Career Development at ten23 – Adi’s Story

We offer a range of opportunities for our employees to develop further in their careers, based on openly giving and receiving feedback using non-violent communication, trying out additional or new roles - and ultimately to work according to own strengths. Here’s one recent example of personal development within the company, with Adithya (Adi) Balasubramanian, currently Director of Sales and Business Development at ten23.

From Science to Business: How to Find Your Calling

Adi moved from being a drug product scientist to the role of a business hunter (that’s how we call the business developers/sales people at ten23) at the beginning of 2023. A role that is very close to his heart. While he gained experience in this new role, gathered feedback from colleagues and his Circle Lead and kept himself up to date, he was not 100 per cent satisfied with himself. “I realized that sometimes I wasn't getting anywhere, that I was somehow ‘stuck’. I wanted to learn how to overcome these situations,” says Adi. He cites negotiating skills as an example. "I wanted to be more myself when negotiating with customers and feel more confident in these situations.’ 

Individual Development Plan: A Simple Tool for Growth

He decided to develop his Individual Growth Plan, which is a special plan we develop for employees using Profile Dynamics: by analyzing a questionnaire, Profile Dynamics identifies your own value system, strengths and triggers and helps you to understand them better. The result is shown in colors. “For me, the first color was definitely red - very red actually”, says Adi with a smile. Red stands for determination, decisiveness and speed.  

When completing his own Individual Growth Plan, Adi realized: “It was more of a challenge than I had expected. I thought to myself, I know what I'm good at and what I'm not. I`ll fill it in quickly.” In the end, however, it took him more than two hours to summarize his own strengths, development areas and growth objectives in just a few sentences. It triggered in-depth thoughts about what he truly needed and wanted. Adi is certain that this was time well spent. “You can only start real self-reflection and development if you take the time to do it, write it down and get feedback.”   

From Analysis to Action

He discussed the results with his Circle Lead and the Learning & Development Fellow. Together, they defined concrete next steps, such as a training next year. Adi is happy that he has started his Individual Growth Plan. “There's an adage in India: ‘It makes no sense to ride a horse in a pot’. This saying encapsulates the idea that sticking to your comfort zone and routine habits might create the illusion of progress when, in reality, you're just going in circles.” We strongly believe that tools like the Individual Growth Plan definitely help our team members to move forward, recognize own strengths and become better and become happier in our roles; or look for a better match to truly find our flow. Instead of feeling stuck, Adi now has a concrete plan on what and how to work on it and - maybe even more importantly – how to truly leverage his unique superpowers!

Curious to know more about how is it to work at ten23? Follow this link here.