Episode 20: Grishma Adani | The Real Finance Mentor Podcast
"We all love the story of the underdog who finally makes it.
In this episode, fresh grad meets uber toxic workplace, ridicule and depression. She then finds the perfect mentor, excels at work, quits to master a valuable skill and lands a dream job working in investing with a major oil company. All while coping with personal tragedy and CFA prep.
Listen to a story of struggle, awakening, determination, and success, all told with a raw and raw honesty"
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
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Binod Shankar:
This is Binod Shankar and you’re listening to the real finance mentor podcast from the realfinancementor.com. The real finance mentor is your go-to resource for insight and inspiration on careers in finance, CFA and more. Now you might think, why this podcast? Well, my goal is to deliver insight and inspiration for your financial career, by making it, one: relatable. I mean this is not theoretical stuff. We zero-in on the critical, practical issues. Number two: authentic. No bullshit, no side-stepping. The topics, guests and questions are all from that perspective. And number three: insightful. Take a Chartered accountant and a CFA charter holder, add 17-plus years as a corporate warrior, mix in 10-plus years of entrepreneurship, throw in a decade of full time CFA training. Add speaking, mentoring, cycling, mountaineering and other endurance activities, and that’s me! Welcome to The Real Finance Mentor, or as I call it: RFM.
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1. There is always this big attitude and aptitude gap between what you learn in school/college and what an employer requires. From the messages we have exchanged and the calls we have had it seems you've learnt a LOT since starting work. What are the top 3 things you found out only after entering work?
a) The first one was definitely my ability to relate to people :
My two biggest drawbacks from high school to university were lack of exposure and the kind of social circle I was a part of. These drawbacks exposed how weak my people skills were at BRIC. At BRIC, I understood people skills were a combination of communication skills, intelligence, and growth mindset with a touch of your personality.
Beyond GPA or passing courses, I felt like another way to become smarter and gain knowledge was by having conversations with specialists in the field I was interested in. I would connect with them on LinkedIn, or I would participate in CFA events & various meet up groups.
For example, one of the events that impacted my career choice was the CFA MENA Investment Conference that happened in ADGM last to last year. I had conversations with specialists from IB, PE, AM roles, and, as a result, understood more about their day-to-day tasks & long-term challenges faced by their roles. For example, I was told that if I wanted to pursue an equity analyst role, in the future, I would have to do master's in quantitative finance & a course in data science as this role is heavily impacted by AI and it’s not very front-end focused. Instead, based on my skill set, strengths, and interests, I would be better off if I focused more on corp strategy, real estate, or infra related roles...
These guys gave me an excellent summary of their roles. They spoke about risks, long term benefits, qualifications required & exit opps from different core finance-focused roles. Because of these conversations, I got clarity & decided to focus more on strategy or alternative investments type of roles
b) Communication skills: Essentially, one of the main reasons for getting responses in CFA conferences or on LinkedIn was because of my learnings around communication skills. It's all about finding common ground, having the right tone, showing genuine curiosity, correctly following up with people who have invested their time into you & finally nurturing that relationship. I won't dive deep here into each technique. But a simple example would be, I would always have different pitches/different conversation structure each time I approached people on LinkedIn. Let's say if I was connecting with a CIO in an asset management firm, and I find out from his job role or his activity page that he's most interested in equities, and real estate asset classes and is very passionate about CFA program Boom! I know if my first intro convo went well, in the 2nd or third conversation, I could speak about real estate and talk about CFA…but if I were connecting with a mid-level associate, my entire angle of approaching him would be different. You got to approach people differently based on their responses; you cannot have the same structure and pitch for everyone.
c) Taking ownership of work: As I was learning tricks of trades at BRIC around soft skills & RE markets, with my performance improving gradually, I wanted to step up and get involved even more across departments. The work I did at BRIC was not just a 9-6 gig for me; it became more personal beyond achieving financial targets. As I pitched & executed my ideas to different teams, I realized how much I enjoyed taking ownership of work & delivering results. I realized how much I liked learning about markets, engaging with team members, and having deep conversations around the challenges we faced. My boss would see my obsession & my proactiveness. Slowly he would hand over his responsibilities to me, and with that trust, delivery of targets & strong rapport I was appointed to handle all BRIC middle east portfolios. I was also given an opportunity to train, manage, and mentor new joiners of the Dubai office, which was an incredible experience!
