PIO at BIBS— 5 Lessons to learn from the Legend of Indian Football: Bhaichung Bhutia

Name of the Event: Management, Life and Learning with Bhaichung Bhutiya.
Organiser: Bengal Institute of Business Studies.
Guest: Mr Bhaichung Bhutia.
Session Inaugurator: Dr. Anindya Dutta (Principal, BIBS).
Interviewer: Prof. Aniruddha Banerjee (Vice Principal, BIBS).

Bhaichung Bhutia was born on December 15, 1976, in Tinkitam, Sikkim, and made his debut in the National Football Team when he was 19 years old.

Bhutia scored one goal in his first competition and two goals in the same tournament two years later in the finals versus Bangladesh. Bhutia scored a brace in India’s 3-2 victory over Vietnam in the 2002 LG Cup.

For the 2005 SAFF Championship, Bhutia was named captain. He was also the longest-serving captain in Indian Football.

The whole event revolved around interviewing Mr Bhutia and asking him about different aspects of his life. Through his answers, we (PIO) and the students of BIBS got some rich and powerful insights on how to shape our careers in the best way possible.

Let’s take a look at them right here:

Bhaichung shared the life story of his career as a Football player when nobody considered it a career option. He had to skip his 10th standard board exam to attend the under 16 team match.

Everyone he knew, including his parents, did not support his career choice, and for obvious reasons.

People who played football with Bhaichung and who were senior to him also had stable jobs, but Bhaichung decided to stick to his goal and kept on saying NO to other offers.

While working in an office, you’ll receive numerous suggestions from your superiors, and sometimes, they will even obstruct you from doing what you want. But only you know what’s best for you, so you must learn to say NO when needed.

Bhaichung shared a unique light on the associated factors of success. Even though talent and passion are required, success demands more from an individual than those two.

Bhutia runs two Football academies, and in the span of his career, he has seen some of his most talented and passionate students not making it to school-level matches.

He advised these students to have backup career options because success comes to those who have talent and passion mixed with a sense of reality.

Be it management, sports, literature, art, or marketing—you must be practical to be successful. Of course, you should love what you do, and talent and passion are required, but living in a fantasy world cannot get you anywhere.

Being a sportsman, Bhutia is one of the best persons to explain how failure is a part of success and how to handle it.

He never thought too much after losing a match and did not let his team discuss the defeat right after the match. He believed in taking lessons from a defeat and moving on so that his team doesn’t make the same mistake in the next game.

Winning and Losing are all parts of a game, and handling your failure well is the prevalent sign of sportsmanship.

You cannot learn everything in an internship. It certainly prepares you for the corporate world, but there will be many failures adorning your path as you start your career. You shouldn’t be discouraged by these failures.

As management students have to work with people of different cultures, Bhaichung was asked to shed some light on this subject because sportsmen also have to do the same.

Bhaichung acknowledged that people from different cultural backgrounds have different thoughts, but when it comes to playing in a team, they had to let go of those differences.

In his career, he also saw many players getting verbally abused on the ground because they were from different cultures and followed different religious practices, which was wrong.

If you want to make a name for yourself in the corporate world, you must learn to work with people from different cultural backgrounds. It won’t be much difficult if all of your focus is on the bigger picture, which is the betterment of the company.

Since Bhaichung made a name for himself very early in Football, it was easier for him to get carried away with the money and fame. But, he didn’t because he always had mentors to guide him in the right direction.

He saw many of his teammates indulging in drinking and gambling due to their newfound fame. However, when the management wanted to terminate those players, Bhaichung pleaded to give them a second chance.

So, it’s also a valuable lesson for teamwork. One must be compassionate and understanding towards the teammates and take decisions for their wellbeing.

It is easier to get carried away with money and fame in a corporate office, but that doesn’t give you a free pass to look down upon others. You can only be considered a great leader if you treat everyone the way you want to be treated.