Have you ever met a growth artist? An impressionist? A firestarter? No? Head over to 361 Degrees and you’ll meet all three plus their Chief Visionary Officer. Rest assured the titles are all real and they have faces behind them too.  361 Degrees is the company that runs Wild Drift, a popular outbound training brand that [...]

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

Work cultures that inspire and motivate

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Rukmal de Silva

Have you ever met a growth artist? An impressionist? A firestarter? No? Head over to 361 Degrees and you’ll meet all three plus their Chief Visionary Officer. Rest assured the titles are all real and they have faces behind them too.  361 Degrees is the company that runs Wild Drift, a popular outbound training brand that has been around for some time, along with 361 Degrees Edge and 361 Degrees Interactive. 

Dulendra Udukumbure

If anyone were to have a unique work culture then we’d expect these guys to be there, embracing it with gusto. Wild Drift was founded in 2001, and since then they’ve conducted hundreds of training programmes for corporates, schools, universities and individuals. “Everyone here is doing this for the love of it,” says Chief Visionary Officer Rukmal de Silva. “Our people are passionate about what they do and want to make an impact.”

Wild Drift, the outbound training arm, and its two partner brands 361 Degrees Edge and 361 Degrees Interactive function under one banner-361 Degrees. The company now offers a holistic service experience for individual and team development. At this juncture it’s more important than ever that the team have a figurehead responsible for direction, and that’s where de Silva steps in as Chief Visionary Officer. “My job is to create a vision for our clients and stakeholders,” he explains of the title he has chosen. 

Leaving impressions: Inside the 261 Degree office. Pix by Indika Handuwala

As Chief Visionary Officer (CVO), De Silva has empowered his team members to choose their own titles as well-he’s a CVO who practices what he preaches and believes in equal opportunities, so to speak. The team have each picked their own, immensely personal title and this is what they carry on their business card; it has to be meaningful, says their boss, and as long as that requirement is fulfilled they get to be creative with their pickings. 

These distinctive names are often a source of great amusement to those who hear them, laughs Impressionist Fahad Farook. The youngest member of the 361 team, Fahad toed the waters of a string of professions before he embarked on this one and hasn’t looked back since. As an ‘impressionist’ (that’s corporate trainer to the rest of us), Fahad says his task is to create and leave impressions; he meets a number of people over the course of a day and say they are always captured by his business card. “First they’ll ask why we have three heads on the card,” he says, referring to the three images of himself that a card carries. “Then they’ll comment on the card’s shape. Then they’ll read it and be immediately curious. It makes for great conversation.”

Growth Artist Dulendra Udukumbure is in business development, and says his title is really self-explanatory-“sales is an art,” he smiles. Dulendra joined the team in 2008 and says he likes how they operate, and the fresh challenges each day offers. “Every time we approach things in a new way.” It’s also awesome to “be paid to do what you like!” he laughs. “That’s not something everyone is lucky enough to have.”

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