Sunday, July 19, 2020

Learning… Mentors… Coaches… Gratitude….





Source: bleakstar / Shutterstock

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.