A New Chapter.

Photo by John-Mark-Kuznietsov

I knew it would feel different... That first step on Indian soil compared to when I had first come to India 6 months before.. When I was younger I did not imagine dedicating a chapter of my life to living in India. I am happy that I remained open-minded // patient enough to embrace all that has been India.

I arrived to India without having a job - the company that I had planned to work for decided not to hire me the night before my flight. I have always believed in myself - so I figured worst case... an expensive vacation. Within a week I had found a job in a travel company as a content writer // social media manager.

This would be a type of work I had never done before. While my work life has not always been ideal, I am a part of a team of people from over 6 different countries. This has been one of my families while living in India. As someone who is constantly looking to understand the globalized world in a deeper way my fellow co-workers have been a boon.

Another family for me while living in India has been the expat community. People from Egypt, Russia, Brazil, Sweden, England, Nepal, & various other areas of India. This has been the backbone of my social life. However instead of running bar crawls I participate in them, ever asking questions about different peoples culture & lives.

While I am grateful for this past period of my life - I am keenly aware it has ended. I will search for more meaningful work living in the United states within the next few months.

A little about me to future employers - 

I am someone who is constantly looking to optimize my life. I am unwilling to live in a world where good enough is an acceptable standard operating procedure. I want to be a part of a team. Working with others - picking their brains about different strategies or tactics is how the best ideas come out I believe.

I believe that analysis used for games such as chess can be valuable in a business setting. Surely nothing will ever be as black & white as running a chess board state through a computer simulator, but we can review business decisions as such. A commitment to growth through feedback is the reason to me that that analysis is done. I was advised recently that feedback is fundamental to our own development.

Photo by Hiedi Sandstorm

Where Will I go Next?

I've always had the notion of owning my own business. Leveraging my abilities as a passionate generalist to bring in new ideas & perspectives that will achieve long term growth. I guess that is a sexier way to say be a consultant. I prefer accomplice though. When I think about the word accomplice - I think mischief, disrupting something. What I hope to disrupt more than anything is the cancer that is bad leadership that exists in the world.

I am a leadership nerd. I love reading histories of ancient rulers innovative strategies to create a better life for their people. With the current world configuration ancient kingdoms have given way to companies. In particular CEO's are symbolic of regional kings & queens throughout the ages. My allegiance is to good leadership first & foremost but my highest priority when I come back to the United States is learning good leadership in a hands-on setting. I still have more theoretical knowledge of leadership vs. practical experience so I am committing to being a follower right now.

How can you help?

I will for sure need some mentorship... What are some lessons in leadership that I can learn from you? What do you define as good // bad leadership? I want to collaborate with people to have conversations about different leadership perspectives in different industries.  

As a passionate generalist I am able to bring in a lot of different perspectives that might not be known by a someone who is a specialist. In this way I bring a valuable perspective to the table. I will be grounding myself in a bit more of the fundamentals of business such as finance & basic business planning. Creating a network // consistent content that I am thinking about will be a big part of my future as well.

I am ecstatic about what my future holds. Thank you everyone for all of the support via social media, whatsapp, & in person. Without the support of all the people I love I would not be able to be following my dreams like I am right now.

With love,

-Tim O'Sullivan

Photo by Mantas-Hesthaven