The other day a journalist asked me about the key attributes I look for in young leaders. It’s always tough to answer such questions because leadership is such a vast subject. There are so many angles and perspectives to it and more importantly the dynamics of the mix – tens of positive traits of a leader can get completely diluted with a single one that is overwhelmingly regressive.

Back in 1983 when I had enrolled in XLRI, despite its eminence of being one of the most prestigious management education institutions in India, the question I was asked most often was "Where the hell is XLRI?" I was a bit disappointed by that query initially, until I discovered in my 36-hour train ride to Jamshedpur that "middle of nowhere" is actually what makes XLRI so special.

Successful young leaders are neither distracted nor depressed.They are excited instead, because they see an opportunity in imperfection.When a diamond-cutter looks at the rough diamond, he gets excited because he sees an opportunity in that imperfection, as does a potter when he sees dirty clay.

Every single day, I come to work curious to see what new innovation I would find at work today. I work with young minds; zealous and restless young leaders who are passionate about changing the world. Among them, I feel a childlike excitement about tomorrow as I share their fresh perspectives on promising answers to problems we are faced with today.

The Olympics are like inspiration on steroids, said a friend of mine the other day. A leadership coach by profession, he was describing a training workshop where the trainees were asked to divide themselves into groups and select a name for their team. Out came the names immediately: Team Phelps, Team Bolt, Team Douglas…!