Four managers across my three-decade career have been instrumental in pushing me to become my best. They made me question my status quo, gave me an opportunity to look at things differently, and was patient while making that change. Every single time, I’ve thanked them for it, I get all the below reactions.
-
Feels embarrassed to accept the compliment
-
Tells me that, they were just doing their job
-
Totally surprised that they made an impact
In no particular order
1. Rostow Ravanan (he/him) — Out of the blue in early 2018 he asked me if I could come up with a way to help Mindtree improve sales performance. I was getting comfortable in my then role, and access to this opportunity was like a shot of adrenalin. I still don’t know why he asked me, but I am glad he did. I guess be believed I could make a difference. Little did I know that journey I started ended up with me founding Skwill and pursuing a career very different to the one I was on.
2. Subroto Bagchi — He sat me down in 2010 after his first week long visit to Australia. He pulled up an A4 piece of paper and talked through what I could do better behaviourally, not just skills improvement. His advice was to focus on my strengths (build and manage teams who can deliver) than just trying to be a individual contributor. Don’t do a job you don’t enjoy he told me. I’ve attached a redacted copy, items 1, 2, 3 and 11. This was the second time in my 25 year career I’ve had a leader sit down and take the time to explain how I could be a better professional.
3. Suman Deshpande — She was my first manager when I stared my career at Sonata Software. I joined as a computer engineer. I was good at programming, but my heart wasn’t in it. She saw that and asked me to try Functional Testing as she thought I had a curious mind. She was right, I was keen to know the why not the how. That change so early on, and over time, made me a consultant to customers, and eventually to creating solutions to business challenges.
4. Sidharth Mohan — Sidharth was my country head in Australia. When he relocated to UK, he batted for me to take over his role in Australia. He and I worked together for several years in a two-seater serviced office during Mindtree’s initial days in Australia. His trust in me was instrumental in me doing my best and stepping up. He nonchalantly, almost in passing, said that there may have been resistance to me taking his role.
Why am I sharing this?
Individuals are unique. As managers and leaders, we have a duty to personalise their interaction with team members. Develop mutual trust based on an open discussion of respective strengths and weaknesses. Fight for individuals who show promise. Lastly, be patient, as change takes time.
This has influenced the work we do at Skwill, and our mission to help unlock individual potential by tapping the unseen and explored self. Thank you for being amazing leaders.