#2 Why you should follow your inner passion with Suraj Pandey

In this episode, Sue Quackenbush talks with Suraj Pandey, Principal Solutions Engineer based in Melbourne.

Suraj shares how hobbies such as sports enrich different facets of his life, and how everyone can unleash their inner passions. He also talks about the big impact of continuously trying new things, even if they seem a bit unfamiliar at first.

Episode links: 

• Sue Quackenbush's LinkedIn
• Suraj Pandey's LinkedIn

Discover the opportunities at Dynatrace and take your career to the next level: careers.dynatrace.com

Transcript

Sue Quackenbush

Hi and welcome to Real Talks. I'm Sue Quackenbush, Chief People Officer at Dynatrace and your podcast host. I'm inviting Dynatracers from around the globe to have real conversations about their experiences shaping our vibrant global culture. 

Welcome to the second episode of Real Talks. It's a great pleasure to introduce our guest today, Suraj Pandey.

Suraj Pandey

Hi Sue. Great to be here with you.

Sue Quackenbush

Suraj, you're someone who truly embodies the power of inner passion and has an inspiring life journey. So, before we get started, could you please give us a little introduction about yourself?

Suraj Pandey

Well, those are really humble words. I'm really humbled. Thank you, Sue. I've had the opportunity to grow up in many countries. And here today at Dynatrace, I'm a Principal Architect based out of Melbourne in Australia, taking over a whole lot of strategic customers in Australia.

Sue Quackenbush

So how did you find your way to Dynatrace?

Suraj Pandey

Well, that's an interesting journey, absolutely, Sue. When I was working at several companies in and around Australia, I have really seen Dynatrace in every customer; not just because it's an enterprise software, but also because it's so easy to adopt. That's how I realized I should work for this company. So hence I'm here. I want to be glad that I made the journey as a conscious decision.

Sue Quackenbush

I've heard also that you're a sports enthusiast.

Suraj Pandey

Absolutely, Sue. In fact, Spurs has given me that energy, that motivation, that inspiration to push myself to the next level. And that's how I continue to be healthy and active.

Sue Quackenbush

And one question I have for you is do you think you have enough flexibility at Dynatrace to practice the sports you enjoy?

Suraj Pandey

I must say, I think that is one of the best ever experiences I've had in a company like Dynatrace, not in terms of detail, but in the past life, you know, the software, the the type of work I used to do with my customers always kept me busy with my work, traveling, trying to fix here or trying to do that. In the industry terms, they call it as a do do yourself approach. But now, since joining Dynatrace, I see most of the things are really a well-designed for the customer. So I don't have to go into deep into the code levels or spend my Friday evenings or weekends doing all sorts of a do-it-yourself. It's all automatic, out of the box. And that gives me that extra time that I can spend with my family, my passion, and so forth. So, yes, the flexibility has been enormous.

Sue Quackenbush

So given your sports background, what did you learn from sports that helped you in your career?

Suraj Pandey

I must say, you know, one of the first and foremost things is your health, your well-being, your mindset, Right? How do you make sure that you enjoy what you do? Right. And sports is one of the places where I really want to present myself outwards, express myself, and challenge myself. Let me give you an analogy, right? In sports, if you, let's say, are on a motorbike and you're going at a certain speed, you're going to lose focus. The consequence of that is you are thrown off a motorbike - a disaster. The same thing, if at work or at any function, whether it be an executive function, roundtables, presentations. You need tob e really focused. You need to be absolutely telling yourself, this is it. You need to present yourself at the topmost level. So that is how I learn. So sports work-life balance, plus the worker aspect and new career advancement, everything is completely linked to that. So that's how I feel.

Sue Quackenbush

So how do you apply concepts like focus and perseverance and learning at work?

Suraj Pandey

So let me give you an example, Sue. You know, in a team, there are different types of people who are, you know, coming in in the career path. Some people like to learn by just looking at videos. Some people like doing it. And I tried to balance that. And I tell them, look, until you practice, until you do it, until you code you don't know how it's actually happening. One time, you know, I tried to write the code, and I got stuck in the same set of steps that my colleagues would get stuck on. And that's how I knew that until we tried to make things better and easier for people to conceive and learn, it's not going to be that easy for them to adopt, at least a newcomer or a new grad. So learning, balancing, being able to, you know, keep at it perseverance. I think that's all comes to an effect.

Sue Quackenbush

Well, I love that. So, what are you passionate about at work?

Suraj Pandey

Just like in every interview I take, including sports Sue at work, I feel that, you know, our customers need our best attention or best of ourselves. When I focus on work, I give them the best of me and my team to make sure their business is at the forefront. So Dynatrace as a platform, as the new innovation, things that's going on within the company. That all comes together as a team, as a village. We give them that outcome. And that's exactly my passion as well. To do best. Better is not enough. Best is the first thing.

Sue Quackenbush

Got it. That's awesome. For me, it's amazing how trying something completely new can often spark an unexpected passion. Can you tell us about a time when you did something new and ended up really loving it?

Suraj Pandey

Well, this is one of the stories I think I just remember from my first Perform 22 attendance back in the States. Tony Hawk, skateboard champion, said he started from nowhere. He went through all the pain points, all the troubles, all the challenges, financial, health, and injuries to get to this point. Then I said, you know, well, I've never tried once, so I got one myself. I got on to it. I fell down. Then, after the end of the first day, I was able to do that skateboard I've never done before it. So what I learned from that is that some people say this is risky. You might fall. You won't do this. You won't do that. But push yourself. You've got that passion inside you already. Take it out of you. You got to give it a go until you try and fail and learn - you'll be able to master it. I think that's how I try to relate the new experience, a learning experience.

Sue Quackenbush

So Dynatracers are known for their passion. How do you see that reflected in your daily life at Dynatrace?

Suraj Pandey

That's also something that I really noticed over the last few years I've been with the company. Whether I interact with the R&D Labs, the working hours, you know, those do not match with my time. So every morning, they wake up for Zoom Call or be it late at night. I see them trying to communicate. So our Dynatrace culture and community is so strong that they want to collaborate, they want to do team work and they passionate about what they're doing. The same thing also goes with our account executives. They really want to see their customers being successful, ultimately giving our customers the best business outcome that they desire.

Sue Quackenbush

So what key takeaway would you like to share with our listeners about following their inner passion?

Suraj Pandey

Well, first of all, I'm really thankful for giving me the chance to share my experience, my journey, whether it be sports, work life, everything else, just like like that, right? Everyone, I think, has their own passion, their own career path, their dream. I would rather tell them, you know, believe in yourself. You've got your health, your family, your friends, and Dynatracers supporting you. Take advantage of that and make sure that you look after yourself for your well-being, your mindset, and then everyone else around you benefits. Focus, perseverance. Try to make sure that your passion is unleased.

Sue Quackenbush

Thank you so much, Suraj, for joining me today and sharing your great insights into how you focus on passion in everything you do.

Suraj Pandey

It's great to be here, Sue. Thank you very much for having me.

Sue Quackenbush

And if you'd like to continue the conversation with Suraj or learn more about his journey, you can reach out to him on LinkedIn. Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Real Talks. Join us next month for another engaging conversation. Stay inspired and keep pursuing your passion.