Soar: How to Become Extraordinary and Successful in Your Career

By Ashutosh R Nandeshwar

Why don't some people advance in their careers as fast as others? It's not because they aren't hard-working. It's because they don't know the unsaid expectations of their organizations.

SOAR

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Release date: May 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885041607

Book preview

SOAR

How to Become Extraordinary and Successful in Your Career

Ashutosh R. Nandeshwar, Ph.D.

new degree press

copyright © 2022 Ashutosh R. Nandeshwar, Ph.D.

All rights reserved.

SOAR

How to Become Extraordinary and Successful in Your Career

ISBN

979-8-88504-508-7 Paperback

979-8-88504-610-7 Kindle Ebook

979-8-88504-160-7 Digital Ebook

To Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) for emancipating millions and teaching the value of knowledge.

To my grandmother, Aaji ( –2005), for showing grit and fierce independence.

To Baba (1947–2016), who sacrificed plenty to give us a better life.

To Aai, for loving me with all your heart.

To Utpal, my wife, for supporting me every step of the way.

To you! May you soar to heights unimaginable and prove all the doubters wrong.

Contents

Introduction

PART I

Chapter 1

learn

Chapter 2

practice

Chapter 3

opportunity

PART II

Chapter 4

inspect

Chapter 5

create

Chapter 6

elevate

PART III

Chapter 7

resilience

Chapter 8

survival

Chapter 9

persistence

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Further Reading

Appendix

Introduction

Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.

—Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian jurist, economist, social reformer, and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.

While we would love to know shortcuts to success, the truth is that success, like life, is a complex system. Albert-László Barabási knows a thing or two about complex systems. He pioneered network analysis to study how complex systems work and how the elements within such systems interact. He even researched methods of achieving success using network science. In his book The Formula, he wrote, Your chance of success [is] shaped by your willingness to try repeatedly for a breakthrough. That is, although we fail multiple times, by trying even harder and consistently, we may stack the odds in our favor, rather than trying once and hoping to win big.

Often the steps we take towards our goals don’t show any immediate or extraordinary impact. But every individual step adds up; though the outcome is unpredictable, odds of a successful future increase. This book offers you a framework and actionable steps to create favorable results, helping you soar in your career.

For this book, I spoke to different experts, successful people by various measures, and people trying to make a name for themselves in their careers. One common experience among them: they took ownership of their careers and lives. Unsurprisingly, Be Proactive is the first habit of the seven habits from Stephen R. Covey’s famous book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

With this ownership mindset, we take steps to become successful. Those steps, big or small, are like the leaves of a tree.

Think about how new leaves take birth and how they orient towards the sunlight. Later, they grow, synthesize food, and help the twigs and branches. Eventually, the trunk and the whole tree become big, says Dr. R. S. Chandran, my friend and professor at Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at West Virginia University. He also says, It is a fascinating phenomenon that a tree can find its way between the branches of other trees so that it doesn’t stay in the shade and gets the sunlight it needs for its growth.

So a leaf by itself seems insignificant, but it helps generate food to strengthen the trunk. Some leaves and branches may die out or go nowhere, but others sprout in different directions with one goal: to grow.

Similarly, when we take ownership of our future and take proactive steps, some may result in no outcome. Still, with different attempts and consistent action, we become more robust to grow and increase our odds of success.

Now the question is, which things must you try to succeed in your career?

There’s no fixed formula or path. But the framework in this book, backed by research and interviews, increases one’s odds of getting noticed and career advancement.

One thing is clear: success isn’t simple or linear. Sure, some steps or "hacks’’ may give you extraordinary results or a big lift towards your goal—but they are ultimately unsustainable and unrepeatable for long-term success. Often our actions aren’t linear or circular, yet interlinked. Again, it helps to imagine a tree. Some steps or actions don’t produce outcomes, like the branches that die out, yet they link back to your overall desires, helping you get closer to your goals. The steps that work give you fuel to grow and succeed.

But in the end, you must act on your wishes and aspirations. In his book Innovation You, Jeff DeGraff, an innovation expert known as The Dean of Innovation, describes this behavior as a self-authorizing behavior. DeGraff compares our lives with the moments from Western movies, in which a lead character says, We’re on our own. The cavalry isn’t coming.