2. Your first job was a boutique investment bank. That was your first taste of investment banking, management, leadership etc. and you hated it and left within couple of months. So, I have 3 questions:
a) What made you decide you wanted to get into IB, what exactly happened & how did the experience impact you in terms of how you saw yourself and future employers?
So, finance seemed like the right choice back when I was in high school... but one of the major challenges I faced was that I felt like I lacked clarity, and that was partly because we had limited choices. Back then, schools provided limited exposure in terms of areas of study & what we can learn and all you have got is to choose between 2 streams commerce or science and if you chose commerce, majority of the subjects were accounting, finance, marketing out of which finance definitely was something that interested me, but it was not something I was necessarily driven by because of a) lack of options at school, b) lack of guidance & exposure
So, to give you a bit of a background, since university, I was aware of the fact that I would be doing CFA and then hopefully break into IB. What I did not realize is how much impact would office culture & team I would work with have on my personal growth. I really disregarded that factor!
Now one of the reasons why I believed IB would be a great start was coz I thought for entry-level analyst roles, IB as a field would set a solid foundation in terms of my modeling & ppt skills & prepare me for any type of roles in the future, in case I decided to switch & move to other core finance roles. So, I finished my CFA level 1 & did some basic modeling courses & finally got a call from an investment banking boutique.
b) What exactly happened?
Now because I waited for this opportunity for so bloody long. After clearing all the rounds, the thought of having a job in IB, in DIFC, and with a good paycheck made me take up the offer in a heartbeat without bothering to understand the team structure & office culture.
In my first week, I noticed that there was a massive gap in the hierarchy within my department. I was directly reporting to my senior manager. There were no associates in the team, and there was no one I could closely work with & learn from. And when I actually took the initiative and reached out to other dept. managers to seek guidance, they would have conversations behind my back, which made me realize the amount of gossiping & groupism there was in the firm. I was so confused with the kind of culture they were setting for new joiners.
So, I was not receiving any daily guidance. I had limited interactions with my manager, no one seemed approachable and it was simply not a healthy learning environment.
If I would ask questions, there were judgmental comments passed, and whatever work we would prepare by ourselves, instead of giving us constructive criticism, he would always question me why I was doing CFA, and if I have really passed level 1. And that there is no way I would be able to pass level 2 with the quality of work I was delivering. Once he even looked at my deliverables & asked me if I was drunk. At one point, I overheard him telling others how I was just a temporary option till they found someone else. I mean I was so confused, because while they were interviewing me, I was brutally honest & told them I have no M&A experience & how eager I was to learn…
Shit hit the fan when over coffee he said I should get married and leave for India & work there. He knew my dad was diagnosed with last stage cancer, so he thought the only way I could take care of financial responsibilities was if I married someone and then moved to India.
I didn't even think for a minute that day & decided to submit my resignation letter that afternoon.
I realized sticking to a job for the sake of the brand, high salaries are so not worth it if the culture & team's mindset is so negative. Everything after that experience for me was about prioritizing culture in any job I would look for!
c ) How did the experience impact you in terms of how you saw yourself and future employers?
To be honest with you Binod, I was mentally a mess, I lost confidence in myself, I had deep anxiety issues. Getting over my depression when my ex-employer messed me up, when I'm financially weak & have lost a parent was not easy. For a month or so I would just watch Netflix, sleep & eat to escape the reality.
On one end just that thought of restarting the whole process & dealing with visit visa complications and on parallel having zero contacts or prospects for getting another job in less than 3 months, just that thought alone was frightening. But I knew I had to step up. Crying in my car was not an option and I had to fight back.
The first thing I did was make an Excel sheet and calculate my savings & expenses for the year. That allowed me to prepare best & worst-case scenarios. For improving my mental strength, I started listening to Gary Vee's podcasts, Eminem music while jogging & watched tons of Mark Cuban videos. I would also regularly meet my close friends to discuss my decisions & get some positive energy.
