Of (Another) Work Anniversary, Gratitude and Gyaan

As another Career Anniversary catches up with me adding a +1 to my Experience, I can’t help but recall a few aspects that I have added to my “RichList”.  I wrote something a few years ago as well around this which is captured HERE and will write a few more aspects below:

Thanks to the amazing Bosses I’ve had over the years who’ve helped me be a better professional. 

1. The late Mr. Subba Rao – my first manager for the trust in a rookie to get things done and guiding me through my first months and years.  Thank you Shashi Kiran for the #Ties in my first week of work.
2. The evergreen technology evangelist Mr. Anil Maurya – the first real teacher on OOP/OOAD and how to actually use it in C++ to build commercially successful Client-Server Products. 
3. The “Cool boys” Natarajan Nandhi and Bheema Rao for those wonderful projects, occasional rap on the knuckle, the trust and support while getting tougher assignments done by me. Bonus: The Parties that Bheema gave at #BC
4. The multi-talented Louay Gargoum who gave me a new lease of professional life in 2006 getting me to work on his team and giving me those direct feedback.  One of the many – “You are good Technically, Are you a Good Manager.  Take your time and come back to me on your plan next week”.
5. To Ekta Arora for helping me tide over tough times and trusting me to handle some tricky projects in the Co-Innovation space back in 2015.
6. To the ever busy and always trusting big boss Dr. Hans Jörg Stotz who trusted my skills and gave me an opportunity to build innovation teams and supported us with cool projects.  Bonus: The offsites in Deidesheim were real fun.
7. To Sai Kumar at Walmart for the support and encouragement always.  Great conversations all the time.
8. Special Thanks to Anuj Magazine for his Inspiring Sketchnote from 2021 - "The Bosses We Remember".

As I grew as a manager and built several projects/products along the way, there have been innumerable team members who have contributed to my learning and success. 

Having a diverse set of peers to work with is always a blessing and I am happy to have benefitted and benefitting from the conversations with many of them.  Suraj Sudhi , Hareesha Prabhu , Raimund Gross , Christoph Huber , Suresh Lakshmanan , Sangamesh Gaded , Harish Kumar L , Christopher Jonathan , Vinay Sathyanarayan , Jagan Sundaramoorthy , Nitin Verma , Pratap Bhaskar , Mayank Bhatnagar and many more

As I also add additional years to my age, I also realize:

1. The motivational talk and the Hustle Culture maybe an in thing but I need to take things a bit slow and easy.  Maybe I am not built to work “the Narayana Murthy prescribed hours” per week. It is also good to spend time with Family and pursue my Hobbies.
2. Career is Important BUT Health is more important, and it includes not just Physical but also Mental Health. 
3. It’s not just #Netflix or #Beer that will help you relax, Exercises like Yoga and Pranayama as well.  I bet you knew this.
4. Just because I am “getting old” and “experienced” I must not stop learning.  Call it “pressure from my son” or the new buzz on AI, I am coding many times a month on some random Python experiments.  Yes, I am learning from my son, his questions and curiosity.
5. I read in some places that being Vulnerable at work is good for leadership, but I have mixed results from it.  I have been coached recently to not be too open.  I still am yet to understand how to tackle this aspect.  Thoughts?
6. Not everyone from your workplace treats you as their Friend. 

It is #29YrsAtWork for me.  Wish me luck friends and folks on my #Network AND Tell me what I should do differently to enjoy what I call the “Relaxing Years” of my “Career” that will come up soon.  Should I hustle more or relax or retire? What would you suggest.

Till next time...

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer