| Outside of his hectic life in real estate, Anshul loves spending time outdoors and is also passionate about charitable causes related to kids and education. He is an aspiring drummer—although claims he was “miserably hopeless” in a couple of classes he took—and also dreams of becoming a professional tennis player. |
| How long have you been with Cushman & Wakefield? |
| Depends on how you count it—14 years (Cushman & Wakefield/DTZ combined) or under a year, as I left briefly after the merger only to re-join in June 2016. |
| What did you do before joining our firm? |
| Took a break in my career to study business from IMD in LauSanne, Switzerland. Otherwise I have been a career real estate service provider across Asia and Europe. |
| If you had to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be, and why? |
| Balanced—don’t get (too) swayed by extremes; Transparent—with peers, teams and clients; Foodie—silver lining to any cloudy day! |
| What is one thing that many of your colleagues would not know about you? |
| I love reading history—particularly of the last 3,000-odd years. It’s amazing what you can understand about the modern world when you start connecting what happened with various empires and emperors in various parts of the world. |
| If you could have dinner with any one person, living or dead, who would he/she be and why? |
| Genghiz Khan —although he will probably kill me after the meeting! I’d love to hear more about his rise from a nomadic boy with no resources, and his ability to inspire, organize, and strategize to win, which took his empire all the way to modern-day Hungary from the eastern sea board of China. Steve Jobs for his ability to bounce back and leave a legacy that will be a hard act to follow. Lee Kuan Yew for his vision and ability to execute the strategy flawlessly—his thoughts and his legacy still inspire modern-day political thinking in Singapore. |
| What is the most exciting thing you have done while at Cushman & Wakefield? |
| Led a team to win a management contract for the most prestigious building in India without having a single square foot under management prior to that. |
| Describe your typical day at Cushman & Wakefield and what do you like most about your role? |
| Having the key to open doors and talk to clients at the highest level in the country. Typical week would have client meetings, travel, formal and informal pitches, and, of course, internal engagements. |
| India is a bright spot in the global economy. What are your thoughts on this? How does real estate benefit in this scenario? |
| Seven-to-eight-percent current growth with the potential of reaching more than 10% in next few years—we can’t complain. REITS, PE Investments, maturing developers, institutionalization, cap rate compression, corporate expansions—bring it on! |
| Is there a region or business you’re excited about? |
| Our business as a whole – it’s an exciting sum of parts. It’s poised for phenomenal growth supported by the strengths of the firm globally, the economy in India, and a very committed leadership team in country. |
| If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one ability / quality, what would it be? |
| Be good enough to compete at Wimbledon. |
| Is there something you’ve dreamt of doing for a long time? |
| Learning to drum—was miserably hopeless in a couple of classes I took. |