Reflections - 2023

#eventful is the perfect description as I sat reflecting on 2023. Coming into the year, things were settled, I was heading strategy for 2 critical portfolios, had a great manager and a mentor relationship for 7 years, had a stable high performing team! Things could not look any better when the perfect storm hit me!

1. Change is the only permanent thing in life: in March, my boss and mentor for 7 long years resigned as he received an opportunity outside our firm. While that meant a personal loss to me in losing someone who has been far more than a manager, the initial reaction was that of #shock! Yes, we are #resilient and things don't change, but it did impact me as I started dwelling on what this means for us as a firm and for my team and me. Once this phase of anxiousness settled down, heads down, we started working on recovering from the loss. The leadership announced the new org structure and I started working with the new teams to carry on and adjusting to the change.
2. Opportunities come knocking unexpectedly: As I continued in my role, our industry was witnessing a challenging macro economic environment. That meant across the sector, companies had to ensure that while growth was slowing, we had focus on operational excellence. I soon found myself in a situation where the leadership of my company asked me to lead one track on one of the key transformations that we were undertaking as a firm. I took up the challenge and started moving into that new role around April. I must claim that the area was not totally new as I had done some work in that space but the scale and the environment was very different. I realise now how opportunities come unexpectedly and as long as you are patient and trust yourself, you can make the most of them
3. Be prepared to start over: For those who know me, I (as is ingrained through the Infosys culture) am a big believer in team culture and this was now a situation where only 50% or less of my team would continue with me but we had to stand up a new team with new skills and capabilities. I had the fortunate of having an extremely close friend and colleague who was with me in this journey. Over this period of 9 months, we reflected, worked hard, stepped back, analysed; and when I now reflect back, we have stood up a team with new members who now are more than 50% if the original set up. My team and I have had great fun and also several stressful situations doing this. However, what we have today is a team which is like minded, driven by a purpose and a vision and working on the challenging mission the company has trusted us with.

As I conclude 2023, I am excited at the prospects of the unfinished agenda in 2024 that my team and I need to work on but I continue to be filled with #gratitude with everything that I have. I cannot thank the leaders I have worked with for trusting me through this journey and helping me navigate this #eventful year!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2024!!