Time surely flies! It was a full 12 months ago that I found myself full of emotions - excitement, nervousness & joy, as I sat patiently in the conference room of the Hong Kong office, waiting to be guided through my first day at adm Group. It was a new chapter in my career, and a special one that too. I would be working in-house for the causes I so dearly believe in, and that too across the APAC region. So many new doors to be opened, people to meet, projects to work on, activities to partake in. The wait was killing me, I had to get started soon. My wish was answered quickly, as I jumped onto the CDP project with my boss and colleague Olivia Benier (now leading Sustainability at adm globally). And I haven't looked back since.
I've had various opportunities to interact with a diverse range of highly capable professionals over the year that I can now call my work friends and worked on a diverse range of projects, that have given me valuable experiences in the world of corporate Sustainability. Given that a year has passed (wow!), I thought I would grab this opportunity to do some reflection.
In order to keep this succinct, here's a list of my top 12 learnings in the past 12 highly rewarding months:
- Days when I take care of myself before work - by actually adhering to my version of a morning routine including yoga/breakfast/exercise/my spiritual practice, those days I am happier and more productive.
- Its important to have friends outside of your team - there is so much to learn from others. I am so grateful to my work friends - Ave, Nathalie, Cherri, Idy, Delphine, Rishabh & many more. I know I can just go for a lunch with them and talk about anything under the roof without being judged, helping me to grow in ways different to my usual work routine.
- I can do more in a day than I think, and even more in a year. I need to stop underestimating myself. This habit of self upliftment is key to being a good leader.
- It gives me genuine joy to support others , be it research for client teams, presentations for Account teams, reporting for global team or employee initiatives with the HR team.
- Stand in other people's shoes and see the wonders it does for you. Requesting information across the region is necessary, but can only take me so far. Meeting/talking to the various teams, understanding their issues, their ideas, has taken me even further (& I need to do more of it!).
- Working in a team energizes me,?doing manual jobs doesn’t. And that's OK. It's worth to know what makes you happy and energized at work, so when you feel low you can switch to those tasks/projects you're passionate about and further develop your expertise.
- Take the first step, you never know where it may take you. What's the worse that will happen? The answer will be NO? Using a small example, I proposed a red packet (Lai See) recycling programme which was actually adopted & got everyone talking/thinking about waste. The point here is not to brag, but to reflect on how easily we give up on ideas thinking - ''Nah, that seems impossible''.
- I love being a manager, but I don’t know everything. I have been humbled many times and continue to learn from my team-mate Cherri each day.
- Prioritizing tasks for the day, week and month is important. If you don't know where you're going, its harder to get there. And if there's no visibility of the completed actions, its harder to pat yourself on the back.
- Adaptability is everything - the 5th Covid wave in HK forced us to WFH for 3 months earlier this year, we are now back to hybrid working (mostly from the office). Knowing what working style motivates you (regardless of location) is the key to thriving.
- There is never enough praise to be given, to others and specially yourself. Its important to speak up when someone does good work, uplift others for the efforts they make towards your projects. Nothing is ever done by one person alone.
- Invest in noise cancelling headphones! Another trick is to listen to ''White Noise'' soundtrack on YouTube and choose a specific hour (or two) to focus on deep work. It has boosted my productivity like nothing else has, a lesson I wish I learnt earlier on.
That's all folks. A big THANK YOU to all my friends and colleagues at adm. Its been an incredible learning experience & I look forward to many more projects, lunches, cleanups, volunteer activities & happy Monday mornings. Hope my reflection gave you all some food for thought, and inspiration to pause and count your blessings at work too!
Executive Director - Embode
2 年Wonderful reflection Aarushi! And looking forward to working with you through the AIM-Progress network too.
Global & Regional Executive | B2B Marketing Leader | APAC Board Member | Marketing Society Fellow & Vice Chair
2 年Love this Aarushi!
Senior Sustainability Manager, Americas at adm Group
2 年Such a great write up, Aarushi ?? love working with you
Senior Sustainability Executive at adm Group | SCR?
2 年Thank you for always emanating positivity and joy in the office ?? Looking forward to another fruitful year ahead ??