Saturday, September 2, 2017

8c tips for Freshers / NCG's



I have been having a great company with some of the very talented NCG’s ( New College Hires/ Grads ) last ~2yrs.  I work for Intuit Inc. (India)  and for the group I work for ,  we have this great culture of putting our goals and objectives into a tool called BetterWorks.

What I love most about this tool is -  it makes things very transparent and gives you a picture about how the entire org is moving along in the desired direction , taking the right steps forward - to meet the mission and vision of the organization  in a very effective way.

Now with this background , let me set the context first. Last week , while setting up the objectives for one of my NCG , I had to help her setting up one personal development goal which is strongly encouraged at Intuit.

 The goal I spontaneously suggested  was :  "Please see something around these C’s , or sign-up for some technical online or instructor led course of your interest"    

The C's what I had in mind , and which eventually made a total of 8 C's are as below:


(1) Curiosity 

The first thing , any individual , especially the new college grads , should be fostering is - the element of 'curiosity'. 

Curiosity means having the desire to learn new things. We must ask questions and have an opinion. Try to be non-bias / non-judgmental and try to look at things  through  fresh eyes.  Research shows that - the primary thing which contributes to non-curiosity is  (a) Fear (b) Disapprovals and (c) Absence of caring and guidance.   My suggestion here would be  - exert yourself to read diverse kinds of readings,  don’t take things as granted , and always keep an open mind.

Out of  the 8  operating values we have at Intuit ,  we have these two great values - “Be passionate & Learn fast “, it aligns very much to this quality.

(2) Creativity   

Creativity is a struggle to go beyond what we were yesterday. Creativity or innovation is the process of leaving the known and venturing into the unknown.  Being a new entry to the organization , you must first try to understand and absorb things quickly  and then also wear a customer lens to suggest process change or improvements ( if any)  ,  apply automations or even suggest  newer / smarter ways of doing things. 

Creativity can transform any obstacle into opportunity!

(3) Courage

At Intuit we strive to live  'these values' every day –  and the first one is ‘Be Bold’ which encourages us to create  a vision that inspires and we always strive to think beyond what is accepted as possible.   
 We must always be willing to take a step forward no matter what...

(4) Competency

There is no short cut for learning , we have to upgrade our knowledge on a daily basis. We must keep learning new things ;  something new , day after day.

Please sign-up of for daily feeds on sites like DZone, mashable, techgig, HBR, readwrite.com – and it will point you to something new,  every day.  

(5) Communication

Communication is the key, both verbal and written. While there are myriads  of tips and  writings how to be a better communicator ,   please don’t worry -    communication is an art,  and nobody masters that overnight, at-least I haven’t yet! :))

One thing we must first try to focus on is  – ensure we know how to articulate and we are understood.

(6) Connect

Connect to people and invest time on networking.  This helps to understand industry trends , bouncing ideas, solicit  feedback or getting input,  formulate diverse perspectives , and also learn from others.  So please ensure you have made at-least one professional connect every week , as you start walking into this new world ahead. 

Professional networking is  the fuel that accelerates success!

(7) Conduct  

Your behavior is everything.  Don’t react, don’t push rough shots and always have a ‘Win Together’ mindset.  Conduct is also about Integrity – which  will help you to win trust , earn more responsibilities , gain respect , and build a brand / class which is very important in this journey forward. 

As it is said -   its not about ‘what’ we do , but ‘how’ we do!

(8) Consistency

And finally , whatever we do , consistency in what we say and what we do is very important , and it will  have a multiplier effect -  to generate the trust on you as a professional.

I personally believe that -  these 8C’s will certainty generate lot of ‘awesomeness’ and ‘effectiveness’ in you  and will help you maintain the right ‘attitude’ all the time.

If you are wondering  , why the title is 8c,  well ,  -  it is a mere co-incidence that the count  came to 8 and I know for a reason that -  in Buddhism there is the concept of  Eightfold Path  to achieve Nirvana - the end of suffering :)

Also ‘c’ is one of the letter in English alphabet , which has maximum no. of words in the dictionary and hence the higher probability of having a strong synonym / title for  all the thoughts that I explained above.

Now is this a SMART goal ? Well, yes. The only thing is that – it does not have an ‘end date’ and it’s a journey!


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