The economy was in shambles after the big bubble burst. Uncertainty hung heavy in the air and insecurity didn’t spare anyone. I had to report to an unreasonable boss who masqueraded as a motivational guru. He would make impossible commitments on my behalf, push me to fulfill them and shine a bad light on me when I couldn’t keep up. The negativity spilled over to all other areas of my life. I gasped for breath in the swamp of a toxic workplace.

So, when I got to the fork with the many roads of opportunities again, I picked one with a start-up. I thought the famed start-up work culture will be different from the toxic corporate ecosystem I came from, like day is from night.  But, boy was I wrong?! Rumors, blame games, favoritism – all the ingredients to brew strong office politics were aplenty.

But this time, I didn’t want to sink in the mire. I wanted to build a submarine. Surely, there must be a method to counter this madness? I put together the scientific training from my engineering degree and the knowledge of analytics gained from my MBA to study the dynamics of plots and political maneuvers. I tried and tested and distilled the methods that worked. After that, my career took the trajectory I wanted it to. There were no surprises, at least not the bad ones that I couldn’t handle. I had finally navigated my way from a crippling uncertainty to a reassuring certainty.

It didn’t stop there. I helped others who were struggling like I did when I started with my career. And the learning from these experiences, both theirs and mine, made me wonder how different it would have been had I figured this out earlier or if someone had taught me this before I wasted years and tears. I began HARK COACHING and my mission of helping working professionals get a better grip of themselves and deepen their personal intelligence took definite shape. So now, I take joy in helping my clients move from despair to hope so they can join me in the refrain,