Around 25 years or maybe more, I was asked about my interest in joining a startup company. My response was that I am not clear about what the company does and whether I could possibly learn. I guess I was avoiding the fact that the company was not my cup of tea.
Learning is something I enjoy. In school, I used to read all the textbooks before the school year started, except for Hindi/Marathi. This allowed me to enjoy reading fiction during the academic year. Since I played basketball for the college and the college timings clashed with practice, I had to pretty much learn on my own for the B.Com degree. At XLRI, I initially got stumped as learning was a continuous process and my approach was exam oriented. Guess by the time I figured it out I had already graduated.
I began my career with 6 months of sales training, which was mandatory for all management trainees at P&G at the time. After that, I had 1 or 2 months of experience in marketing, operations, and other areas. By the time I came to the HR job, I had spent more time outside the function than inside it in the first 12 months. The first 6/7 years of my professional life were all Human Resources. At Kellogg, I moved from HR to Sales and then Marketing. I have moved across functions in later jobs and each time learning was a different challenge. It was more a mindset than an actual skill. For e.g. HR is a staff function whereas Sales is on the frontline. You cannot afford to be reticent or taciturn in sales. I have experience running companies, leading software teams, dealing with private equity, making my own seed investments, and now I focus more on being an entrepreneur. And every time I have to figure out what is the best mindset to learn.
I enjoy the learning process (though I am reading books a lot less these days). What I find hard to understand is when someone either refuses to learn or cannot learn. It is always the first step that is the hardest and attitude makes a big difference. I find learning disability is the biggest impediment to anyone achieving their goals.
In my personal life, I'm constantly growing as a husband, father, son, sibling, and so on. I've learned that relying on experiences or having a fixed mindset often leads to problems. Having a good knowledge base can enhance our conversations and make our actions more proactive, allowing us to derive greater benefits from life. And yes, I am saying less and less about what I know so that I can learn rather than use the pulpit. As I age, my memory is slowing down, which is normal. It may be due to an excess of irrelevant information, like remembering the band members of Genesis. I am still learning on how to be proactive and respond more and react less.
In 2023, I hope that everyone can overcome their learning disabilities in their personal and professional lives. I hope that my desire to learn remains undiminished, and I can keep moving forward.
Happy Learning Year 2023
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