Photos: Sakib Muhtasim
G. Sumdany Don, the founder, chief inspirational officer of Don Sumdany Facilitation & Consultancy and the aspiring youth icon of Bangladesh lets us in on his journey.
“On March 13, 2013, I was running late on my way home when some muggers ambushed me and shot my leg. My new car was hijacked and I was left there stranded. This incident made me realise that life certainly is meaningless and it absorbs whatever substance we add to it.”
Don left his job at Phillip Morris International and launched his signature brand Don Sumdany Facilitation and Consultancy – a long pursued dream. “Since childhood, I was a rebel by nature and have always refused to follow the herd theory,” he humorously summarised. Thus he joined ULAB’s Media, Journalism and Communication department to develop his potentials as a communicator and to emerge from the flock.
“People have tremendous distinctive potentials which they tend to ignore recklessly and stray from individuality,” he signifies.
As he unfolds the roots of his passion for teaching, the connoisseur recollects, “While working in PMl, I started teaching at East West University and ULAB. Considering my zest and fervour for teaching, my country manager nominated me as the Regional Trainer for PMI Asia that privileged with the amenities of attending international training all across Asia including Training of Trainers workshops (ToT).” However, the sprouting trainer emphasises on the pursuit of learning continuously. “A trainer needn’t necessarily be a geek but incessant learning of new techniques is a requisite to remain au fait,” he shares. “Thus I follow the trails of global figures like Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra and aspire to become one of the top five leadership gurus in the world,” he gleams.
The versatile persona, G. Sumdany Don is a teacher, writer, actor, motivational speaker and the list could go on. Starting from grooming university students from North South University, East West and Jahangirnagar, Don writes a weekly column entitled ‘Level up with G. Sumdany Don’ in The Daily Star’s Shout Magazine and runs his radio show on career counselling with the name tag ‘Donspiration’ on Colours FM 101.6. Furthermore, he has a knack for acting as well which we can see in the celebrated movie Piprabidya (Ant Story). He exclaims, “Triumphs are earned by the means of hard work and the susceptibility to stand back up after getting knocked down repeatedly.” Don believes that dedication and consistency is the key to success. “Always be the hardest worker in any room you enter and hard work begets experience that is incomparable.” Moreover, along with experience, the career counsellor highlights on cultivating technological skill sets and building a personality that portrays basic manners and etiquette to shine in any field of the occupation.
The instructor also rationalises the discontentment fresh graduates feel concerning the job market. “As soon as they start working, they are dissatisfied about the demands in their line of work and complain about the work pressure and long hours. Accordingly, I advise my students to utilise the four years of graduation timeline fruitfully, to engage in extra-curricular activities and to drill them for the competitive job market beforehand. The drilling also involves networking as one of the controlling factors and achieving academic excellence that practically makes or breaks an individual professionally,” he quotes.
To excel in the job, Don flags up integrative motivation that makes them yearn for inner satisfaction rather than instrumental motivation of societal status and monthly wages. “The internal fire can ignite the youth with incredible possibilities to reach any ambitions and aspirations,” he reinforces.
Lastly, appending meaning to his own life, he elucidates, “I love my leadership and positive thinking sessions because it helps me amend people’s mindset and that positive shift leaves an equally buoyant impact on myself.” The orator wraps up leaving us with much to reflect upon.