Learn 2 new things each year
Written on Sunday, April 19, 2009 by Siddharth PV
This thought came up while discussing appraisals with Ravi.
Ravi's thoughts on appraisals:
" The appraisals are a way to let you know what is it that is lacking from making you that super stud - super leader that you can be.
In fact, if there is ONE thing that all great leaders always have is - Self Awareness.
They have identified their strengths.They know exactly what they lack.
So, when you finish a round of appraisals, try and identify what is it that you need to learn to root out your 'apparent' shortcomings.
Out of the many shortcomings that you might have identified, decide those 2 things that you are going to learn / improve.
Focus on them for the next 6 months - 1 year. At the end of that period, you would have mastered those 2 things.
Continue this over the next 15 years of your career - you have learnt 30 things - eliminated 30 weaknesses.
And before you know it - you will end up being the stud that you always wanted to be. "
My take on this:
I think Ravi is right. Mostly right.
The only catch here is - one must ensure that his appraisal is done by someone he trusts. (Good part about iRunway is we can choose our career managers.)
For any person to take his feedback seriosuly, he must respsct the person who is giving the feedback.
Otherwise the entire excercise is a waste.
And yes - I completely believe the part about learning 2 things at a time.
Considering the MANY things I need to learn, it will be close to impossible if I attempt them all at once. :)
So I better target 2 things at a time.
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Its a great strategy. Its good if your allowed to have mentors.
We have two kinds of appraisals at iRunway:
1. Your peers observe you. They tell our career managers what 'they think' our limitations are. And the career manager, based on his experiences, suggests us on how to improve upon those limitations.
There are two limitations to the first process. One, we are depending on other's judgment to know what our limitations are. And two, the priorities of career manager and your priorities are different.
2. Self-appraisal: It is essentially introspection (more importantly, an honest introspection). I like the phrase 'brutally honest' a lot. Being brutally honest to yourself helps you more than anything else.Every man has his own priorities (rather, in ravi's words, every man has his own picture of a super stud). While trying to be that super stud, he will face problems and if he honestly introspects, he will know his limitations. If I need any suggestion from an experienced person about overcoming those limitations, I should clearly state my priorities first.
The second one works fine with me.
The first way is only to grade us and it does not help us in anyway.
@Vasanth: Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Really appreciate it.
Btw, I cant agree more with your 2nd point.
I firmly believe that self help is the best help. Lock yourself up in a room and find the courage to face your worst fears - you will surely come up with the correct answers to your problems.
Being 'brutally honest' with himself is the best service a man can do himself.
But as far as the concept of peer reviews goes: I think they are essential. I think its important to have a 3rd party opinion once in a while - it checks you from getting wrong ideas about yourself (remember the story of the frog who lived in a well?)
Plus, often times, our intentions do not manifest themselves well enough in our actions / words. They often get masked, leading to misunderstandings. A peer review helps in such cases - it highlights such slippages.
As for being dependent on the judgment of others - well, you are always free to go and seek reviews from people who you think are qualified 'enough' to review you.
(But again, you run the risk of not being brutal enough on yourself.)
As far as the process at iRunway goes: I think its a great start. no two ways abt it. It will only get better over time.