Beyond technical skills and knowledge, the vital ingredient that distinguishes a person as a successful entrepreneur or professional is their soft skills. These are a collection of positive personality traits that make one effective team builders, collaborators and communicators. While some are naturally gifted with these skills, others may seek training to develop and inculcate them.  Meet Shital Kakkar Mehra, a leading business etiquette and protocol consultant, and Founder of International School of Corporate Etiquette and Protocol Pvt Ltd, who has personally trained several hundred CXO’s of both Indian and large multinational companies, helping them upgrade their soft skills.

Shital has presented her etiquette seminars to a diverse set of organisations across Asia and has worked with orgnaisations like Aditya Birla Group, Accenture, Deutsche Bank, JCB, Kotak Bank, KPMG, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank, Tata Chemicals, Oracle, PWC, to name a few. She is the author of best-seller “Business Etiquette: A Guide for the Indian Professional” and has her own column called “Mind Your Manners” in the The Economic Times. 

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Shital shares her journey of establishing herself as a sought-after communication and etiquette leader.

GL: Tell us about your business and how you came up with the idea of establishing this venture.

Shital: I train senior professionals of India Inc., on cross-cultural, networking and entertaining skills. Also, I help professionals upgrade their business communication, business meeting etiquette and attire.

By  1998, Indians were communicating, negotiating and networking with clients (both internal and external) across the world. Besides technical and intellectual skills, there was a need to upgrade our soft skills too. Keeping this in mind, I designed a programme which focused on upgrading vocal, visual and verbal skills, thus helping the global Indian to become a better brand ambassador of his/ her country.

GL:  What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

Shital: In 1998, the biggest challenge was convincing business leaders that this skill was a form of business intelligence.

Over the years, it has been a wonderful journey as Indians are open to learning new skills – it has been extremely satisfying.

GL:  What is the USP of your business?

Shital: I have been in this business for the past 18 years and have helped several hundred CEOs, CXOs, Partners of consulting/ legal/ audit / tax firms, upgrade their executive presence.

GL: What are some of the milestones/ achievements of your business?

Shital: Some of my achievements include:

• Trained over 30,000 professionals
• Worked with the top 3 firms in every industry
• Coached several hundred CEOs / HR heads in designing programmes
• Authored a business best-seller on the subject and my book has been translated into Marathi, Bengali, Tamil
• Invited as guest speaker by FICCI, YI network, ISB, IIT-Kharagpur, IIM-B, NHRD, etc.
• Contributed articles / comments to every leading newspaper / publication
• The best and biggest achievement - people I have coached write back to tell me how the skills I taught helped them do better business and handle both business and socio-business situations with confidence & authority
  
  

GL:  Who are some of your major clients?

Shital: I have been very fortunate to work with the biggest & the best in every industry. Also, I have worked with large multi-national companies and progressive Indian companies such as Accenture, BASF, Bayer, Sanofi-Aventis, JCB, J & J, KPMG, Deloitte, PwC, EY, BCG, leading law firms and banks, Tatas, Mahindras, Aditya Birla Group ,etc.

GL:  What role do you feel GlobalLinker plays in connecting and assisting SMEs?

Shital: GlobalLinker is a wonderful platform for SMEs to connect and network with each other. Also, it provides a comprehensive list of businesses they can engage with, based on their need.

GL:  What is your big business dream?

Shital: To work with the government bodies to design a curriculum at the national level (for schools & colleges) where soft skills become a part of the syllabus.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Shital: Build credibility -  it helps build lasting relationships, both in personal and professional lives.

My favourite quote is:  “There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” I firmly believe that it is better to know it and never use it than to need it and not know it  - so keep learning new things everyday!

Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the inputs shared by the featured member. GlobalLinker does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions & facts stated by the member.