Early in my career as a customer support engineer in a hi-tech medical equipment company, I encountered a situation that taught me a lesson on vulnerability. I had attended a training on Holter, a machine that measures a person’s ECG throughout the day.
I couldn’t grasp few aspects; but I choose to stay silent, as I saw others nodding their heads. I worried that they would think I am dim-witted. I tried to clarify my doubts after the session with couple of colleagues, but it didn’t help.
Fast forward few weeks, I met a client to propose Holter. As luck would have it, the client asked questions about the very aspects I didn’t understand. Instead of admitting my gaps in knowledge and promising to follow up with accurate information, I gave vague, unclear answers. Needless to say… I never got an order from this client.
This experience taught me an important lesson about vulnerability.
Vulnerability is the ability to acknowledge our uncertainties, lack of knowledge or capability and ask for help.
But to embrace vulnerability, we first need confidence—confidence in our strengths, our ability to learn and grow.
Confidence is the bedrock of vulnerability. It allows us to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” instead of pretending to have all the answers.
How easy or hard do you find to embrace vulnerability?
At the outset, I would like to thank you for stopping by my Blog.
I believe that there is nothing right or wrong in this world. What’s right in this moment and context may be wrong in another moment and context. This belief has inspired me to name my blog ‘Perspectives’.
Perspectives is a platform for me to share my experiences, thoughts and perspectives on various subjects. You may have a different point of view. I look forward to hearing them, these are the triggers for rich and deep conversations.
On personal front, I live in Mumbai, India. I love to read; Somerset Maugham and Nevil Shute are my favorite authors. My favorite books are The Razor’s Edge, Mrs. Craddock, Chequer Board and Gone with the Wind. I am thankful to my father who inculcated the habit of reading in me early on.
I am also passionate about traveling, I have been to most parts of India and to several countries across the globe.
On professional front, I work in Human Resources function. Over two and half decades, I have worked across multiple industries and cultures. I focus on Leadership Development, Talent Management, Visioning and Culture, Large-scale change, Employee Listening & Engagement, Employee Well-being, Inclusive work culture, HR effectiveness, Behavior and Mind-set shifts through sustained interventions
I currently lead Organization Effectiveness Function for Aditya Birla Group, a $44.3 billion conglomerate with 120000 employees across 35 countries.
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading my blog. I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.
Thank you!
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Perspectives 