The Power of Taking Risks

A wise woman once said, “Opportunity does not come gift wrapped. You must take risks.” It is often seen that life’s greatest lessons come when we shift our focus out of our comfort zone. We grow tremendously when we make our own choices and free ourselves from the biggest question – “what if?” Playing it safe is imperative but it only gets you so far.

Young leader Shubhangi Pathak from the CYLP 2020 batch believes in taking the road less travelled, and creating her own trail.

“During my Bachelor’s in Delhi University I always jumped at a chance to explore new things. Be it through internships, college fests or any event, I wanted to experience something new and challenging. After completing my degree in Economics, I wanted to do something I have never done before. I went ahead and had a brief stint in an HR Tech & Consulting company.  During this time, I realized my passion for HR and there was no going back then. I got into IIM Indore and completed my MBA in HR in 2020.

Journey at Cadila

The Cadila Young Leadership Program (CYLP) has given me a platform to create and develop myself as a mature working professional who understands the bigger picture, yet is aware of how the small parts  form that picture.

In my time here as Management Trainee, I got to work on and lead some interesting projects, which have helped me gain the practical know how and use my domain knowledge.

I started my stint at Cadila with Domestic Business HR where I lead a 3 phase attrition analysis project for the field force, designed an in-house team diagnostic survey to understand team effectiveness and was part of many other initiatives.  After completing 4 months, I moved to International Business HR. To move to a business with a complex model with a team which is very diverse and highly interdependent, the first thing I learnt here was how to truly and completely understand the business problem. Then moved to other stages of understanding how to craft initiatives/ solutions to such problems and get business stakeholders to come together and buy-in to your ideas. All these big-small experiences have sharpened my understanding on how HR Business Partnering works and have given me the experiential learning I have always wanted. At the same time, the kind of exposure you get at the start of your career working alongside senior leaders who have such vast experience in their respective domains – I feel every day, every conversation with them is a learning for me.

Live to the Fullest

For those who are just starting their careers, I have only one quote that I too live by – “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” So, take that shot with a positive approach, try and get the maximum returns from every shot, every day, and every opportunity. And more important than that, create opportunities for yourselves because sometimes they don’t come knocking at your doors.

Another thing I would add to the above is to continue pursuing your hobbies, take time off for yourself and cross off things from your bucket list. Each day, do one thing that makes you happy. For me, those things are cooking, making a nice cup of coffee for myself as soon as I reach home; catching up with friends over movie nights and the list is quite long. Make your list and take your shot.