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Asia Pacific,
Life at Oracle
September 26, 2018
How Training and Confidence Lead to Success
At this juncture of life, if I have to reflect on myself—I can see a significant impact made by Oracle in shaping my professional and personal life.
I joined Oracle in the year 2000 as an Application Engineer, and have been fortunate to work with some of the best people and teams here. Oracle’s diverse and inclusive atmosphere, excellent work culture and ample learning opportunities have kept me motivated all these years to give 100% in each deliverable. I’d like to offer some advice from my journey thus far.
Take advantage of training
As my career progressed from being an Individual Contributor to a Lead, Manager and then to Director, one of the most important aspects that helped my seamless transition to different roles was certain organizational trainings to broaden my perspective, such as:
- Go Plus – At the time of my induction to Oracle, this training introduced our organizational values and helped me shrug off mind blocks that can be easy to carry over from past experiences (the “Let Go” concept).
- Managerial Excellence – This taught me how to be an effective manager by first managing myself, and then handling team members of varying potential with different strategies. There is no “one size fits all;” each person is different, and so should be our way of working with them.
- iLead – This one helped me understand the difference between a manager and a leader. It taught me how to lead from the front, and how networking plays a crucial role at this stage. Top talent across various teams, whom Oracle considered as prospective leaders, was selected for this training.
The timely enrichment, coupled with management’s guidance, steered me towards success.
Think differently
I initiated yearly Customer Advisory Board meetings in India for Indian and Middle-Eastern customers. This served as a great platform for the Product team to work in a collaborative manner with customers. Although my primary responsibility at work is customer issue management, along with driving various product enhancements, my focus always has been on doing things differently, instead of settling with monotony. Hence, I’ve been able to come up with innovative ideas for product stabilization, customer satisfaction, and to enhance teams’ efficiency.
Speak up with innovative ideas
Being an effective listener, I always ensure to clearly put my point across whenever Management has opened up to feedback and suggestions, instead of holding back and feeling frustrated about anything.
One motivating factor throughout my whole journey, which has encouraged me to come up with innovative ideas, has been acknowledgement of my work/ideas along with the excellent vision set by Oracle Leadership. There is a culture of innovation set at workplace which inspires people to evolve their thinking and come up with new ideas.
As part of my role, I’ve had a great opportunity to represent Oracle in India, as well as in international forums. This has required me to really push my boundaries, as it wasn’t initially my forte. I can now say that I look forward to such opportunities, and other enriching experiences.
Find your balance
Speaking up is just as important when it comes to finding your own balance. Oracle’s flexibility in working hours and remote working is a big advantage for both men and women. In my case, it has helped me to juggle my professional and personal priorities, and strike a better work-life balance.
People should just believe in themselves and not be afraid to ask for what they need, to deliver their best effort with complete focus.
I’m proud of being part of such an organization that has made me feel valuable each day, and has given me the motivation to excel at my job.
Come create the future with us. Explore Oracle’s various opportunities at our Careers site.
Seema S.
Director, Projects Development