Ashish Bagai Of Vitana Pediatric and Orthodontic Partners: How My Experience in Athletics Trained Me to Become a Better Leader
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Develops discipline, consistency and work ethic: The best athletes have the courage & discipline to pay attention to little details and do it with consistency over a long period of time. That requires a certain work ethic and inner drive. A leader not only benefits from developing these attributes but also instills these in their organization and teams.
The world of sports is not just about physical prowess or competition; it’s an incubator for leadership qualities such as discipline, teamwork, strategic planning, and resilience. Athletes, from amateur levels to professional arenas, often encounter situations that test their limits and require them to step up in ways that mirror the challenges faced by leaders in various fields. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ashish Bagai.
Ashish Bagai is the Co-CEO and co-founder of Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners (Vitana), a dentist-led dental partnership organization (DPO) focused exclusively on elite Pediatric Dental and Orthodontic practices with operations in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York. Prior to co-founding Vitana, Ashish was a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company in NY and an Investment Banker at UBS Investment Bank in London, UK. He completed his MBA from The Wharton School of Business at The University of Pennsylvania. In addition to managing a corporate life, Ashish was the former captain of the Canadian National Cricket Team and led & represented Canada for over 15 years including in 6 World Cups. He also played in various professional & semi-professional leagues in multiple countries across the globe.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career? What athletics did you participate in?
Backstory: 3 of us co-founders (Amir Fardshisheh, Dr. Monika Srivastava and I) have known each other for about 25 years. Amir and I went to undergrad together as well as did our MBAs together at Wharton. Dr. Monika and I have been married for over 15 years. The 3 of us have a lot of respect for each other and share the common desire to have a positive impact on an industry vs. just going in to work everyday. In mid-2020, Amir and I were looking to acquire businesses together and help grow them. At the same time, Dr. Monika and I had been discovering the tremendous growth in specialty oral healthcare for children that was taking place and expected to continue for the next decade in the US. Over the course of the next 9 months, the three of us had multiple discussions, did some additional research, put together a business plan and raised capital for Vitana. We officially started in late 2021.
Athletics: I had the honor & privilege to lead & represent Canada in the sport of Cricket for over 15 years playing in over 30 countries. During these 15 years, I played in 6 World Cups (3 Mens and 3 Juniors). I was also fortunate enough to play in various professional and semi- professional leagues in multiple countries.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Given our founding team dynamics, there is a case written about the 3 founders and how Vitana was started by the MBA program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business (GSB). We are invited every year by Stanford Graduate School of Business as guest lecturers in their Managing Growing Enterprises for MBAs. It is an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of the curriculum at one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the world.
Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Discipline: The Ability to execute despite of how you feel
- Dedication: Unwavering commitment to a goal and your team
- Consistency: You are what you repeatedly do
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a pivotal moment in your athletic career that taught you a leadership lesson you’ve applied outside of sports?
As captain of the Canadian National Cricket Team, I learned over time that every person on your team is different and each of them requires a customized approach in order to help them achieve their potential. Earlier in my captaincy, I assumed that each player would have the same motivations, reasons for drive and methods of preparation as me and it often led me to either disappointment or friction with the player. Once I truly understood that everyone is different and people can indeed achieve great results using approaches that are not necessarily how I would do it, leadership took a very different meaning. It was more about understanding others and figuring out how best to serve them vs. trying to make everyone have a uniform approach. That is where the true potential of people is unleashed.
How has your experience in team dynamics within athletics influenced your approach to leadership in the workplace?
I’ve learned during my time in athletics that it is important to stay even-keeled in times of both success and failure. It is about staying within a narrow band of emotions. When you win — you don’t get too happy or complacent. And when you lose — you don’t get too negative or unsure. As a leader — your team will look to you for reactions during those times of success or failure. Set a culture where you focus on process/behavior and not the outcome and design rewards that are based on process/behavior rather than outcomes.
In what ways has facing defeat or challenges in sports prepared you for handling failure and setbacks in your professional life? What role does resilience play in long term career success?
Frequent defeat and failure are inevitable in sports. In sports the actual win percentage average hovers around 50% for most sports and teams. Great teams might move towards 60–70% wins but that is still quite low with regards to how often you might think people succeed. Playing sports, you get used to losing half the time. Athletes don’t quit with one loss or a series of losses. Those are just building blocks and lessons learned. Once you understand that defeat and challenges are just a part of life, it helps you get over those quickly in business as well and build resilience. Success to me is measured by having a healthy percentage of good decisions and outcomes over a long period of time, not with a few losses/setbacks.
How do you apply the discipline and training regimen from your athletic pursuits to your current leadership role?
I am a big fan of routines and little details — they go hand in hand. Having the discipline to stick to routines involving little details even when you don’t feel like it allowed me to feel calm and center myself. It also signals to the brain that this is familiar territory, that I am prepared and I can manage any situation that will come up in the next few hours. In sports, it was pre-practice routines and pre-game routines that started the night before. That made me feel in control and in a position to not only deal with the tough situations that I was going to face, but also help my teammates with any situations that they would face. Same goes for when you are leading a team in business — a well prepared, calm leader that feels in control of themselves is more effective in creating an environment for others to do their best work. My routine now involves proper sleep, meditation and the same exercise routine every morning before 6am every morning to make sure I am bringing my best self for my family and team at work.
Reflecting on your journey, what specific skills or attributes developed through athletics do you believe are most essential for effective leadership?
- Discipline & Work Ethic
- Desire for continuous improvement
- Putting team before the individual
Based on your experience, can you please share “5 Ways That Athletics Can Help Train Great Leaders?”
1. Develops discipline, consistency and work ethic: The best athletes have the courage & discipline to pay attention to little details and do it with consistency over a long period of time. That requires a certain work ethic and inner drive. A leader not only benefits from developing these attributes but also instills these in their organization and teams.
2. Re-enforces enjoying other people’s successes: In Sport or in business — ultimately it is all about building a high performing team. You are only as strong as your weakest link — so spend time helping others. To win over the long term, you don’t need to be the best player — you just have to find, nurture & bring together the best talent.
3. Makes you obsessed with continuous improvement: Athletes constantly focus on improving each and every day. They rely on coaches, teammates, video footage and many other tools/resources to gather feedback, constantly improve and stay ahead of the competition. Even the greatest athletes who have decades of experience rely on coaches and are students of the game to ensure/continue their learning process. However, in business, most people stop the formal ‘learning process’ once they graduate university and enter the real world. That same mentality of continuous improvement when applied to business and leadership can yield great results.
4. Builds Ability to handle and deliver under pressure: There are moments in sports when it is time for you to absorb the pressure and deliver for yourself and the team. Similarly, there are times in the business world where you need to identify the high-pressure situations/moments and then deliver for your team/organization. Having that experience of feeling pressure and having others depend on you gives you the confidence in all aspects of life including in your professional lives to deliver when it matters most.
5. Helps you see the value in losing: Sport helps you appreciate your wins and your losses. Losses/failures are part of every athlete’s journey. Learning to not only manage those losses but use those losses for learning and as fuel helps you become a more resilient person. It is very important for any leader to stay even-keeled in times of defeat/failure — that is when your team looks up at you and needs you the most.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
This is not a new idea or movement, but I’m a big believer in the right to education for every child. There are millions of kids who do not have access to any education and therefore have essentially no chance to achieve their potential.
How can our readers further follow you online?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishbagai/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
Ashish Bagai Of Vitana Pediatric and Orthodontic Partners: How My Experience in Athletics Trained… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.