Reflections On Scale It Up
I wanted to share my learnings, but ended up learning more than I could imagine!
As I sat down to write the 25th article for this weekly newsletter I started 6 months ago, I realized how starting Scale It Up was perhaps one of my most productive decisions of 2021.
When I started sharing my experiences, I wasn’t sure how far I would be able to go with it. Friends who happen to write a lot cautioned me that consistency would be the most important element. But as I look back at this 6 month journey, I can't help but feel proud of myself!
I have had the privilege to establish, build and grow many organizations. And when I started writing, my only wish was to share my learning’s with a larger audience. I told myself that even if every edition of Scale It Up made one reader think about a real life situation or relate to what I had written, I would consider that edition a success. Little did I know that the process would challenge me in ways that I had not imagined!
For every piece that I sent out to you on a Wednesday morning, I would take inspiration from past and present situations at work and life. And in no time, this process of writing weekly became a personal journey of mini reflections. I spent time evaluating my beliefs and the actions that resulted out of those beliefs. I would think what would I do different if the same situation presented itself now. Sometimes those answers would stay consistent, but other times I realized that I would have acted very differently now, which would make me think about what had changed between then and now.
None of this would be possible without all the support from you, my subscribers. Who include people that have inspired me, mentored me and have been part of my personal and professional journey in a deeply meaningful way. Believe me, I feel a lot of pressure sending out the weekly editions, as all of you are an accomplished bunch of stellar investors making seed to late stage investments, inspirational entrepreneurs running fast growing companies, seasoned executives and leaders from global companies, young and aspiring leaders and fresh and ambitious graduates from all around the world. I can’t thank you all enough for joining me in my journey and giving me feedback (and sometimes even ideas!) for the subsequent newsletters. I really hope to continue this partnership.
I would also like to share my personal favorite articles across the Scale It Up categories— Leadership, Alignment and Team Building — the three critical pillars of scaling up any business.
Leadership
Thoughts on leadership and what has helped in my journey of becoming one. Here are my two favorite newsletters.
This newsletter is extremely personal to me as it talks about how I created my story and some of the decisions I took in 2021, such as joining my current company. At the same time, it also urges you to think about your own career story. So, if you are connecting your dots and crafting your story, then this article might help you.
To some it might look like a fan’s ode to his star, but to me, having a mentor and being one are extremely important parts of your growth as a leader. And this is what I talk about in this article. Read on to know how my relationship with my mentor helped me grow as a leader.
Team Building
Your team is your greatest asset. As a leader, you not only have to be able to build a strong team, but also be able to retain your top performers, so that you can continue to scale up the company. Here are two articles from this section.
I can’t stress enough on the importance of building deep relationships with your skip level leaders as they are not only your bench strength, but a great resource to receive feedback about your own work. Here’s how skip-level meetings have helped me over the years.
While relationships with direct reportees & skip-level leaders can help to build a strong culture and depth in an organization, resignation from top performers can give a blow to your organization. However, should you always try to retain high performers? An important question that I breakdown in my article. Read on!
Alignment
All efforts are set up for failure when the expectations of the company, the leaders and the teams are not aligned! Here are my top two from this section.
When I sent out this newsletter, a friend and a data leader of a global organization messaged me and told me that he had shared this article with his team of data scientists just to let them know about the importance of gut instinct. I am sharing this anecdote, because most of us are skewed towards either of the two during our decision making process. In this article, I try to find a balance and the need of marrying the two together.
I have always been a believer of having a north star. It sets the purpose for me and guides me when there are critical decisions to be made. So here I talk about the importance of following a north star.
These are my recommendations from 2021. I really hope you enjoy going through them.
And yes, before I wrap up, I would sincerely urge you to scale up your personal relationships as well! Enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends- some hot chocolate, coffee or mulled wine never hurts!
I hope you are able to take some time off to set yourself up for the coming year. If you are still thinking about when to take a holiday, here’s some inspiration for you. You will thank me for it ;)
With that, here’s wishing you a Happy New Year. See you all in 2022!
Keep scaling it up!