Doing the Un-thinkable!

Anjan Raina

What my fall and rise at Public Speaking taught me about transformation, mentoring and giving back!

As a Sales Manager at Microsoft UK Public Sector, I build strategic partnerships with our customers and drive Digital Transformation for the good of UK citizens and civil service. 

To ensure Microsoft’s technologies are translated into meaningful business capabilities and outcomes  involves delivering major transformational change programmes but my professional journey  has been heavily influenced by the personal transformational ‘Paths I’ve chosen’ 

I had never thought I would lead a public speaking group. On the contrary, public speaking was my worst nightmare. As an introvert, I had such a great fear of public speaking that when I had to speak in front of an audience, my eyes would be glued to my papers. A few years ago, disheartened by my inability to address a small audience, I resolved to overcome this fear and joined Toastmasters International. When I left India in 2017 to do an MBA, I was President of Toastmasters International’s biggest Chapter in India (Delhi).

After a first few unsuccessful speeches, I dreaded being picked to speak during and stopped attending meets altogether, until the Chapter President cajoled me to re-join.  My third speech was evaluated by a veteran speaker who gave me an honest appraisal, “Young man, you need to start believing in yourself”. That struck a chord and I steadied myself. Words when said and articulated in the right way can change someone’s mind, alter someone’s belief. Mentoring has the power to bring someone from the slums of life and make a successful person out of them. 

For someone concerned about fitting in the Toastmasters arena of Eloquence, I received heartfelt acceptance and mentorship. Through consistent efforts the crippling phobia was replaced by manageable nerves, and I started enjoying public speaking, winning competitions and giving back to the Chapter by encouraging, mentoring and leading members in their journey towards becoming confident and skilled interlocutors. 

My learning experiences in overcoming public speaking phobia helped me discover internal resources I didn’t know I owned. During my MBA, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone through courses, internships and consulting projects across industries I’d never experienced and that enabled me to switch careers from Management consulting (pre-MBA) to Technology (Cloud) Sales at Microsoft UK, driving meaningful outcomes like enabling Data-driven decisions by Cabinet Office on matters of National Security, Met Office to make better weather predictions, HMRC to track tax defaulters but most importantly helping all of you stay connected with co-workers, friends & family through Microsoft Teams in these ‘unprecedented’ times.

I am most proud that this transformative experience has helped me guide others and mentor them in conquering their biggest challenges. I love supporting & motivating peers, friends and early-in-careers on personal transformation, problem-solving and converting weaknesses into strengths. Ironically, I now leverage my public speaking capabilities to run a popular customer Podcast Series at Microsoft to build my sales pipeline (and hopefully meet unrealistic Sales Quotas) 

Most importantly, my personality has been shaped towards being improvement driven and I have learnt to lead and to follow; abilities that empower me to accept greater challenges. 

What’s going to be your next think the un-thinkable and do the un-doable story?

Anjan Raina
Enterprise Sales Manager at Microsoft UK
Find more about my transformation, career journey and podcasts and here (Linkedin)