The Advocates’ Post

10 years of delivering excellence

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝: 𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 We all love celebrating wins, and for good reason! But today, I want to talk about something a little different: a project that didn't quite go as planned. Recently, I wrapped up my individual project where I achieved the passing grade (70!), but I know I could have done significantly better. It wasn't a complete failure by any means, but it definitely wasn't my best work. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 Talking about setbacks can feel uncomfortable, but that's where the biggest growth happens.Our careers are filled with both wins and losses and both shape who we become. During the concluded session with Confidence Staveley she highlighted two important benefits of openly discussing failures: Sharing failures normalizes the learning process. Because people get to see setbacks as a natural part of the journey, reducing the pressure to be perfect. We gain valuable insights learning from peoples experiences and identify areas for improvement. This project may not have been a win, but it's definitely a stepping stone for me to do better. What about you? Have you ever had a project that challenged you more than expected? Share your story in the comments - let's learn and grow together!

🌸 As we celebrate Vinayaka Chaviti, let's take a moment to reflect on the wisdom of Lord Ganesha and how it guides us in our roles as Product Managers. 🌸 Ganesha won a race against his brother Kartikeya. Kartikeya was fast, but Ganesha was smart. Ganesha knew he had to think differently to win. Here's what we can learn: 🎯 Know What’s Important: Ganesha knew what he needed to do to win. We should know what our product needs to be successful. 🔑 Choose Wisely: Ganesha focused on the most important things. We should choose the best features for our product. 🗣️ Talk Clearly: Ganesha explained his ideas well. We should be clear when we talk about our product. 😌 Stay Calm: Ganesha didn't give up. We should stay calm even when things are hard. 🙏 On this auspicious occasion, let’s embrace Lord Ganesha's wisdom in our product journeys! 🎉

15 years of success

5 Years in Business: A Journey of Growth, Resilience, and Gratitude Reaching this 5-year milestone feels surreal. It’s been a journey full of highs and lows, victories and challenges. But looking back, I can honestly say that every single moment has been worth it. Five years ago, I was a different person—driven, yes, but unaware of the depth of resilience, hard work, and adaptability this path would demand. I’ve grown in ways I never imagined. I’ve learned that true strength isn’t about never falling; it’s about getting up every time you do. It’s about embracing change, learning from it, and continuing to move forward. But if there’s one lesson that stands above all, it’s the importance of the people you surround yourself with. The support of my team, the trust of our customers, and the collaboration with our suppliers have been the backbone of this journey. They’ve been the ones keeping me grounded, focused, and, most importantly, sane. I am deeply grateful for each of you. Your belief in this vision has been the fuel that kept us going, even when the road was tough. As we celebrate this milestone, I know we’re just getting started. With the right team by my side, the future looks incredibly bright. Watch this space—because we’re ready to soar higher than ever before. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being part of this journey.

starting New journey

As we wrap up another month, I want to take a moment to remind us all of something incredibly important: the power of celebrating our wins, no matter their size. Whether today was slightly better than yesterday, this week smoother than the last, or this month more fruitful than its predecessor, each of these moments is a milestone worth recognizing. It's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of our next big goal, to constantly be looking forward, striving for more. But in doing so, we often overlook the small victories that pave our path. These wins, no matter how minor they may seem, are the building blocks of our larger successes. They deserve to be celebrated. Let's allow ourselves to pause, to appreciate these moments. Reflect on the journey you've embarked upon, the progress you've made. Remember the days when you could only dream of being where you are today, doing the things you're doing now. This reflection is not just an exercise in gratitude, but a powerful reminder of your growth and resilience. Let’s be proud of all we've encountered—the good and the bad, the ups and the downs. Each experience has contributed to our journey, shaping us for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Here's to preparing ourselves for what's next, with the wisdom gained from where we've been.  Let's continue to move forward, but never forget to celebrate how far we've come.

Today, 1st April 2024, we entered into a new financial year with a lot of excitement, learnings, challenges, and opportunities ahead so before we start this new FY, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all my seniors, management, colleagues, peers, teammates, customers, partners who have supported us throughout the year. I would like to pen down a few learnings which would help us to grow. 1. BE POSITIVE: Stay calm and positive during tough times and think towards a goal (Remove small things from mind which stop us from achieving this) 2. ALWAYS CAN DO Approach: Challenges are Opportunities. Take all opportunities with a broad mindset and carry a can-do approach. 3. COLLABORATION: The most powerful thing to succeed and achieve an Organization's goal. 4. EMPATHY: Lead with empathy and help others whenever possible. 5. BOLDNESS: Take bold decisions with courage. Learn Unlearn Relearn. 6. TEAM BONDING: Must have for greater success. If a team has having strong bonding & collaborative mindset, nothing is impossible to achieve. Once again, Wish you all the Best & have a great successful year.

“It seems to me like you don’t like to be wrong.” That’s how a one-on-one started with a mentor of mine and it’s one that has stuck with me for years. Let’s face it. Under normal, corporate circumstances, no one likes to be wrong but there’s a difference between the uncomfortability of being wrong and being held back by it. “Yeah, I hate to be wrong. In past years, it was suicide to admit to a leader that I didn’t know something so I made sure I knew all of my numbers and what was going on with everything should they call and ask.” Looking back, there’s so much wrong with that statement. We won’t unpack it all here but I will call out that trying to know everything and all the things takes time. As a leader, it’s our responsibility to build a team around us that contributes to a collective knowledge. “I don’t know” turns into, “let me get the details for you.” “Every quarter, you deliver on 3 or 4 meaningful things perfectly. That’s awesome.” That was the snake rattle moment that I missed. I responded with something like, “I make sure I hit every shot I take.” Insert Wayne Gretzky quote here. “I want you take take ten shots next quarter and, before you talk to me about capacity or testing or whatever, let me say this. If you miss on some of them, as long as you’re failing forward, that’s ok. We’ll celebrate those losses. But what if you hit on a couple of them? Instead of three or four things, maybe you’ll hit 6 or 7. That’d be crushing it!” I’d love to say that I worked my way up to 50 hits a quarter or something, but I didn’t. Six or seven really meaningful hits every quarter was pretty good. That’s still double my previous “perfect” average. My takeaways from the experience: 1. You don’t have to know everything. Hire a team that makes the whole better. “I’ve done my job if I’m the dumbest one in the room.” 2. Create an environment of experimentation where people can fail forward fast and learn from it. Celebrate the learnings along with the successes. If your team lost the Super Bowl, they still made it to the big game. 3. Take the shot. Come up with the crazy idea. Challenge the paradigm. Don’t let fear limit your impact.

As I approach 3 months in my new role this quote really resonated with me. When you start a new role or with a new team it’s really tempting or even expected to deliver ground breaking achievements without proper planning, thought and likely effective execution. 3 months gives you time to understand your business, the culture and the dynamics. It’s enough time to build trust, relationships and earn some respect. Moving into my next chapter with clarity, understanding and excitement 🤩