Radhika Nair, Director, Workplace Investing Technology, Fidelity Investments India, shares insightful snippets from her career journey with the firm and talks about what excites, inspires, and drives her to continually pursue excellence.

Describe your journey so far.

When I was still pursuing my graduation degree, I began my career as an information technology lecturer, teaching Microsoft applications to students of different age groups. It was a proud moment for me, as this job was offered to me at an early age. This was my first step into the world of IT as a professional. While this was not a planned move, it helped me launch what was to be an exciting career ahead. I next began teaching programming languages such as C, C++, and Java for college students at the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT).

Through these stints, I began developing a keen interest in IT, primarily the coding space. This led to my first assignment as a software engineer with an e-publishing US-based IT company, Mentorix Technologies, which was later acquired by Lionbridge. All this took place in the dream city of Mumbai.

Lionbridge Technologies being a product-based company, I was able to hone my skills, during my three-year stint with them, in developing a graphical user interface (GUI) and Structured Query Language (SQL) database, and also got an opportunity to lead a project in the absence of the team manager. It was a pivotal juncture, as it helped me realize my potential in this domain. Although it had not come easy, this responsibility helped me groom my skills in the product development lifecycle space, from requirement gathering to design, development, and deployment for production. I had many opportunities to foster a strong engagement with our onsite clients while providing solutions in line with their requirements. This is where I got my first insight into the requirements that a leadership role would entail.

My journey so far has been all about seizing opportunities, carving out paths for myself, developing my skillsets, and imbibing leadership values to grow in my career. One of the takeaways from my journey has been learning new facets of the IT domain, taking on new challenges all the time, and moving forward to succeed in whatever I did.

What made you choose Fidelity as a preferred employer?

In December 2006, I entered a new phase of my life when I got married and moved to Bangalore. I was keen to continue pursuing my career and began looking out for new assignments in Bangalore. Fidelity was one of the first few opportunities that came my way and after several rounds of interviews and discussions, I was offered a role. It’s been 16 blissful years since, and I have never looked back.

As a resident of Mumbai, I had always aspired to build a career there rather than any other city. However, Fidelity provided me all I needed to grow my career. I have had the privilege to work in several distinct roles, teams, and business groups throughout my career here and gain exposure to a global work culture, a plethora of growth opportunities, and above all, appreciation for all my contributions.

One important factor that led me to take up this role with Fidelity was when my manager who interviewed me offered me the opportunity to become an analyst while also working as a developer. I have always felt that if you are close to the customer or user and are, therefore, better able to understand their needs and design requirements, you will be able to develop better solutions for them.

My role as an analyst did indeed help me get closer to business requirements, and I thoroughly enjoyed this role during my formative, early years in Fidelity.

The work culture at Fidelity has provided me an environment in which to thrive and revel in my work for the last several years. I have experienced this culture from the time of my first interview. Fidelity’s global standards, values, leadership support, and overall ecosystem has made me feel an integral part of the organization throughout my time here. Fidelity has given me so many first-time experiences in my career, for which I will be forever indebted to this organization and grateful for the empowerment and trust it has in its employees.

In our careers, there are times when work feels like a daily routine, and we start missing the challenges that we have been able to surmount at various points in our journey. This pushes one to look for something new in one’s role and aspire for more challenging assignments at various points. I have been fortunate that Fidelity has constantly provided me new assignments and even new roles during my journey, and I have been able to maintain my productivity with each new role. My move to a scrum leader and later a product owner’s role has been a part of this beautiful journey.

How would you describe your journey with Fidelity so far?

During my tenure at Fidelity, I have enjoyed playing different roles such as software engineer, systems analyst, people manager, and even an agile leadership role as a scrum leader. These roles have helped me grow as an individual and a professional while working across different business lines. Currently, I am in a product owner role, which has given me the opportunity to switch from a techno-functional role to a business-oriented one that I was passionate about.

All this is thanks to the organization’s commitment to promoting career vitality among its employees. I also appreciate the constant support from our Talent Development team in providing us a universe of opportunities to upskill ourselves. Their support opens critical doors for individuals taking on new roles, enabling them to gain the required skills while preparing to take up these new roles.

We also have specialized programs at Fidelity designed to enable woman professionals to develop the skills required to move into leadership roles. I have been able to benefit from these opportunities to grow as a leader and professional.

Fidelity also provides us several platforms to apply our learnings. These have helped me discover and grow my skills, including communication and working effectively with various stakeholders. I am immensely grateful for the tremendous support I have always received from business partners globally and the trust they have reposed in me.

Apart from our routine work, we also have opportunities to be a part of organizational and business unit initiatives, such as coaching and mentoring programs. I have been able to actively contribute to several initiatives during my career, especially those that enable me to mentor young women professionals. These opportunities have allowed me to collaborate and connect with many leaders and employees outside of my domain, enabling me to broaden my networking skills. The beautiful aspect of these initiatives is that they have given me the autonomy to apply my knowledge and skills towards conceptualizing, designing, and executing mentoring and training programs especially for women in technology. It’s personally very gratifying to receive feedback from participants and see how such programs are benefiting so many.

In your view, what are the attributes that are required to be a successful leader at Fidelity?

I am proud to be a part of this wonderful organization. Fidelity stands by sound leadership principles and provides opportunities to enable everyone to thrive, irrespective of the nature of their roles. At Fidelity, all are enabled and encouraged to contribute towards building and growing the organization. These leadership principles enable me to bring my best self to work every day. Successful leaders at Fidelity are those that imbibe these principles in their day-to-day work

Can you share your most cherished moment at Fidelity so far?

A career highlight I cherish was when I was selected as a product owner in Workplace Investing India. This was truly special, as this recognition and opportunity was given by our global partners after several rounds of interviews and discussions. The role required driving cross-business collaboration and building core technological features that would benefit the customer.

What is the best advice you have received as a professional?

I would like to highlight two pieces of advice I have received:

Be a true caring leader who demonstrates immense emotional intelligence and use this to support your team.

The art of delegation is powerful. It stimulates creativity and develops various skills among your team members. It provides them the freedom to tackle delegated tasks in their own way, thus empowering them.

What are some of the attributes you look for in a person you would want to hire for your team?

I look for these three traits, which I believe are required to be a good professional:

Agility: In this fast-changing world, you need to be constantly agile and always ready to unlearn to learn.

Be yourself: Be confident, believe in yourself, and take bold steps during your journey.

Resilience: In trying new things, you will fail at times. That is okay. However, fail fast and learn fast. Pick yourself up and try again.

Describe a hurdle that you were proud of crossing.

When I ventured into the product owner role, there was no defined framework on the expectations and responsibilities, as it was new to the group. I had to unlearn to gain new skills, believe in myself, build new skills, develop a clear view of the vision and roadmap, and work effectively with various stakeholders. The biggest change I had to make was to change my mindset and move away from only looking at the ‘how’ of tasks to focusing on the three W’s as well (Why, What, and When). With the support and guidance I received from my leaders and peers, I was able to successfully navigate this roller-coaster journey and emerge as a strong leader.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs

Views expressed are as of the date indicated and may change. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments.