In the long run, knowledge remains the most valuable currency for being relevant, growing continuously, and building the career one aspires to.
When I joined the marketing team of Balsara Home Products in the early 2000s, it was a relatively small FMCG company with a fascinating portfolio of brands like Promise, Babool, Meswak, Odonil and Odomos. Like many small organisations of that era, there was very little structured onboarding or formal learning for fresh recruits. The expectation was simple — learn fast and deliver from Day 1.
To make things even more intimidating, many of our senior leaders came from companies like Hindustan Unilever Limited, Procter and Gamble, and Colgate Palmolive. They were exceptionally talented and naturally carried very high expectations from the teams working under them. We also worked with some outstanding creative and media agencies. Meetings were filled with terms like Gross Rating Points, Normalised Gross Rating Points, Share of Voice, Share Amongst Handlers, Weighted Distribution, Impact Index and Interactive Index — concepts that completely went over our heads in the beginning.
Honestly, the first few months were overwhelming. Many of us -- junior team members -- felt intimidated by the sheer talent around us; the expectations placed on us; and our own limited understanding of marketing at that stage. It felt like entering a completely different world.
But that phase also taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my career.
A Steep Learning Curve
A group of us juniors decided that instead of struggling silently, we would accelerate our learning. We put our egos aside and started reaching out directly to our agency partners. We requested our media agencies to conduct formal training sessions for us. We invited research agencies to help us understand market research methodologies. We asked Nielsen and IMRB teams to explain RMS data, household panel data, the terminology, how the metrics were derived and what they actually meant in business terms.
Looking back, that decision changed the trajectory of my career.
Those sessions helped me develop a logical understanding of marketing instead of just surface-level familiarity with jargon. They made it easier for me to engage confidently with external partners, ask better questions, interpret data meaningfully, and convert information into actionable insights.
Over the last 27 years, I have largely worked with challenger organisations — small and mid-sized companies that often hire management trainees but may not always have structured functional training programmes in place. Most onboarding processes focus on industry orientation, but very few organisations invest deeply in teaching functional brand management skills And the reality is, senior leaders often don’t have the bandwidth to train teams extensively, even if they possess the expertise themselves. So, most employees are left to figure things out on their own.
Early in our careers, this gap may not hurt us immediately because execution-driven roles allow us to learn while doing. But as we grow and our aspirations become larger, the expectations change. We are no longer expected only to execute — we are expected to think strategically, plan, interpret complexity, and make decisions. That is when knowledge becomes a real differentiator.
I believe a very large percentage of young professionals start their careers in organisations like these and face a major problem of growth later.
So, the real question is: what do we do about it? Do we spend our energy complaining about the organisation and its processes? Or do we take ownership of our own learning? My colleagues and I chose the latter, and I genuinely believe many of us continue to benefit from that mindset even today.
Never Stop Learning
Personally, I never stopped learning after that phase. Every time the industry evolved, new technologies emerged, or new-age agencies appeared with fresh jargon and fancy frameworks, I made it a point to ask questions — even if they sounded basic. I consciously chose to remain a student.
That mindset helped me avoid getting overwhelmed by buzzwords and instead focus on understanding the logic behind evolving marketing practices. More importantly, it helped me stay relevant in an industry that constantly reinvents itself and can be unforgiving to those who stop adapting.
Taking Ownership
Over the years, I have seen many junior and middle managers getting frustrated with gaps in HR processes, training structures, or organisational support systems. Some of those concerns are valid. But I also believe we always have a choice. We can either complain endlessly, or we can take ownership, seek help, ask questions, and learn from wherever the opportunity comes. At the end of the day, knowledge is one of the few assets that compounds over a lifetime.
So, don’t wait endlessly for the perfect training programme or an ideal organisation to shape your career. Take charge of your own learning. Ask questions. Seek mentors. Learn from agencies, peers, bosses, partners, or even competitors.
Because in the long run, knowledge remains the most valuable currency for staying relevant, growing continuously, and building the career you aspire to have.
The author is CMO, Continental Coffee. Views expressed are personal.