Last day email to my juniors @ Nitor

Today is my last day at Nitor. A terrific opportunity came my way and I decided to take it. I am super excited to start the new chapter in my life, but I would like to take this opportunity to write to you one last time. But before you read any further, here is the warning. This email contains unsolicited advice. Read it at your own risk.?:-) And, it is a bit long. 1,228 words to be precise. I believe that it will be worth your while but I will let you be the final judge of that. So here goes…

My Dad taught me a?shloka?when I was a kid.

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I think I was 10-12 years old at the time which means that some of you weren’t even born then!?:-) Jokes apart, my first reaction was, “This sounds so beautiful and has such a nice rhythm to it!” It really does, even today after so many years. Then I asked him what it meant; I hadn’t understood a word of it at first of course because I didn’t know Sanskrit. So he explained it to me:

It can’t be stolen by a thief or a King. It can’t be divided among brothers and never becomes a burden. When you give it, it always grows. Knowledge is the best kind of wealth there is!

When I heard that, I was blown away. In that very moment, I made a promise to myself that I will live by those words every waking moment of every day. I hope you have noticed that about me whenever we talked… that I?do?give away knowledge openly and freely, without holding back.

Perhaps it comes easily to me because I am a teacher at heart, which in turn is the case probably because I come from a family that has had many teachers; my Mom is a retired school teacher as well, and my younger brother Prasanna Karhade is a Professor (currently at the University of Hawaii).

If it comes easily to you as well, great! Just keep doing it. If it doesn’t or you don’t do it enough for some other reason, I would urge you to do it. Once you?truly?experience the joy of giving you won’t be able to stop yourself even if you wanted to. But, apart from the bliss that you will experience, are there any other reasons why you should do it? Absolutely! I can think of two good ones.

First, because you yourself stand to gain the most by doing it! How so? Well, I can tell you from my own experience that it is while explaining to others that I have realized – and on innumerable occasions I might add – that I don’t have a crystal-clear understanding myself. Whenever that happened, I always went back and read up / thought some more which benefited me the most in the long run.

And second, it is the surest and the quickest way of becoming a leader. One person who did this a lot at Nitor was Akshay Deshmukh. I don’t know if you have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him or not, but if you did you will know that it is 100% true. Akshay gave away knowledge freely and helped?everybody?who came to him for help. Akshay’s name came to my mind because he used to sit across my desk and I saw a steady stream of “seekers” coming to his desk on a daily basis.??But he wasn’t the only one. There are (and were) many others. You know who they are because you have taken their help umpteen times.

That brings me to my next point.?Should?you become a leader? And if so,?why? Well, it’s quite simple really. When we are young, we take help from others. At some point, you?have to?become that “other” person who helps others. You owe it yourself and the people who have helped you to pick up the baton, become a leader, and pay your dues. This?company?is expecting you to become a leader. And in many ways,?life?is expecting you to become a leader. Because that’s just how it’s supposed to be.

A leader is not the same as a manager mind you. Just search for “difference between leader and manager” on Google and read up on it. But here’s my commentary. A leader is one who has followers. Plain and simple. But the all-important question is:?when?do people start following a person? When will people start following?you? When you know what?principles?you stand for and articulate them. When you judge others and, more importantly,?yourself?based on those principles. When you?fight?to uphold those principles, even when you are in the minority or, worse,?alone. When you say what you mean and mean what you say. When you give everything you’ve got to whatever it is that you are doing, and when you don’t look at the watch?even once?while doing that.

While all of that is true, there is something else that you absolutely?must?do as a leader, and that is?thinking beyond your own self. Period. Without that you will never become a leader in the true and complete sense of the word.

Some of you are already leaders, while some of you are on the verge of becoming leaders. I hope this email inspires and helps you to become a better leader. But some of you are quite young and might think to yourself,?I still have a lot of time to be a leader. I would urge you?not?to think like that. Because it is?never?too early to think about somebody else. It is never too early to start introspecting and figuring out what principles you stand for, to hold yourself accountable to those principles, to fight for them, to say what you mean and mean what you say, to say the?right?thing, to give your very best to your work. To work till 3 am because you committed to finish something by EOD that day is not “unfair” or “injustice” or “work-life balance gone out of whack”; it is a?privilege, to know that your work matters, and that somebody somewhere is counting on you to not just do it and do it on time but also do it to the?very?best of your abilities.

I heard a quote recently.?Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.?That’s just beautiful! If you agree, be humble. Think more about others. Because, again, you stand to gain the most from it. Most of our suffering is mental and the root cause of it is thinking too much?about?oneself and too much?of?oneself, in short taking oneself too seriously. Do less of that and most of your problems will just magically vanish!

That’s all I guess. I hope it was worth your while and not too preachy.??Do stay in touch. Just because I am leaving Nitor doesn’t mean that our relationship has to end. I am just a phone call away, as always, and happy to lend a patient ear whenever required.

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This article is part of a series of articles on self-improvement for working professionals.