Meet the Mentor: Mudit Aggarwal on leadership, learning, and giving back

Head of Purchase & Stores at Jaquar & Co., Mudit Aggarwal has been volunteering as a WBS mentor since graduating in 2018. Here, he talks about his career, what draws him to mentoring, and why he keeps coming back.

From entrepreneur to MBA to corporate leader
Mudit came to WBS with nearly 13 years of professional experience behind him, including more than eight years as a co-founder of an international e-commerce venture. By 2016, he was ready for a new direction.

“I decided to join the Full-Time MBA programme at WBS because I felt WBS was best suited for my ‘generalist-attitude’ and would help me further-develop my leadership skills.”

That instinct paid off. Since graduating, Mudit has held a senior leadership role at Jaquar & Co., one of India’s largest sanitaryware and bath fittings groups, where he manages a procurement budget exceeding £100 million, leads a team of 150, and oversees relationships with more than 400 suppliers.

The skills he values most from his time at WBS? “Critical thinking and the ability to see the bigger picture.” He also cites WBS’s Leadership Plus module as a particular highlight, one he still draws on daily.

Giving back through mentoring
Mudit has been a volunteer mentor on the WBS Global Mentoring Programme since graduating and his motivation is straightforward: give back and keep learning: "This is my way of giving back to WBS."

But mentoring, he’s quick to point out, isn’t a one-way street. “I learn from each of my mentees as they all are so different, with different backgrounds and experiences, overall, a great learning opportunity.”

The impact he’s seen has ranged from helping a mentee make a bold career pivot, changing geography, industry and seniority level, to supporting another through a journey of self-awareness and confidence: “The mentee became more self-assured through the work we did together.”

Advice for prospective mentors
For alumni thinking about becoming a mentor, Mudit offers two clear principles: “You are in service of your mentee, you are not the centre of this working-relationship. You don’t bring your biases and judgement into this mix, the more unbiased and non-judgemental you can become, the more effective you will be as a mentor.”

It’s a philosophy rooted in his own experience of failure as much as success. “I have failed at more things a greater number of times than I have succeeded. In my view, my biggest achievement has been to not let failures stop me from experimenting, creating something new, doing things differently, and enjoying my journey.”

Still connected, still contributing
Beyond mentoring, Mudit attends WBS and University of Warwick events in his city and has joined panels for prospective student offer-holder events. His message to anyone considering getting involved is simple: the alumni network is something worth investing in, for the people you’ll help, and for what you’ll gain in return.

The WBS Global Mentoring Programme provides expert mentoring from WBS alumni volunteers to student and alumni mentees. It matches mentees with mentors based on career goals and motivations, building meaningful relationships across industries and borders. Discover more about the Global Mentoring Programme here.