The entire experience, from getting out of a toxic job to losing a parent, changed me 360 degrees. I was a completely different person as opposed to who you met at Genesis.
I realized there were a lot more things that were important to me in terms of choosing my career path; one was definitely working for the right people. Most time of my day would be spent with the firm I'm working with, so it was important I worked with the right team. My priority was working for a team with a growth mindset, healthy culture & having a good connection & chemistry with my direct line manager. All my questions in the interview were structured around identifying a firm that had all of the above
That was the year I passed my interviews at BRIC & met Stuart and ended up making double the money as compared to my previous IB job. Everything changed when I met Stuart & joined BRIC.
3. Networking using LinkedIn is critical and you seem to have been quite effective in that. Unfortunately, I keep coming across many youngsters who are naïve about LinkedIn and hence don't get the benefits. They abruptly ask me for a job or ask to be mentored when I don't even know the person well enough. Can you give 3 tips to youngsters on how to leverage LinkedIn?
This is good, you're right about many people not using LinkedIn correctly. I wouldn't claim that I have mastered it either. I keep tweaking my techniques even today and so my top 3 tips would be to:
1) Stop spamming LinkedIn: Let me take a step back here and explain what I mean when I say stop spamming LinkedIn: I think the number 1 mistake people make is they spam LinkedIn by sending messages to as many people as they can per day & attach their resume in the 1st conversation itself. People blindly keep applying for as many jobs as possible & messaging 300 connects per week. I, on the other hand, did the exact opposite, I filtered profiles, gathered information by studying people's background, interests, and the roles & companies they've worked for, and tailored my messages accordingly. My entire conversation was designed around receiving guidance & not an interview. I could see my response rate going up slowly as my messages were more personalized, and my only intention was asking for help to get more clarity. I would get many "yeses" for coffee chats vs. advice over a phone call, and I noticed that my face-to-face interaction made a big difference and had a higher conversion rate. Anyway, out of 20 leads I approached over 6 months, 4 converted to an interview. In fact, two interviews, were purely due to 1 question I asked: how do I apply my technical skills practically? 2 CIOs gave me assignments to work on & I went all out!! Instead of multitasking, I spent the next 1.5 months only focusing on finishing those 2 assignments, which by the way had no guarantee on getting me an interview. This is what the CIO told me, "Hey, this is what our analysts do on day-to-day basis, why don't you write up a research report on an upcoming market & we will take things from there". That's all I got! Here's the thing, I was chasing learning, and I thought to myself, if I finished them successfully, I would get another chance to engage & discuss my work with them! And that's exactly what I did, I dropped them a message asking for a chance to present my work & get their feedback. When they said, "sure, why not" that's when I indirectly thought, right, this could potentially be my round 1 of interview.
2) Prepare your pitch in advance: Many of us know this point already but tend to ignore it or sometimes get lazy and end up preparing the same pitch for everyone. Show genuine curiosity and don't keep conversations very generic, for example a lazy write up would be: "I'm reaching out to you, because I would like to know more about macro & micro analysis that you're doing" that's quite generic & tells me that you haven't done enough research on my profile. In my opinion, the structure of the very 1st conversation could be around why are they reaching out, and even introduce any type of common ground you share with your connects and lastly add value to that conversation. I never used the same structure or pitch while writing messages or connecting with people on call. When I reached out to people the very first time, my write ups were prepared differently for different types of profiles. You've to find a balance in terms of involving the points I mentioned & at the same time the conversation should have depth and be concise, especially if you're approaching senior execs, assume they have less than a minute to read your message. I would always frame questions around getting clarity than getting mentorship or a job. Attaching a resume in the very 1st conversation, in my opinion, is just you being lazy!
