Learning & Leading: A Journey to Sustainable Growth

Almost a decade back, just few years into team leader role, i penned my thoughts in an LinkedIn article Love What you Do!. Now i find, the perspective that time, while all relevant in general, was still primarily that of as an individual contributor. Over years, the aspect of leadership, has given it a whole new outlook for me.

Most corporate career, irrespective of titles, often follows a remarkable leadership evolution: starting as a learner, growing into a problem-solver, maturing as a collaborator, advancing into team leadership, transitioning to collaborative leadership among peers, and as a leader who drives transformation. I believe, i have just begun on the last one of these aspects, known to me so far, and still looking for opportunities to improve earlier ones. I am sure there is more.

The leadership aspects evolve over time and hence may seem chronological. What’s worth noticing is that once acquired, each of the previous ones all co-exist together. Its then the, awareness, i.e. ability to adapt & display any of the needed aspect as per the presented context which elevates one. Above all, its the (volunteer) willingness to bring larger impact for a purpose, which finds opportunities to exemplify.

The attempt in this blog, builds on the 2014 attempt, to explore aspects of leadership, key practices, capturing my reflections over the years from learning and observing! This follows, well known examples and references for a read. Here, rather then comparing my work to that of legends, intent is to higlight the aspects, the feelings, the charachteristics with some well known examples already available for everyone to learn and appreciate. I beilieve, the charachteristics are the same and for a real inquisitive, its not about the details of the person or the situation,but rather the overall construct and the curated experience.

Here you go…

1. Mastering the Craft: A Strong Foundation

The first step in any professional journey is developing the expertise to do the work for the customers— and to do it well. This is characterized by continuous focus on customer needs, learning, apprerenticeship, attention to detail, and building a deep understanding of the domain.

My own career reflected these attribute between 2005-2009, whether my relation with co-founder who was more experienced, career start at GE with many mentors, or in 2012-2014, when i became youngest system design engineer. Above charachtersistics were on play.

Key Practices:

  • Invest in learning from seniors, observe, build credibility. My TL, Dan Predmore, used to say “Reward of good work, is, “more work”
  • Seek mentors who can guide your technical and professional growth. Bibhuti, Vinod Kumar P, Dan Predmore, Bhaskar, Upendra, Jim Stagnitti, Pramod Amancharla, Mark Donne, Apurba Debnath, Sanjay Singh, Praveen Gali, …the list is endless.
  • Regularly reflect on feedback and use it to refine your skills. Feedback isnt just one validating or constructive, its also whether you are concious or ignorant of it. Irrespective, its always useful! Just reflect which of these categories does it fall and what action it demands from you. Most difficult times would be when you are still shaping your personality and what you stand for, once this is shaped the decision on when to act and when not to, becomes easy.
  • Over time ..Invest in ongoing education through courses, certifications, or self-study. While early career trainings and depth were more on job & during job….My certifications and trainings to broaden started around 2017 and ever continuing.

If interested in knowing it more deeper, i welcome you to consider below well known example:

Example: Satya Nadella’s early career at Microsoft. Before becoming CEO, he spent years honing his technical expertise in cloud computing. His work on Microsoft’s cloud services laid the foundation for his future success, demonstrating the importance of mastering one’s craft.

“So long as you enjoy it, do it mindfully and well, and have an honest purpose behind it, life won’t fail you”

—Satya Nadella

2. Becoming a Problem-Solver and Collaborator

In this aspect, you tend to invite yourself to tackle more complex challenges faced in fulfilling customer expectations profitably.

I personally correlate this for a period during 2010-2012 as TL in GE, then again during 2016-2018 as some one becoming “Go-To” for some of the most complex problems directly with customers in Power utility industry and then building Digital Account for GE. Some what of this aspect also reflected during later term of 2019-2022 managerial career too.

This requires not only technical skills but also the ability to:

Key Practices:

  • Identify impactful problems. This is a key differentiator. While many talk about results, very few, master this conciously. This aspect implies some underlying aspects. You have a focus, other then yourselves. You connect and communicate with customers and others or others connect with you to share their problems. You most likely have the empathy for others and/or an eye to identify their problems or others see a potential in you to provide a solution. Cultivate curiosity to uncover interesting problems in your domain. You have ability to prioritize. last one is you have an ability to quantify the impact.
  • Work collaboratively across diverse teams. Initially, this mostly is out of the construct of organization or the benefit sharing. Real collaborations are those that come out of shared values, complementing roles and trust to bring an impact together. Collaboration is also fuelled by styles and communication abilities. Develop communication skills to work effectively with diverse teams.
  • Propose innovative solutions. New back to basic way of applying exisitng tech to solve existing problem breeds innovation.
  • Execute projects effectively while overcoming challenges. Build resilience to navigate challenges and setbacks. Focus, Team spirit play an important role too. Purpose is the one which would keep you moving.

Best i could relate to is higlighted in a well known example of our times.

Example: Elon Musk’s ability to tackle bold problems has been pivotal in his career. At Tesla, he not only addressed the technical challenges of electric vehicles but also worked with cross-functional teams to solve supply chain and manufacturing issues. His ability to gain stakeholder buy-in ensured the success of project Tesla Model 3.

“Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.”

-Steve Jobs

3. Leading Team: Scaling and Diversity

While having stood firm for technical role during my campus interviews, and then deferring the managerial career, i was quick to notice, there is a limit to impact as an individual contributor, hence moved to system level roles, and eventually, scaled my own exposure by mentoring a team to handle project engineering. My career from 2013- 2016 and 2018-2021 had this aspect, starting in GE, then in ALSTOM and followed by rotation in IT for Engineering team in Mercedes-Benz.

