1. Introduction
From Software Developer to Business Lead & Consultant, my journey has been nothing short of a career transformation. Coming from a lower middle class background, there has always been a desire to go beyond the status quo and see what lies ahead at the end of each tunnel/challenge I pass. I am just like any other person always deliberating on the purpose of life and how best to live the same. Since childhood I am the king of successive failures ranging from rejection in sports teams to rejection by several organizations. I believe in minimum input and maximum output out of any activity I do. Change in my life is what keeps me going and breaks the monotony at the same time.
2. Body
Coming from a not so good family background wherein my father struggled to meet the ends and my mother was the sole bread earner, I always self-taught myself that I don’t have luxury of resources at the same time I have to live my life prosperously. During my primary school days, I always aspired to become a wicket keeper. However, considering the investments that go in playing cricket, I subsided the interest and then evaluated other sports that have minimum investments. I found basketball as a least investment sport wherein one had to buy just a pair of shoes for INR 150/- and you are ready for the play. At that age, children don’t know what are their aspirations. However, my interest was clear that I was keen on new avenues that gave exposure but with minimal investments. Just at the age of 12, I was selected in a national camp. However, I was unable to make it to the team due to political reasons. The failing streak started when I was not able to make through for 3 consecutive years and made it in the fourth year. With an investment of INR 150/- for shoes that lasted 2 years, I was very happy as I was roaming around India on school/government expenses, playing aggressively, and winning laurels for the teams I represented.
Throughout my life, I have practised the thought process has been a minimum investment and maximum output. Evaluating career choices, a next move, or a personal decision that thought process has guided me all the way. Initially, I selected defence forces as a career option but after failing in 5 SSB ‘Services Selection Board” interviews I was not convinced with their testing procedures. I dropped the idea of appearing in 6th SSB interview when I was not convinced with the answer that an officer gave me in the interview with him.
During those days, engineering was the status quo and hence my parents forced me to do the same. Having missed out on certain opportunities, my parents thought that only professional degree can get me the desired success. However, since I was unsettled, I explored other options wherein I got selected in St. Stephens in basketball sports quota. However, due to my parents’ thought process, I had to go the engineering way. Again the thought process of minimum and maximum helped me to carve out a way. I chose a university that had minimum fees among the universities I got selected in. Moreover, I appeared in the evaluation of a lot of public sector companies including GAIL, SAIL, HLL, and BARC but was not able to make through in the interviews. I got placed as a software developer in TCS wherein I was responsible to write certain lines of code. Within two years of working, I was restless as there was nothing new to learn. I explored the market and got some offers for different roles. On the other hand, to retain me in the organization, the organization offered me an onsite deputation in South Africa. I considered it as another change in the way of life that will give me the exposure of working in new geography, understand the local culture and way of working, and a new role that gives more responsibilities and accountabilities as one is client-facing.
2+ years passed again I felt a need for change from the monotony of personal and professional life since I had already spent 2+ years in South Africa and in the same role. I had tremendously great personal and professional time in the country. After experiencing both offshore and onsite model, I deliberated that to transform my career I need a giant leap. I realized that my role has a small impact on my organization and clients. I not only wanted to move up the career ladder but also wanted to have a big impact through my work in society as a whole. Since I always wanted a change, there was no better role than a Business Consultant. The role exposes one to different sectors, business problems, and clients and you can make a big top and bottom-line impact to these organizations.
Though the MBA was not on my cards, the people whom I reached out suggested that it could be an entry barrier if I try to get into these roles without an MBA. This was the inflexion point when I thought of enrolling in an MBA program. Traditionally, in India, most MBA aspirants prefer 2 year PGP from IIM’s. However, I felt that the 2 year PGP class consists mostly of either fresh graduates or people with entry-level work experience. Moreover, I was keen to learn from a rich peer group and I started evaluating MBAEx programs. Once I passed out of the program in 2016, I led automation transformation programs for a leading investment bank.
Though I was impacting the bottom line through automation, the dire need of variety that I sought in the first place was missing - the desire to become a business consultant. I decided to make a switch to a firm that was offering me the role of a digital strategy consultant. Though the role was apt with my aspirations, it missed a critical ingredient of the client engagements. I decided to make a move to one of the Big4’s as a digital transformation consultant. It was not only the brand the role exposed me directly to clients wherein irrespective of our experience and knowledge we were thrown in the water to swim. That exactly what I liked and always aspired to be. To work in an unknown territory and swim through the way. And the success was when I played a role to impact my clients top and bottom lines. This impact always gave me a kick. A kick to look forward to new challenges. A kick to succeed in newer setups, challenges, organizations, and customers. I like rapid pace.
The big4 firms are bound by their organization structures and hierarchy driven operating model. I observed that I have limited boundaries both in terms of geography since I was serving Indian clients. I thought of change again. This time in a global role where geography was not a limitation, more accountability where exposure was limitless, challenges are limitless, and there are more avenues to impact the organization as a whole. Made my evaluated switch again to ensure I get those things as part of my role. That is my current role wherein I advise fortune 500 firms in their blockchain journeys on leveraging blockchain technology for business model transformation, revenue generation, and cost optimization. This is a giant leap in terms of responsibilities, accountabilities, and the impact that I could make to the organizations. Currently, I am working as a Business Lead and Consultant in Tech Mahindra’s blockchain business unit. Since I believe in passion led profession, in future I may open up something in education space. As a passion, I do pro-bono b-school admission consulting and counsel school students on how to align their careers with their passion.
Chapter 3: Inspirations:
Family and peer group have played a part in inspiring my life. Even though he failed miserably in life, my dad has been a great source of inspiration. Through him I learnt that failures are important milestones and stepping stone to success. My mother taught me persistence as she recalls that she never wanted to work but she ended up working throughout her life as she was sole bread earner for the family. In the middle of persistence and failures I forgot the happiness in life and always determined towards my work. There came my wife who taught me how to be happy when your world is a chaos and you are always restless. The whole formula of failures, persistence, and being happy has crafted the Saurabh of today.