3) Aftercare – Nurturing relationship you've built over coffee or a phone call: And so, the most important take away from what I'm trying to say is to build a rapport, build a strong relationship. After getting a job, do not forget the importance of nurturing relationships with people who have invested a good amount of time advising you. We should not underestimate the power of nurturing, as that's how you build a strong network that lasts for a lifetime
4. You mentioned that your Boss at BRIC was like a mentor to you. Can you expand and mention how he came to be your mentor, what exactly happened as part of the mentoring and the effect of the mentoring
The experience and my journey at BRIC changed me entirely from who I was when I first joined. Stuart's training had a compelling impact on my performance and who I was becoming. It was also his personality & mindset towards his team that made me work harder than I imagined and made our chemistry even stronger. He didn't just become my mentor from day 1. It was a hard road to earn his respect.
His constant feedbacks & strategies on how I can get better made me obsessed with succeeding at this job. And what amazed me is how much time he would invest into every team member, whether it's one on one sessions or just training. His dedication, energy & obsession to exceed targets were contagious to all of us. And you could tell that he was a hard-core executioner! Every deal or target that fell into Stu's plate from the CEO would be delivered & closed. And so, while I was learning from the best, the road was not smooth. I would make mistakes; I had no experience in handling institutional investors and covering the US & Brazil real estate markets. I was the most inexperienced in the team, and in the beginning, I would struggle to meet targets & connect with my clients. Even other managers doubted if I was ready to manage LLCs portfolios across USA…but here's the thing, I was a fast learner. I would proactively propose solutions to Stuart on how I can improve myself. I wasn't scared to communicate & wanted to openly discuss my weak spots & work on them. Every time anyone doubted me, Stuart would stand up for me. In fact, he had my back from day1. He saw how I was journaling his advice & working on strategies proposed by him. He could tell, I wanted to get better at my job, and so by the end of the 1st year, he saw my progress & told me I have serious potential not just to get promoted but have my own office in Europe if I continued performing and self-investing at this rate. And numbers don't lie right? Stuart would track each one of us quarter by quarter and he could conclude that I was aiming for consistency in my performance more than one-offs. In year 2 of bric, I completely smashed it. By end of year 2 I was the first employee amongst 5 BRIC global offices to win an outstanding performance award from the CFO. We became an unbeatable team! I ended up being the best performer in Stuart’s team for 3 years consistently. Those results pushed me to accelerate my career at BRIC. I started taking charge of many tasks & delivering them proactively. I just learned so much about leadership skills from the whole experience.
By the end of it all, he started helping me with investing, mapping my long-term goals, and I think in process he became an advisor for any decision I would take. He started caring about my growth outside of work. Slowly every phone call or 1 on 1 meetings were about my future, how I plan to grow myself financially, and less about deliverables. I realized once I left BRIC that every theory that he taught me was something that I’d still apply & will always use throughout my career.
You know, I really mean it when I say BRIC changed me. I realized, it really does take one man to take you off the street & give you a chance and change everything.
5. Let's talk about the second learning that you mentioned i.e., the importance of sales. I recall you as a super shy girl who never spoke up in class. Tell me the 3 most effective things that you did that helped you transform from that into a confident, articulate and successful salesperson?
My first sales job was at 16, when I was selling energy drinks in Lamcy Plaza. That's the first time I learned how to sell. And I was good at it!
To many people, the word sales implies all the used car salesman stereotypes. And so, when I got this opportunity at BRIC, not many finance guys in my circle supported my decision of accepting the role. I was doing CFA I should be an analyst with a brand. Many wondered why I would take up a sales job, ruin my resume etc. But I knew spending time in a direct sales role in an investment company will pay dividends forever. I would better my communication & selling skills at an early point in my career. Besides that, it was an investment role focused on sourcing capital from retail & institutional clients, so I knew it wasn't outside of core finance and still contributed to my CFA certification
My top 3 would be learning:
1) Art of prospecting: Prospecting starts from the very 1st conversation you have with someone on LinkedIn if you're looking for a job or with a lead that you're trying to sell. Something BRIC has taught me was to stop trying to sell to the unsellable. Instead, go out and find people who are more willing to say a yes. This principle applies across networking & even while we are trying to find a mentor at work. Don't invest your time and energy into everyone and try to turn a no into YES. It just saves so much more time & mental energy.
