A cushy MNC job in the land of promise! When I left home and family to land in the US, it seemed like I got my fairytale beginning. But in a few months, I was living out the lines of Imagine Dragon’s “Whatever It Takes”.
“Falling too fast to prepare for this
Tripping in the world could be dangerous
Everybody circling, it’s vulturous
Negative, nepotist….”
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,
“I love how it feels when I break the chains
Whatever it takes, Yeah take me to the top,
I’m ready for
Whatever it takes!”
(Imagine Dragon’s “Whatever It Takes”)