Crucial Success Skills Forged Through My Journey
My journey has been one of self-development. From the onset, I was a meticulous individual with an ability to adapt and with a willingness to learn more from what life presented to me. And this, I think, has been a crucial part of my journey. Over the years, I learnt that my inherent personality needs to be complimented with other skills I developed through my professional and personal experiences - leading from the front, being creative, solution oriented, authentic and perhaps most important how to communicate with empathy.
I started my professional journey at the lowest rung of the corporate ladder. Over the years, I’ve been in roles where I’ve had a chance to be a problem solver, Subject matter expert and a project manager and a leader. But the meaningful aspect of my professional life has been focusing on the people ethic. This is a key skill that I’m known for and I enjoy tremendously - the ability to connect with people, and with an intent to help them learn, develop and grow. For me, I’ve discovered another area of interest which I’m adept at through my journey of self development and self awareness. It has now only allowed me to grow on the corporate ladder but also grow personally in life.
Crafting Creative Opportunities from Every Challenge
As a young boy, I grew up in a very well-to-do business family in Bombay. It was a patriarchal family where my father was the center of the universe. It was never a fair marriage and at some point while I was in school, my parents separated (not amicably) and I chose to live with my mother. But this brought us (my sister, mum and me) a lot of financial difficulties where meeting ends was a challenge. Not to mention the emotional stress/trauma. We came out of that experience whole and made it work only due to the determination and steadfastness of my mother.
Having that experience and the stellar example of my mother, I’ve learnt to take things as they come. I’ve realized that solution to all challenges is in the approach you adopt. One needs to first understand the problem and then break it down to find meaningful solutions which is normally my strategy. Most important is to face the adversity from the front and find meaning in the experience. There is something to learn in every situation and I've learnt that while we solve the challenge, it also become a catalyst for either contributing community well-being fostering the right relationships and building a new skillset.
My Impact
Through my professional career, the objective has changed from personal glory to collective triumph. The meaningful aspect of my role is being able to inspire and help the larger community find learning in different facets of life. It starts with communication - not only identifying talent and grooming that talent to progress professionally but also being able to talk about life outside of the professional environment and positively influencing people to build the right connections. It’s not always about helping people succeed but also allowing them to try, fail and learn sometimes.
Through my personal experiences, I’ve seen my mother struggle to provide for my family in what is essentially a man’s world. I’ve learnt the importance of Diversity and Inclusivity in all teams, big or small I’ve been an avid supporter of the cause and been a champion across organizations that I have been associated with. Initially, I thought of Diversity only in the context of gender and I’m passionate about women having an equal pedestal in life.
Over time I’ve realized its a lot only about gender and should focus on race, sexual orientation, social background and more importantly creating an environment which is inclusive for all and created equity and a platform for all, with a fair platform to grow and succeed irrespective of their starting point in life. I truly believe the Jack Welch quote “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” That’s the legacy I’ve left with the people I work with and I’m quite fulfilled with the impact I’ve created.
Scaling New Heights in Personal and Professional Triumphs
Success could mean different things at different stages of your life. Earlier in my career, when I started my career, as a 20 year old fresh out of university, I started as a Junior Analyst in a major Investment Bank the benchmark of success was to make the Vice President Grade by the time I reach 30. I met that mark when I was 28. I’d be lying if I say that meeting a 10 year goal in 8.5 years wasn’t gratifying.
As I progressed in my professional career, inching towards the goal I’d set I realized that the idea of success evolves - it is relative to your circumstances in life. At the moment, my idea of personal success is a job that I enjoy, with the right amount of challenges to keep me nimble, financial stability, being able to give back to society and a good work life balance which allows me to focus on my professional and personal life. Personally, I enjoy reading, travelling; I’m a linguist and a life that allows me to maintain a good career while follow my personal passions is the definition of success for me.
The Synergy Between My Path and Recognition Values
For anyone to succeed in their vocation of choice some things in life are very important - a calm and organized mind, determination to succeed whatever the challenges, a little bit of luck and the right balance of focus and competence. My story is not extra-ordinary. But it definitely is one of resilience, the ability and determination to over one challenges and sheer handwork. Life has brought me the right opportunities and I have been able to utilize them to the optimal level. This in my view, is the spirit of this nomination and is linear to the values of this award.