2) Tonality: Another underrated learning is the importance of tonality. Tonality is an essential ingredient in any form of communication. Jordan Belfort actually has covered this in great detail in his course called the straight-line persuasion. Most of our leads were based outside of the Middle East, so for us mastering tonality in different situations was the key to connect with people who are sitting on the other side of the planet. All of the above were subsets of how you can be a good negotiator and take control of the closing process. It's even more crucial to study this subject given the covid situation that has resulted in all networking conversations happening over the phone, I think what you say in the 1st 10 seconds & how you sound has a significant impact on the type of response you can get from the caller
3) Negotiation skills: The last one was definitely my ability to negotiate & close deals by myself. This statement was all about understanding your prospect's perspective, being a good listener & being able to handle objections thrown at you by your client.
One thing that Stuart would always talk about is learning to see from your prospects point of view, ask yourself, what do you think he thinks is the worst thing that could happen? What is the one thing that will stop him from making a decision? Ask these questions before you have a meeting. Structure your pitch beforehand. In the words of Stephen covey, author of 7 habits of highly effective people: "you seek first to understand, then be understood" Being a good listener and being patient with clients taught me how to structure my thoughts once I have possessed all of the information. And when you develop this habit, what it does is: it prevents you from saying things that might add no value on the call, and as a result, it also builds your credibility because you care about understanding your client's point of view, so then what you say next tends to hold more weight.
6. You left your secure job with a good Boss at BRIC and for about 6 months all you did was sit at home and learn financial modelling, advanced Excel, valuation and presentation. That was a ballsy move. I have three questions:
a) What triggered you to make this decision?
Oh, it was definitely my long-term goal; being a long-term thinker, I knew beforehand that I would not do this forever. The main reason behind that was I knew what type of skill sets apart from sales I had to work on. Identifying the areas of development early on allowed me to plan this transition smoothly.
I was also doing my CFA, and I was waiting for an opportunity to apply the curriculum more practically. I also knew to be deserving of that opportunity, I would have to develop my technical skills
And so, I learned a lot about communication skills. The pay was fantastic, the culture was great, and a boss like Stuart was a blessing, but at a certain point, your learning curve slows down, and everything becomes a bit more comfortable. So, I knew, this was the right time to step down and make the best use of my time.
Even though I would take a hit financially and there was a risk as I had nothing in hand, I knew my decision would pay off in the long run, and so I sat home and went all out in upskilling & networking.
b) Why did you want to leave sales specifically?
I wanted to get into more core finance-focused roles within AM or corporate strategy, and so I knew I would need to develop analytical skills at some point. So yes, although I was great at sales, I knew it was not enough for where I want to be and what I want to achieve. And that's why I made a shift
7. What were 3 factors that gave you the confidence that you'd land something better in a shit job market?
Love this question!
It was putting my trust & belief in the power of focus instead of multitasking! I always planned the best case & the worst-case scenarios (all scenarios were structured to ultimately make my plan A work), so preplanning was definitely a part of the process yet another massive factor that had a huge influence on my confidence in decision making was my circle of close friends!
So, the way it all started, there was of course a lot of fear, I was leaving a job without something in hand. I was taking a big risk given my financial situation & how could all of this possibly affect my mental health if I ended up failing Level 2 and not having a job at the same time. But I can break the suspense here and tell you the risk I took was so worth it!!
