During these two weeks, I entered a phase in the project where I began talking to multiple stakeholders. There was a lot of groundwork to do so as to ensure that the recommendations I give were viable. It took immense collaboration to do this, especially because 4 weeks is too short a time period to get to know an organization well enough to give recommendations.
The other reason why it was difficult was because I had to work around leaders’ schedules and ensure that they made time for me. Here, my buddy Shefali came to the rescue, and graciously opened the gateways for me. I tried to make the most of it, by talking to leaders across functions, about their learning and development needs. Apart from formal meeting requests the only way to navigate around the roadblocks above was to drop all inhibitions and just go out there and try and make the best out of these meetings. In the beginning, I did falter, as it was difficult to think holistically about all the recommendations I was expected to deliver at the end of the project but Shefali made sure that she nudged me in the right direction at all opportune times. Talking to multiple people helped because it exposed me to the needs of various different functions and diverse viewpoints. These two weeks were replete with multiple interviews, focus-group discussions and transcripts.
I am utterly overwhelmed by how much these two weeks have taught me about timelines and about making presentations. During B-school life, we all get this feeling that we are adept at making presentations, but we fail to realise what a nuanced skill it actually is. It takes me immense hard-work to summarize and represent what I have done on a few slides. I have come to know that it takes practice to narrate the exact story that needs to be told to the listener, even while giving a presentation. For most people, this skill does not come easy at all. My mentor, Raghav, has been an excellent guide, who does not hold back from embedding the listener’s point of view in my mind, while I am making a presentation. The mid-review presentation was enlightening, simply because everyone made sure that I knew I had to read up much more, clarify my concepts and do my best to deliver to my fullest potential.
At the end of the week, we also got back our reports on our Harrison assessment. Coming from a background in psychology, I was amazed to realise how accurately the test had captured my work tendencies. My conversation with Mr Alfred Osta, a seasoned Mahindra executive, will be cherished. His jovial manner of getting across nuggets of wisdom to the GMCs, was inspiring. I did not regret spending my Saturday afternoon on something that would allow me to grow even more. A trainee is the sum total of her experiences with the multiple mentors she has had over the course of her professional life. I felt grateful to know that I had so many mentors to induce me to think, not only about my professional choices but also working on myself. Growth is rather painful, and this week taught me that. Growth demands that you to innovate, break the shackles of your beliefs, and this is precisely what I am trying to do.
Hoping that I continue to grow and gather new insights. Until next time!