When Delivering Results Comes at a Cost: Why I Transformed My Work Life
Sri Vamsee Krishna M. RSVM
Principal Business Analyst
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Riverwoods, IL
Delivering at all costs
I always thought of myself as someone who could deliver. But I’ve only recently realized what that actually meant. It meant delivering at all costs.
Over the years, I developed a habit of putting everything in the backseat for work, including my personal life.
I struggled with bouts of anxiety and stress over leading mini work projects. My mindset negatively impacted my stress levels, health and personality. I realized it isn’t sustainable and I couldn’t put my personal life in the backseat.
Now, I’m starting to learn new ways to manage my work-life balance. I’ve adopted a different working style, which allows me to calibrate my time and also better estimate my needed effort at work. I’m on the path there— albeit just at the first mile.
Rebuilding through grief
The best decision I ever made was joining Discover. I was recovering from my mom’s death and realizing how much of my life was built around where I worked. I needed a change and applied to Discover. At the end of my interview, while the last person escorted me out, I asked about the culture. They said it was awesome. It wasn’t until after I started that I knew what they truly meant.
The job and culture allowed me to look and learn everywhere. Allowed me to look at areas that I never thought of before, including my working style. I love working for a company that actually cares about their employees (hello, benefits) and has diverse teams that can fully collaborate.
Learning self-awareness
My thesis supervisor for my master’s degree always said, “You should be able to evaluate your own work.” Over the years I’ve understood the layers underneath this advice. Understanding my abilities impacts my mindset. I need to be able to see myself and my work clearly in order to represent myself. The better I’ve gotten at seeing myself, the more realistic my expectations are for myself too. And it’s helped me with year-end reviews!
Crucial conversations
The Asian Professionals at Discover (APAD) Employee Resource Group (ERG) gave me the opportunity to understand and learn who I am, as Asian. Through events like the crucial conversations session on Asian hate, I’ve been able to understand what my fellow Asians face every day. I didn’t know about internment camps during WWII until recently. Thanks to APAD, I’m now reading more about it. A recent leadership panel discussion, and the crucial conversations events, were so impactful in understanding the importance of speaking up, expressing your feelings and sharing your story. I signed up for bystander training and hope to continue to learn more.
Mastering self-acceptance
There was a phase in my life where I struggled to cope with being mistreated at work. Work was everything to me back then. As a result, the conflict made me uncertain of myself. I spent a lot of energy thinking about “presenting” myself instead of just being myself. From this experience, I learned about self-acceptance. I learned to forgive myself more. I realized who I am is not defined by how I’m treated. I completely changed my attitude. I’m now on the path to understanding myself— though I’m still getting there.
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