#MarkOfProfessionalism: Ability to Inspire in the ever evolving digital space

[caption id="attachment_1765337" align="alignleft" width="420"] Anupam Dikhit, Brand Advocacy & Engagement, Twitter India, Founder - EveryMedia[/caption]Anupam Dikhit is a man of many firsts in India’s digital industry. As an innovator and marketer in social and mobile media, he has been a member of the founding teams of global social networks Facebook and Twitter in India. And along the way he has tasted entrepreneurial success as well.Dikhit believes that the ‘Ability to Inspire’ is the one attribute that a leader must have and that it encompasses all other virtues. His belief has clearly paid off, with the likes of Google’s Rajan Anandan and Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys, picking him as one of the ET Young Leaders to watch out for in 2012.And it is no wonder then that Twitter chose Dikhit to lead its marketing and advertising front in the country where he is responsible for Brand Engagement, Advocacy and Evangelism for "getting more brands to use Twitter more".Here, Firstpost explores Dikhit’s career highlights and failures, his passion for the digital medium and his personal code of professionalism. Read on:Tell us about how easy or hard it has been to reach where you are today?It has surely not been an easy road. Looking back, it has been a roller coaster ride as I have grown hand-in hand with the digital medium in India. I was the first person from India to join Facebook (as a marketer) in October 2006. Back then Facebook was a closed group meant only for college students and teenagers. While elsewhere we had early advertising adopters, in India it was very difficult to convince advertisers who didn’t understand digital.Ever since, it has been completely hands-on learning all the way. Besides, it is a constant challenge to stay ahead of the curve to remain relevant as the medium keeps evolving.With the growing Internet culture in modern offices, have things changed in regards to professionalism?I would say professionalism has evolved to embrace the Internet culture, in much the same way as our lives have. It has brought in the concept of the connected workforce with smartphones and the like – now work is no longer a 9 to 5 phenomenon that you can switch in and out of – we are always at work in the digital economy. A true professional would take all these in his/her stride.What’s the biggest risk that you have taken in your career?That would be my entrepreneurial venture, EveryMedia, which was also my biggest learning experience. I made initial mistakes but I risked everything. Friends and family tried to gently dissuade me because I was new to the domain and did not have many contacts. But today, that passion and hard work has paid off and EveryMedia is one of the largest movie marketing and mobile marketing agencies in the country.It’s only when you are out there on your own, and are solely answerable to your customers and employees, without a safety net to fall back on, that you realize the true meaning of professionalism and leadership.You are an ideas man – tell us about your ideas that you are really proud of?There have been several creative ideas throughout my career. The #ChangeIsNear campaign brought in a whole new design language and reached unprecedented engagement levels; the Digital Pujo Awards was a path breaking multi-channel social awards activation. Then WiFi Bin, an award winning innovative digital installation; and of course the Internet Baby campaign – which became the most viewed branded video on YouTube.What have you learnt from failure?I see every mistake, stumble or failure as a learning experience. Take Blyk, for example. It was an ad-supported phone network that we launched on Aircel and seemed set for success. As far design and the stickiness of the platform go, it was a brilliant concept. But what failed us was the lack of right infrastructure and the ecosystem. However, it was an eye-opening experience and I learnt much from it. If you are professional enough to learn from failure then every time you hit rock bottom you can come back way stronger and much more experienced than before.