Member Spotlight: Dr Rajesh Parekh

Shilpa Sadanand (SS) from TGI had a conversation with Dr. Rajesh Parekh (RP) from India, here is the conversation.  

SS: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and provide a brief overview of your professional background and current role.

RP: I am a Resilience and Well-Being coach, with a corporate career of over three decades with prestigious organizations like Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dale Carnegie Training and Bayer. My journey includes an MBBS from Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai, and a master's in psychology from IPMS, Mumbai. Driven by a passion for resilience and well-being, I have obtained certifications as a Resilience Coach from Driven, Australia, and the Global Institute of Resilience & Well-being, USA. I am also a certified Resilience First Aid Instructor and a Mindfulness Practitioner, having completed programs from esteemed institutions such as the Mindful Science Centre, Awakened Mind (Australia), and Rice University (USA).

SS: Describe some of the work you have been undertaking in the field of resilience.

RP: Currently, I am the Director of Resilient Leadership, an organization offering resilience training programs for individuals and leaders at all levels, resilience assessments & resilience first aid certification programs. My role as a Consultant Resilience Coach with Dimagi, USA, further showcases my global footprint in the field of Resilience. During the pandemic, I was working for a multinational company Bayer, where our frontline workers had to meet farmers and doctors daily. Due to lockdown, this was not possible, leading to a lot of anxiety and stress. I was trained by Awaris in Germany to roll out a resilience program for our frontline workers. This intervention was very successful in helping them develop a growth mindset and introducing innovative ways in which they could reach out to their customers. To cut the story short, in that year, despite the pandemic, we still grew satisfactorily.

The program continued even after the pandemic as in their normal work also, being frontliners, they do experience stress and burnout. The program helps them manage stress and lead a happy life. I have been conducting resilience programs & journeys for various organisations since the last 2 years now, helping employees at all levels build resilience and manage stress. I use digital interventions like an app to reach out to a large number of people.

SS: How did you become involved with The Resilience Collaborative (TRC), who introduced you to TRC or how did you first learn about it? 
RP: I got introduced to TRC after joining Dimagi as a consultant to provide them with content for their Well Me App as well as other initiatives. After going through the TRC Toolkit and the TRC Message Program, I was impressed with the way in which both the documents were prepared and with the content provided and was motivated to join the community.  

SS: What are your aspirations as a member of this community of practice (COP), TRC? Are there specific aspects of the TRC community that you find most rewarding or enjoyable? 
RP: I would like to learn from the other distinguished members of the COP as well as share my knowledge as Thought Leader. I enjoyed attending the previous meeting and listening to different perspectives from different stakeholders. I would love to contribute by adding my inputs to the already existing approach to build resilience by other distinguished members of the COP.  

SS: Could you share a common resilience practice that you/your team follow regularly?
RP: Our research shows that it is much more than bouncing back. There are six domains of resilience and if we succeed in people strengthening those domains, it can help them build resilience. These domains are vision, composure, reasoning, health, tenacity and collaboration.  I help others strengthen these domains and lead a life full of health and happiness. 

Image Courtesy: Driven, Australia

SS: Thank you for your time and valuable insights.
RJ: You're welcome, it was my pleasure

Please let us know if you would like to connect with Dr Rajesh Parekh, we would be delighted to facilitate the connection. Write to us: TRC.Community@georgeinstitute.org