1) Believing in the power of focus: The number one thing that I have realized is the importance of focus! Going all out means knowing your priorities & focusing on one thing by giving 200 % to it. I have seen many people try to multitask and try to do everything at once because they lack ability to eliminate. I knew if I would try and balance things, I would not be able to overachieve. I went way more in-depth into this process. For example: my prep for an interview for a strategy role vs. asset management would be entirely different. If I connected with someone working for MBB on LinkedIn vs. a portfolio manager at Lazard asset management, the whole interaction and vibe over coffee would be completely different… There is never just one way of networking. So apart from technical skills, I had to also develop different strategies for networking and hence when people reach out to me, I tell them exactly how I prepared for an investment banking role, asset management role & corporate strategy role. At an analyst level all 3 roles share 2 skillsets in common which would be 70% of your job, that's financial modeling & building decks. And so I knew if I would be placed in any of the above roles, it would still align with my long-term objective. That's why I tell many undergrads to not just settle for a paycheck or get comfortable. At an early age, you have that flexibility to take up more generalist type of roles. Your interest becomes your passion only if you choose to get as much exposure to it before you decide to become a specialist
2) Preplanning & Decision-making skills: I knew each goal needed its own time for me to achieve them. I had to overcome my temptations and stick to my plan and just believe in my long-term game. My planning started a year ago while I was at BRIC. I didn't make an overly ambitious plan. I made a quite realistic plan, mainly because I knew how I function, so everything from savings to what happens if I don't pass level 2 was planned out. It started with me bidding farewell to BRIC, staying emotionally strong, and putting all my focus just on CFA L2, and I cleared that in June. From June end to August, I planned to only work on advanced financial modeling courses on BIWS website. From Sept to Dec, I would focus on networking. All other distractions had to be strictly eliminated.
3) Circle of close friends: Many of my decisions were discussed in detail with my close friends. We would primarily focus on the risk of every decision I made. These guys would be able to de-risk even the riskiest outcome of my decision, which itself instigated a lot more self-confidence in my decision-making skills.
So, in a nutshell, I was not making any income, I was on a visit visa, and if I failed CFA Level 2 or even if one decision failed, there were consequences. But this is why I talked previously about planning, decision making, and surrounding yourself with the right social circle. I was able to do that, and the taste of my outcome was sweeter than I expected.
8. You now work as an Analyst for ADNOC Distribution which is the listed retail arm of ADNOC, the massive oil company that generates Abu Dhabi's oil wealth. Tell me how you got the job How did you target the company and who all did you reach out to?
I relied on different avenues of networking. I had zero network for core finance roles when I left BRIC. I knew with minimal experience; I couldn't just rely on first degree LinkedIn connections. My top 2 streams were CFA community & LinkedIn, but I exhausted every stream of networking. My main goal while I networked with any individual was to learn and gather knowledge. At this point, after passing level 2, more than getting a job, I was just really hungry to learn the practical side of what we learned in CFA and how that was applied in roles I was interested in.
Here's how I would sum it up: my whole networking experience was as if I was signing up for multiple electives in an MBA and meeting some brilliant professors. That’s how I actually found out how infrastructure/real estate or companies that were investing in growth projects had more long-term benefits for me from career perspective as compared to what I was initially looking for.
I also knew building strong relationships with my network was the key. I kept in touch and nurtured those relationships, and through word of mouth, I got referred to ADNOC Distribution.
9. Let's talk about the personal side. Your dad suddenly passed away 3 years ago leaving you at the very young age of 24 as the sole breadwinner of the family with the responsibility of looking after your mother and sister. How did you react to that responsibility? How did that change you as a person and as a professional?
So, it all happened all of a sudden, and at the same time, I quit a really toxic job. With no job and a sudden tragedy, my loneliness just compounded. My confidence was shattered. At that time, I thought my road to the CFA charter was definitely over. There's no way I could study for long hours as I would quickly get distracted. There were just too many problems to solve.
And so, the easy way out would be, I could have just settled for any random job for the sake of resident status & some salary. I could just watch TV shows day & night to escape, traveled & chilled with friends and just run away from reality. That actually happened for a month, but I had to wake up and realize that these lazy decisions would in fact hurt my resume, deviate my focus from my CFA journey & overall just delay my long-term goals.
And so, I had to step up and not let my emotions and what other people thought I should do take control of my mind. So instead of panicking and running away from pressure, I started yoga & meditation to get my focus back. I also knew this time more than ever I have to surround myself with the right people, so I prioritized my search for a great culture and team. I knew if I found the right job in terms of team and culture, everything will fall into place. Socially, I surrounded myself with the right friends that did not promote the "play it safe" kind of decision making.
And so, instead of multitasking trying to solve every problem around legal & financial issues, I instead just focused on one thing that was networking to find the right team. I knew what my mind needed. And that's what happened, I met Stuart & started my journey with BRIC
I was really really happy with the office environment, the training, and the support I got, the entire journey made me stronger, smarter, and optimistic.
