Giving Back

I wanted to write this when I had completed 25 years of service. These thoughts did cross my mind during campus drives and induction talks.  This December, I was posed a question “...if you were to address a batch of college grads, as you reflect on your 27 years , what would you tell them?”

In board strokes, beyond engineering, there are three things, I wished someone had helped me with, in 1997.

·       How do you succeed in your career?

·       How do you handle money?

·       How do you stay happy?

Our educational system never addresses these. Only hard skills are taught by rote; with no pointers to what purposes they serve. To make matters worse, hard skills become redundant every decade (refer Gartner Hype Cycle).

But first, let us celebrate Engineering!

We are in a very noble profession. Albert Einstein remarked, “Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been.”  Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles to solve real life problems.  And be rest assured, there will always be challenges for us to solve. Elon’s fresh First Principles Thinking is a great start to consider. Take pride in being the movers and shakers of the world. We walk the talk unlike others. No wonder, Shaw wrote “Those who can, do it; those who can't, teach it”.

Career

The usual trajectory of a successful career is Technical to Managerial to Entrepreneurial/Innovator. What’s most important, irrespective of stage, is Leadership. Nobody teaches you the relevance at school. Perhaps they do but never drive home. So, how do you cultivate it in your career?

From my experiences and observations, three things should be relentlessly pursued to build Leadership traits early on.

•  Powerful Self Introduction: If I ask to introduce yourself, your goal, you will give me a sheepy smile. Having an impactful self introduction is the first step to get noticed. Being young, it will look extremely odd at first, but constant practice will start making you think seriously about what you want achieve in your Career. We call it the 'Elevator Pitch' and it is perhaps the most important skill to find your purpose very early in life.

• Be Curious, take Ownership and continuously Learn. Because, hard skills do not last. A Harvard Study to find common ground among contrasting leadership personalities (from an unassuming Gerstner to a flamboyant Branson) concluded that Leaders are always curious to learn. Similarly, we tend to shirk responsibility. So consciously push yourself to completely own and go beyond what's asked of you. We call this 'Bottomline Responsibility'.

• Communication Skills. English is still the universal language. Fix it and grab every opportunity to speak. Equally important is to be crisp and factual. Eventually, as you grow, learn to leverage 'Story Telling'. 

To me, for you college grads, nothing else seems important in hindsight.

Financial Security

I wish I had invested continuously from my first paycheck onwards. Most of you do not need money early on in career. Building a corpus will give you confidence to even afford a sabbatical to redirect yourselves. Start with Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and then a Buffet or Lynch. Whatever career you pursue, financial freedom should be a goal. Do it. Thank me later.

Happiness

We have been egged on to pursue individualism- another baggage of modern educational system - from childhood. So if you do not keep an eye, career can take a toll on relationships.  The longest ever study (an 85-year-old) is the Harvard Happiness Project, that teaches us, positive relationships is what matters most, in the end. Workplace will eventually exceed your educational life (I, for sure, can vouch for that, from my 27 years under one roof). So, embrace teamwork, invest in relations and also discover some of your best friends for life.

 “Which is more important, the journey or the destination?” asked Big Panda. “The company.” said Tiny Dragon.

 So try to

·       Focus on leadership for a successful Career

·       Strive to become financially free

·       But be mindful to strike a balance to lead a happy Life.