded on Thursday. I’m currently sitting in a walk in clinic, surrounded by plenty of sick people….I’m paranoid that I may catch another horrible virus. My regular doctor in Ottawa doesn’t work weekends and I was forced to come into a walk-in-clinic. I’ve been sick for almost 2 weeks. What started off as a soar throat, and a weak voice (which is probably good for me because I talk way too loudly), has turned into chest congestion and I’m thinking that I need antibiotics? I haven’t exercised in two weeks and am dying to run again and get into shape for my upcoming China trip.

The drive up to Ottawa was quick. We listened to a dance club mix on the way up…my favourite lyric these days: “Daddy-O, you got the swagger of a champion.” You’ll never guess where that one comes from. …It’s Britney Spears, “Womenizer.” Wow, I’ve got a Britney Spears song stuck in my head …that’s pretty sad, although I do love the line. I’ll have to incorporate that one into a blog entry somehow ;)

Coming back to my hometown/Otown has been very refreshing. I didn’t realize how much I missed home over the last couple of months. It’s been really nice spending time with family, my nieces and nephews, and friends. Geeta and I have been splitting up our time here in Ottawa; she’s been living at her parents and myself at mine. I enjoyed a boyz day out with my dad and brother yesterday; we went out for Thai food and caught the new Bond flick (by the way I wasn’t too impressed with the movie). The family hooked up for an extended family dinner last night in the popular Byward Market after having pre-drinks/snacks at my inlaws…fun times. I’m looking forward to coming back here for Christmas after the China trip. My baby niece Sanya is growing up so fast and I feel like I’m missing out.

Unexpectedly, coming back to Ottawa made me realize how much I was being missed at home. I didn’t expect that. It made me realize how important it is to me to be close to home and close to my family. My parents are undergoing household renovations, and my dad has been taking on a lot of extra physical activities that I normally would have helped out with. My mother is recuperating from back injuries after a nasty ‘freezing rain’ fall. I wish I was here more to help them out. My brother told me a few weeks back that I should consider staying close to home in the future especially as our parents get older. That kind of hit home with me and I think it is important for me to be close to home no matter what endeavours I pursue. Moving to Toronto post-MBA is closer than London (4 hr versus 7 hr drive to Ottawa) so I hope I can be home a bit more to help out.

On a sadder note, I was disappointed to hear that a few of my Nortel colleagues were let go after last week’s dismal news, including two of my favourite executives Lauren Flaherty (CMO) and John Roese (CTO). As you may recall from my previous blog entries, Lauren Flaherty was going to come to Ivey in October to do a talk on leadership but had to cancel last minute…I guess I know why now. Last week, I published a blog entry for the Financial Post. That entry has been read by thousands of people around the globe and I’ve been getting lots of email and feedback on it. It’s amazing how far blogging can reach out. On the positive side of things, the article stimulated a lot of debate as it was picked up by other websites including allaboutnortel.com and others. It even prompted a counter blog to be written against my pro-government intervention view point. The Financial Post/National Post wanted to publish it in print last Tuesday but I opted not to go through with it for personal reasons. I have enjoyed the Nortel/Government debate and hope that I continue to write more about controversial topics such as this one. Thanks to everyone for your feedback and encouragement.

So what else is going on?

A couple of weeks back I had the opportunity to attend an Ivey Alumni Award Gala in Toronto. The alumni chapter in Toronto was honouring the Ivey Business Person of the Year (given each year to an Ivey alumnus from Toronto). This year’s recipient was the CEO of Manulife Insurance. Attending this gala was a surreal experience; there were CXO’s and EVPs from pretty much every major Canadian corporation. Its pretty cool being apart of the ‘Ivey club’ and to be apart of an alumni network that has so many prominent names. In fact part of our student group sat at the Harry Rosin table, where CEO Larry Rosen entertained us. When you come to Ivey, you often hear about how three out of every five CEOs in Canada are Ivey or Harvard grads…its one of those useless facts that you kind of just kind of shrug off. When you get an opportunity to attend a gala such as this one, that fact becomes deeply engrained in your mind…as you start to wonder if that will be in your own fate fifteen years down the road. Another notable event worth mentioning is that ten Ivey students got to go down to Toronto to see/meet with former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan. In a couple of weeks, I will get the opportunity to attend a Bill Clinton talk in London…keep you posted.

Speaking of Toronto, I was back in Toronto last weekend to attend another MBA fair with some of my student ambassador colleagues. It’s always an honour to represent your school at these fairs and its kind of neat talking to prospective applicants, especially since you were in their shoes only a short time ago. The fair was successful and fulfilling on a personal level and I hope to attend many more in the future.

On a side note, I wanted to quickly mention my MBA learning team, “Team 5.” If there is one thing that has made my Ivey MBA experience it’s my learning team. I am a true believer in collaboration and team work and I was touched to come into class on my birthday with a gift waiting on my seat from my team. …it was a book on collaboration…how fitting and how touching. Our team just wrote a blog entry on "The Dynamics of Team Five" on the MBAA Student blogging site. Give it a read if time permits.

I thought I’d end this entry with an update on my ‘networking’ activities as my brother likes to call it (aka “partying” activities). Yes I’ve calmed down on the partying scene and typically go out once a week, and only if my wife is willing to join ;) I admit that one of my primary personality changes this year is the fact that I like to party now. I know it’s been a tough adjustment for Geeta, but I guess I know that it’s only going to last another six months and I want to make the most of the “ivey bubble” experience and ‘network’ it up before heading back into the routine working world. The last few weeks have involved some pretty crazy ‘networking’ activities. I celebrated my 28th birthday like it was my last birthday. I celebrated Halloween like it was the last time I would ever dress up….and next weekend I will celebrate a “bollywood”/”Iveywood” theme party in true Indian fashion and bhangra it up until my feet hurt. What can I say…I’m having a blast at Ivey and it’s definitely going to go down as one of the most memorable years of my life.

Four weeks to go until the China Study Trip….can’t wait.

Until next time,

Sacha