Why failure is the best teacher?
Going From 1 Out Of 5 To 5 Out Of 5, Gold Standard Ratings
One day at work back in December 2019-
My Mailbox- Hey Mandeep, your quarterly feedback is here!
(Opens the link in the mail)
The Feedback-
Average Score- 1 out of 5
‘Low level of accountability in deliverables and laggard nature in responses.’
(Keeps looking at the screen)
Me to Myself- “Fantastic Mandy!”
I was already expecting average feedback and therefore was not shocked.
After just 10 months into my professional career as a consultant, I had the experience of getting the lowest rating possible for my quarterly performance at work.
While the management I worked for back then was superb in giving me opportunities to learn and grow, I couldn’t keep up with the fast pace of consulting and made errors.
It was because I was working on a few side projects that were extremely important to me. I spent hours on them after office work.
These projects needed focus and energy leading to burnout and hence my work suffered.
I closed the mail and calmed myself down.
Had coffee, came back to my desk, finished the day’s task, and left for home.
Then in the evening, I went for a long walk after dinner.
After a lot of thinking I set my facts straight to myself-
1. I can’t stop working on the side projects
2. I needed the job as this was my primary career choice
3. I can’t continue to disappoint my leadership
4. I also can’t change people’s perspectives about me in a day or week.
Now, I just had to find a way to make everything work in tandem.
But since that was exactly what I was not able to do, I had no plan.
I prayed to the sky to bless me with patience to think.
I went back to my laptop and read the feedback over and over.
I hoped to find the solution in the problem statement itself.
By morning, I had a few key aspects to focus on-
- Set the Right Expectations-
Put in your best efforts but do not overstretch. Avoid ending up burnt out at any cost. Basically, don’t bite more than what you can chew. - Make Notes of Everything-
Many times I made a list of tasks I had to do in my mind only to forget a few of them later.
“What was that task on the dataset”, I kept asking myself.
I rectified this by carrying a notebook to all meetings and making notes of everything. - Taking My Time-
Quality comes before quantity.
I took my time to process any problem statement and then responded after thinking thoroughly. - Don’t Assume Anything-
Writing emails is a major impact area.
I started following a structure highlighting the key points and using proper formatting. I mentioned every aspect and left nothing to be implied.
Don’t assume the recipient will understand a few aspects because it is common sense, go ahead and mention them concisely. - Communicate Timely With Confidence-
When a task is done- Communicate Timely.
When you hit a bottleneck- Communicate Timely.
When you make a mistake- Communicate Timely.
Reach out to your team members and mentors for help more often and with confidence.
In the next feedback-
‘Ability to handle pressure well, present results with confidence,
Amplified the fear, has a 360-degree view of the project, and is able to help new resources become comfortable.’
(Leaning back in my chair)
Me to myself- “Fantastic Mandy!”
The positive feedback continued thereafter.
From being an under-confident and quiet resource I became a more value-adding person who led projects and people, some even senior to me.
I also completed my side projects.
I kept my own company and stuck around the problem for longer.
Let’s connect and share more stories.
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