A Leader’s Mind Part 3: Gaurav Porwal, ADOE

My story begins with my love for gaining more knowledge. I often surfed the internet to learn more about everything new. Initially, it mainly included my hobbies and studies. I then got introduced to coding in the first year of my bachelor’s degree, which was a turning point. I embarked on the journey to create meaningful applications that can solve real-life problems, all while falling in love with the dynamics between logic and programming. 

What appeals to me the most about coding is that it is founded on hard-core facts. There’s no space for myths or assumptions, and it’s just reality and logic in its purest forms. This interest led me to develop various small projects throughout my time in grad school. I built some static websites and an app for the college soccer team that helps change game scores easily.

The highlight of my academic projects would be the app developed to manage traffic signals efficiently to allow ambulances to pass easily. It helped me gain positive reviews and clear the semester with flying colors.

As I went on to graduate from college, my dream was to build solutions that help alleviate real-life struggles. I could not and did not be a part of the corporate system as a spectator. Merely being a part of the process was not my calling. I had to be inside the ring and play with all my strength. I dreamt of playing an active role in a software development team.

GeekyAnts helped me realize my dream. Instead of being an insignificant part of a large organization, I joined GeekyAnts as a fresher who was relied upon to become significant. My seniors here introduced me to new technologies such as React Native. They provided me with an opportunity to create a structured way of working on an array of projects. 

My mentors were available to solve doubts all the time. They accorded me the ownership of my work which motivated me to put in my best efforts every single day. The self-learning habits that played a major role in my academic life also helped me learn more at work. My seniors encouraged me to engage in self-learning. It was and still is a great learning experience.

After all these years of learning and working here, I now lead a team and work towards implementing the same core values that my seniors inculcated in me. I try to be empathetic towards my team members and the clients we partner with. The balance I strive to achieve is coming up with innovative solutions that fulfill client requirements and do not overwhelm my team.

I look forward to creating an environment where my team feels comfortable enough to reach me for any difficulties in the coming year. Teams across organizations have become isolated after the pandemic hit. It is now time to meet people in person and have conversations about their professional challenges started. Many might be unaware of the right approach to solving issues. I plan to change that and build a strong enough team to take on every challenge that comes its way. I don’t just want to be a manager. I wish to be friends with each team member of mine.