In our latest P&G Alumni podcast episode, I interviewed the fabulous Bhavesh Shah. He drops some major wisdom, which I’ve tried to capture here. Friends, I’m so grateful we’ve stayed connected, because I learn from this wise man every time we talk. In fact, one of his nuggets was to be the luck in another’s life and I feel that’s just what he is in mine.

Look for experiences that round you out.

This was a great point – when we get itchy to move onward and upward, we often look for the next title or more pay. But Bhav encourages listeners to seek experiences that build out our skill set – go wide, not up. If you look to expand your experience set when looking for something new, you set yourself up for continued growth.

go broad corporate ladder

Now, we recognize that leaning into different experiences is scary. You may worry, “What if I fail?”

But… what if you succeed?

In fact, we often don’t realize it when we push for the next promotion that we may be plateauing in our career. So, look for experiences that round you out, vs. accelerate up.

Be the luck in other people’s life.

What does Bhav mean? He recognized how we’ve both been so lucky in our lives and our careers. It’s true – we’ve had great bosses and mentors, people who have helped us along. So the best thing we can do is to turn and pull. That is, become the luck in another’s life. And I couldn’t agree more with Bhav that this approach in life will pay back multiple times.

be the luck in another's life

I’ll pause here and recognize no career is all smooth sailing. Sure, there are bumps and people we would have preferred to not work for or with. But two things bear remembering: 1) We learned from those people and experiences, because humans grow and strengthen through friction, 2) We ought not fixate on the negatives, for risk of missing the luck and positivity from which we’ve also benefitted.

View everything as an opportunity.

Bhav grew up in Nairobi, Kenya where there was a lot of turmoil and specifically, persecution of Indians. This led his parents to take the kids and move to London with nothing. There, their close family of five started over, figuring out how to all live in one rented room. Even as they collected coins to pay a meter for electricity, Bhav and his siblings realized they had a great life together – and saw everything extra as pure opportunity.

OK, reading about his upbringing may not resonate as privilege. But Bhav always sees the opportunity – and he intentionally reflects to recognize the privileges he did grow up with. And he reminds our listeners that not everyone has had the same privilege they’ve had, either. What a wise, awesome leader. Had to post a photo from when we recently hiked to the Wisdom Tree 🙂

Bhavesh Emily Wisdom Tree

Listen to the full podcast here and for all my podcasts, please check out the podcast page on my site.

Interested in hearing more from Bhav? If you’re in Singapore this July, check him and this event out at ProcureCon Asia.