The aspect of leading a team is a pivotal in scaling impact. It involves learning to appreciate the diversity of team members to a whole new level, their levels of maturity, ambitions, and contributions. This stage is about building a unique team idendity driven excellence, bonding team members together, creating harmony, and fostering a shared sense of purpose towards the customers.

For me the most rewarding aspect of leading a team have been ones to see the team growing in taking responsibilities and develpoing next set of leaders.

Key Practices:

  • Recognize and celebrate the unique strengths of each team member. While as TL, managing project teams, i didnot notice this, at start of managerial career, i did somewhere expect every one to have similar outlook & style for work and communication as myself…it took me not long to realize this and to not only change my expectations but eventually to appreciate the differences.
  • Develop emotional intelligence to navigate team dynamics effectively. Managing teams could get complex. Its not just managing your own emotions, but also those of others. Each interaction would leave a mark emotionally, on you and on other, until it becomes guided by a larger flow of purpose or empathy which then starts to percolate. Either ways, it demands emotional intelligence for being you and navigating various personalities towards an objective.
  • Foster an environment of trust and collaboration. Every new team, it takes time. Good thing is over time it takes shorter one. Its not just trust between you and the team, its also one amongst the team members, its also one among team members and their stake holders, and last among you and your stake holders. Any of this being weak and you have problems leading or scaling the impact.
  • Creating clarity in uncertainty. In a team i took responsibility, within a year, there was a great uncertainty, from 4 releases in a year and over 2.5 Mn in budget, it was to be with no releases planned and 0.8 Mn Budget. That too with a change in leadership at 3 levels. Navigating this, to give team a confidence, and get a buy in to build a Core team of the future was a task i cherish.

One who stands out for me is:

Example: Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook demonstrated exemplary team leadership during her tenure as COO. Her ability to build a cohesive team, value diverse perspectives, and align them with organizational goals was crucial to Facebook’s operational success.

“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.”

– Simon Sinek

4. Collaborative Leadership: Leading Beyond Your Team

In this aspect, leadership transcends the immediate team. It involves “You” as leader of a team, collaborating with fellow leaders and their teams, personally first and then engaging with your team, to solve complex business and organizational challenges. Managing competitive spirits and establishing mutual respect among peers becomes crucial, as does building a strong presence within the leadership circle.

The revelation of this aspect came as surprise to me, as i assumed i was already exhibiting it. The test of it came during each period, when i was given an opportunity to perform one level above my exisiting responsibilities, without formal positioning. This drove the dynamics with my peers most certainly in whole different way then what i had imagined it to be. Meaning of collaboration, support, purpose etc. seemed to take back seat to competetive spirit. I paid special attention on this during last year 2022 , a period when i was entrusted to represent my 1 level up position interim. It was strange to navigate same peers behaving differently. It was another great peer friend Sanjib Ghosh, in a similar boat, who made the journey and evolving together better.

Key Practices:

  • Cultivate relationships with peers based on mutual respect and shared goals.
  • Balance competition and collaboration to drive overall success.
  • Develop a strategic mindset to address broader organizational challenges.

No matter what i state, you would have to go thru each of these aspects on your own, with your own set of challeneges, contexts and examples. Hence, not elaborating key practices here on, instead of elaborating thru details on personal experience, i invite you to study this example and a read i correlate:

Example: Sundar Pichai’s rise to CEO of Alphabet showcases the importance of collaborative leadership. His ability to align cross-functional leadership teams and build consensus across diverse business units has been central to Google’s sustained innovation.

“Collaboration is the essence of life. The wind, bees, and flowers work together to spread the pollen.”

– Amit Ray

5. Leading to Influence: Drive Transformation

Coveted aspect of this journey in leadership is influencing key stakeholders in present, to look beyond the structures of org (influenced by the past) to navigate existential challenge and evolve into future ecosystem with efficient operations offering exciting customer values.

I believe, while i had streaks of this in 2017-2018, i have started to scratch this aspect of leadership a bit more deeper since last year once again.

This requires:

Key Practices:

  • Build strategic vision and strong relationships with stakeholders by listening to their perspectives.
  • Ability to communicate effectively using data and storytelling to drive buy-in for your vision.
  • Building the right organizational structures to support sustainable growth.
  • Prioritize long-term transformation goals over short-term wins.
  • Be able to steer thru current mindset and org structure.

An example i am reading about and taking some inspiration from:

Example: Indra Nooyi, as CEO of PepsiCo, exemplified this leadership aspect. She championed the company’s “Performance with Purpose” initiative, focusing on sustainability and health-conscious products. By aligning business goals with societal needs, she influenced stakeholders across the organization to embrace a future-focused strategy.

“Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration.”

– Robin S. Sharma

Bringing It All Together

The journey is not from learning to leading, its learning, adopting & leading, it certainly is not a linear but a dynamic process of growth. By focusing on:

  1. Mastering your craft with dedication and continuous learning.
  2. Becoming a problem-solver who collaborates and executes effectively.
  3. Leading and scaling with team leadership to bond diverse talents.
  4. Embracing collaborative leadership to address organizational challenges.
  5. Growing into a leader who influences sustainable transformation,

you can navigate the complexities of modern leadership careers and drive impactful change.

Call to Action: What aspect of this journey resonated most with you? Name a leader and associated aspect you take inspiration from your life. Do so in the comments @LinkedIn!

PS: None of the links in the blog are promotional neither do i have any affiliate realtions with authors or the platform referred. They are shared solely for quick reference.