Once I was settled into the job, I started taking care of all my personal outstanding problems Binod, believe me, there was never a moment where I felt distracted, negative, anxious, wrong. The self-confidence was oozing out of me as all my decisions were turning out to be right.
That positive energy was reflected in my performance. At work, I was able to trust my gut more. I could speak up & contribute in front of large teams. I didn't even realize when my nervousness disappeared. I started enjoying being in charge and delivering results. I was able to join classes and complete my CFA level 2. I was appointed to represent BRIC in international conferences. I was promoted the year after & just within 12 months I was able to turn around the financial situation of my family completely.
This would definitely not have happened if I pursued lazy decisions & listened to people's advice who told me to go with the flow and not make any risky moves. if I listened to such people long term it would just make things way harder & more stressful for me. There is absolutely no way I would have got ADNOC distribution!!
10. If a youngster who is still in college asked you for advice, what would be the top 3 career tips you would give?
Great question, my first point had an indirect impact on my career
1) Surround yourself with right circle of people: who you spend time with the most has a strong indirect influence on who you become as a person. Don't fall into the fake social media trap to get external validation, don't be scared to cut off & eliminate. Because of massive groupism issue, people try to change themselves to fit in and develop insecurities & are worried about what people think of them. That leads to several mental blocks, self-awareness issues, low self-esteem & anxiety. I was once upon a time a victim of this, I have seen many intelligent friends of mine lose focus because they were unable to cut off & move on.
I saw a change in my personality as I surrounded myself with right people who I share common interests with, I got really lucky as all of them had way more life skills & career exposure than me, my dynamic circle of advisors has throughout my entire career inspired me to take up different possibilities/risks from leaving a well-paid investment banking job to joining a pure sales role at BRIC, leaving BRIC and going all out on networking and upskilling. My decision making & planning skills over time have got better as a result of surrounding myself with right people.
2) Network early & seek out education beyond classrooms: I wasted a lot of time in university, trying to fit in, made incorrect choices, got really lazy and as a result became a follower. I would opt for courses because everyone was doing it. And boy did I waste a lot of time & money!! Whenever any undergrad tells me “I’m doing CFA, ACCA, MBA because everyone in my circle is doing it”, I'd tell him to stop, because he's making a big mistake! Solution? Network early, reach out to analysts, managers, alumni to understand & learn more about their roles before deciding for an MBA/MS or CFA.
Many undergrads start networking when the time comes and think they have developed a passion in investment banking because they liked few finance subjects in uni.
You cannot be passionate about something unless you have had a practical exposure to it!! Do early internships even if it's for free in as many core finance roles to get clarity. Participate in seminars, conferences, competitions, that's the easiest way to meet professionals and seek guidance. I would also strongly recommend young finance undergrads to subscribe to Wall Street Oasis- it's a one stop shop resource for finance.
Clarity is everything! Use resources like LinkedIn, WSO, Mergers & Inquisitions, CFA community to figure out step 1 for breaking into any finance role
3) Lastly, build a long-term goal: Don't get comfortable with your pay cheque & job, anyone can be easily replaced, a sudden situation like COVID can take away everything from you in a second!! Keep self-investing, build your network correctly. To not get distracted, I always write down my daily goals & try to focus more on the process. Based on what I aspire to become, I know it's a tough road ahead, hence why I don't really focus on the outcome. Instead of procrastinating, I try & learn from my mistakes, celebrate my small wins, reflect on how much I have achieved and always have a backup plan. Progress in any form excites me & that's how I define success. To me success is progress in any form!
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Binod:
This podcast is brought to you by the real finance mentor. Thank you so much for listening and I really hope you found it insightful and inspirational. If you did enjoy this episode, please drop us a review and spread the word. You should check out more exclusive content on therealfinancementor.com and my LinkedIn profile which is: Binod Shankar, FCA, CFA. Let’s keep in touch! Just add your name to the mailing list on therealfinancementor.com, and we’ll tell you about new episodes plus book reviews, upcoming events and blogs. Till the next time, onwards and upwards.
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