Here at Cognizant, you grow

As I complete 20 years with Cognizant today, I have an immense sense of gratitude for the role this association has played in my growth as a professional and as a person. I am borrowing from an older company tagline for the title but I truly feel that this reflects my journey of the past two decades with this incredible company where I have traversed the journey from developing software to developing people.

2002 was a tough year in the job market as the industry was still reeling from the after-effects of the 2001 attacks and campus job-drives were few and far between. I still vividly remember how an unknown college senior referred me to an off-campus drive for Cognizant and an unexpected call from HR on a Saturday morning asking if I could come and do my joining formalities that day.

I walked into this organization starry-eyed without any clue of the professional world and this organization has made me every bit of who I am today. One of the most defining aspects of this association has been the incredible number of people I’ve met and had the opportunity to learn from and the invaluable lessons I’ve taken from that. ?

While reflecting on the journey, here are some simple but powerful lessons that come to mind which I am still continuing to work on ingrain in myself.

1.??????Be patient and resilient when things don’t go your way – They say when one door closes, another opens. This lesson came quite early for me in my professional career from unsuccessful job interviews to being released from my first project as a trainee without actually being given an opportunity to contribute meaningfully. However I took it as a resolve to prove myself and the next opportunities only led to more meaningful success than I’d have achieved otherwise.

2.??????Be vocal if you are seeking something more from your job – While I loved being a pretty good programmer and techie, there was something missing as early as year-2. Being vocal about it led me to be part of and lead several account level initiatives. This offered great opportunities to network and collaborate which you won’t always find working heads-down just on your current projects.

3.??????Be prepared to explore the unknown – My first onsite stint took me quite the road from the hot weather of Chennai to the extreme winter of St. Paul, Minnesota. From visiting an actual warehouse to gain a better understanding of what the software applications we developed meant for the business users to getting to know clients as people, living independently in a different country, experiencing snow for the first time, learning to cook etc., the list is quite long.

4.??????Proactively seek your passion and purpose – The quest for purpose and meaning has always been somehow deep-rooted but I haven’t always been brave and vocal in going after it. 2009 challenged this for me deeply which eventually led me to taking the less familiar path from managing a portfolio of IT projects within our Manufacturing practice into a role in the corporate L&D team which eventually led to my current career path. ??

5.??????Treat people with empathy and compassion – There is an undeniable truth in this phrase – “We are human beings, not human doings”. I actually laugh when I think about the first time I managed people in my tech days without much preparation. I learnt to do things on the job and over the years understood that it is never easy to be a people manager/leader but it is also such a responsibility and privilege to be in that role.

6.??????Growth is multi-dimensional and might not always come in the form we know/want – If there is one thing I have learnt repeatedly during my last two decades at Cognizant, it is this lesson. There have been the rare occasions where I’ve measured my growth using the promotion scale and felt disappointed. However truth be told, growth happens more through opportunities to do new and different things and learn through that process than just the change in titles (growth in terms of titles does matter but not as much in the bigger picture).

This has really been an incredible roller-coaster where there have been more highs than lows but more importantly a lot of excitement for someone who likes tranquility over thrills.

Thank you Cognizant and it’s incredible people/culture for making me celebrate work and live the mantra of “Here at Cognizant, you grow”.

I’ve to also thank all my managers for role-modeling good leadership in their own unique ways and my colleagues/teams for their patience and support.

Lastly, nothing you do professionally happens without the understanding support of your family (my parents over the first decade and then my wife/son over the last decade for putting up with my Cognizant obsession at times).?

#gratitude #cognizant