Fourteen years after I started working – all of them with the Tata group – I have decided to take a break from full-time employment. It has not been an easy decision, and even after the decision was “finalized” it wasn’t easy to implement it. But now it is done, and I will be leaving Tata Communications at the end of July 2013.
Well, “technically” leaving; it is not so easy to get Tata Communications out of my blood stream :) During the last ten years, I have been part of an exciting roller-coaster ride with Tata Communications (earlier VSNL); I have had opportunities to work on some of the most daring, challenging and (sometimes) "stupid" things. While I cannot say, I have done it all (one can never), I have to wholeheartedly admit that I had a fulfilling career with the Tata group / Tata Communications. I will remain engaged on a part-time basis, continuing a few activities and working on some new interesting ones.
Three people had a major influence on my decision, two of whom I have not met.
Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek had a profound impact on me
when I read it three years ago. While many of the suggestions / ideas appeared
impractical, I was blown by the audacity of it all. It helped me dream.
Clayton Christensen is most known for his work on innovation but his book “How Will You Measure Your Life” was an eye-opener for me. Six months ago, when I was laid in bed, unwell, for a couple of weeks, I read this book at the recommendation of my boss. The three basic questions that he poses at us are worth repeating:
How can I be sure that:
- I will be successful and happy in my career?
- My relationships with my spouse, my children and my extended family and close friends become an enduring source of happiness?
- I live a life of integrity – and stay out of jail?
The third question was not an immediate source of concern (thankfully!) but the first two were quite pertinent. Would I let my life be measured by my designation changes or salary growth or the list of achievements in my resume? Or should there be a different set of ‘metrics’ that focused on how happy and content my family and I were?
Don’t get me wrong - there was nothing wrong with my job. I
have great expectations for Tata Communications; my job content was constantly
changing & challenging; and (to Gallup’s delight) my best friends now are
at my workplace. But, the job shouldn’t be the only thing in your life.
Prof. Christensen suggests that for both businesses and
individuals,
Strategy almost always emerges from a combination of deliberate and unanticipated opportunities. What’s important is to get out there and try stuff until you learn where your talents, interests, and priorities begin to pay off. When you find out what really works for you, then it’s time to flip from an emergent strategy to a deliberate one.
Of course, the difficult part about this is that:
Change can often be difficult, and it will probably seem easier to just stick with what you are already doing. That thinking can be dangerous. You’re only kicking the can down the road, and you risk waking up one day, years later, looking into the mirror, asking yourself: “What am I doing with my life?”
I had made my decision, yet I was having these doubts: was I
being foolish? Suman, my wife, sent me a link to an article and said that this
was just for me. It was Ravi Venkatesan’s blog post “Fear of being a nobody”. I
read it with fascination; finally here was somebody whom I knew and it was as
if he was describing my situation!
Without a job, how will I provide for myself and others who depend on me? Work is identity. How do I introduce myself to strangers? Who am I if I am not part of an organization? Work provides purpose. Simply going to a familiar place everyday, being responsible for some things and doing these as best as you can be meaningful.
Ravi had faced and overcome the two biggest challenges that one faces in this situation:
Fear and confusion. As I said, these are the twin enemies that must be overcome to build a new life and a new career. I discovered that fears arise from "stories" -powerful, hidden subprograms that are in the subconscious mind and end up defining how we think of ourselves and what we allow ourselves to do in life. We are usually unaware of the stories in our lives.
If fears arise from stories, confusion seems to stem from lack of information. We simply lack information about what we might be really good at, what opportunities might exist out there, what things might give a sense of purpose and versus other things might merely be enjoyable.
Ravi’s four-part article helped me a lot, reassuring me that I was not doing something silly. It had been done before, so it can be done again.
Suman added a huge boost to my confidence, ready to jointly
take the journey towards uncertainty. Vinod, my boss, has also been a source of
encouragement, willing to support my new “avatar”.
Now that August 1 is not too far away, what are my goals for
this avatar? Frankly, I have not thought everything through yet. I want to use my time to
experiment with a few things.
- Teaching: I started teaching a course on M&A at IIM, Ahmedabad in 2012 and hope to continue that, and maybe expand to some other courses / institutes. I’ve also been doing a bit of corporate education and will be involved in building some leadership training programs.
- Photography: What started out as yet another hobby has become a serious interest. Having invested a lot of time (and money!) into it, I want to take it to pro-level.
- Innovation: My Tata Comm journey has been about taking a few bold ideas and bringing them to life. I want to use my experience and passion to help others that are looking to change the world.
More than anything else, however, I do want to re-build my relationships with family and friends. People for whom I had limited time and mind-space earlier will see a lot more of me now, so watch out! :)