Learning is not a one-time activity but an ongoing journey. The ratio of hard work and learning vs luck is pretty skewed towards the former. Most successful people failed in many attempts. So, what is that keeps people going to try???
It is the courage to learn, re-learn and keep
trying. In other words, “Grit” & “Perseverance”. At some point or another, the grip on the rope of hope starts getting loose. This is where you find
mentors, supporters and coaches standing by you and guiding to the shore of
success.
Who are these magicians who have powers of
anchoring one? These can be colleagues, peers, even someone from outside the
sphere of work. Formally called mentor, coach, guide, these are people who
share their learnings and let one try things while walking the path guiding
them.
I have been lucky to find some of the great
people to work with during my corporate journey.
At the very beginning of my career Vikas Gupta,
who was then leading the module which I started working on taught me the
importance of right code, detailed documentation and in-depth testing. This has
been the best learning which never fails me even today.
Next step of life and I met Hemant
Khandelwal. Hemant not only guided me on the career path of learning but also
showed how brand building helps. His simplicity and positive attitude with the right
learning opportunities helped me take the courageous step of delving into an
unknown technology area. Blimey, what a step it was, his encouragement and guidance
helped me grow away from stage fright and be confident in sharing the
learnings.
He has been a not just a mentor but life coach,
who helped me come back to work with encouragement post sabbatical.
Once back, it has been a beautiful journey
again. Not that there weren’t any obstacles or hardships but again I was
blessed to find people around me who were open to anchor those who seek
guidance.
With Dharmesh Gadhiwala’s initial support I got
back to work and started excelling again. Chhavi Bajaj guided me on managing
work-life and for me thinking on what I really want and where I see myself
next.
Ashwin Karkala Hegde helped me learn/unlearn. Under
his direction, guidance and counsel, I tried new technologies and other aspects
of software development. With Ashwin, I learnt the power of leading and influencing
than directing. I also learnt that it is not just learning, which is important
but a lot of times, un-learning is very crucial.
There have been many others with whom I crossed
path and learnt smaller and bigger things.
Many times we get so busy in our day 2 day
life that we forget to count our blessing and thank those who have been strong
pillars in each day of life. This post is my gratitude and a big thank you for all these
incredible individuals for making me better at everything I do, each day and
more.