He further states, You’re bankrupt and no one is going to bail you out; your marriage is broken and it’s not going to get fixed; you’ve got an illness and it can’t be wished away; you have the same unrealized dream you’ve always had, and no one but you can make it come true.

I want to help you succeed. The universe will help you if you take action. If you don’t, life stays static. The framework in this book will help you succeed, but you must take steps, one after another, and eventually soar.

Who is this book for?

You will benefit from this book if you are in the knowledge economy. You create value for organizations using your specialized knowledge rather than labor. The target reader is someone with a few years of work experience but not decades. If you are already in a leadership position, buy this book for others. Although some parts of the framework apply to employees of any industry, the book will make more sense to workers in technology, business and financial analysis, research, engineering, and related professions. A few years of work experience is helpful as you have a better idea about your field and the tasks at hand. It helps you understand the career progression and paths. You are also ready to contribute more to your job after a few years of experience.

Why me?

Except for a few classes here and there and in elementary school, I was a poor student. Things didn’t look better in my first few years of college either. But as soon as I knew I wanted to do something with computers, things turned around: from not knowing about graduate school in the US as an option to doing multi-disciplinary research for a PhD in engineering. After getting a lucky start in my career, I found out that some approaches had a higher return on investment, and I could stand out. I kept building on those approaches, and soon, I became a well-known, sought-after leader in my domain. I led the field of my specialty, applying data science to higher education and nonprofit fundraising problems. So much so that the world’s top higher education institutions recruited me, and top search firms often approached me. As qualitative proof of my ascension, I successfully petitioned the US immigration authorities that I have sustained national or international acclaim with recognized achievements and that I am one of a small percentage who has risen to the very top of a particular field. With many letters of recommendation and support from across the globe and evidence of my acclaim, I received permanent residency, or a green card, in the persons of extraordinary ability category, nicknamed the Einstein Visa.

My journey thus far is proof that ownership of your career, positive actions, and the right opportunities can help you become successful. As a student of success and self-development, I have gathered helpful advice and seen its positive impact on my career. Many others have benefited from my writings, presentations, and conversations. Now, I want to help you soar.

Why you?

If you are reading this, you are interested in growth and success. You may have had difficulty in scoring early wins. Or, you feel that you don’t have all the answers or that there are too many hurdles. It’s challenging to be in such a situation. But suppose you keep stacking steps, learning from them, and doing it again. Then, there’s a higher likelihood of succeeding.

In his best-selling book Principles, Ray Dalio shares, You can probably get what you want out of life if you can suspend your ego and take a no-excuses approach to achieving your goals with open-mindedness, determination, and courage.

There is also a more straightforward explanation: the principle of cause and effect. If you’re mindful of observing your actions, you can somewhat dictate the impact. But you must commit to the process of monitoring and diligently taking action.

Why should you improve?

Altruistic

If you have any doubts about your growth and success, I want to make a case for altruism.

I saw this quote, supposedly by Voltaire, in Dan Norris’s book Create or Hate, Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.

Let’s expand on that quote.

You’re being unfair if you don’t let your talents and resources help others when you can.

Many talents lay waste because the possessor of those talents didn’t fully use them. Similarly, resourceful people let their resources unused or expire on personal benefits. If you were handed the opportunities, resources, and choice, wouldn’t it be a shame that the potential goes to waste? Worse I say, it is unfair to all those who could benefit from your potential.

We know changing the world is a difficult task, and perhaps it is a fruitless exercise to attempt to do so. Here’s the thing, though: one person, just one person, who benefits from you can change many lives. For example, say you started teaching a skill to someone who needed it. That person now got a better job. Their partner and children can now benefit from better pay. Their parents and siblings can benefit from it. Their friends can benefit from learning about new skills.

Dr. R. S. Chandran, the professor of agriculture mentioned above, said, "Consider a leaf’s life. It is a very ephemeral life. It probably has the built-in intelligence to know to carry out its duties while it is alive. It synthesizes the sugars and helps a tree grow, and then later