Priya Bajaj, EWMBA 22 - Student Always: On Constant Learning and Continuous Personal Growth

OneHaas

Our guest on this episode is Priya Bajaj, currently Head of Engagement Management at Google Cloud for US West. She is an experienced business and technology professional with extensive career experience with tech giants.

Priya is originally from India, but she grew up in Doha, finishing high school there. She then came to the US to pursue her undergrad.

In this episode, Priya shares what it was like growing up in the Middle East, where the culture is so diverse. She also talks about going to college in the US and how she literally Googled the top schools to find the right one, ultimately ending up in Georgia Tech, where she spent most of her formative years.

Priya also tells us why she still pursued an MBA even after accomplishing so much in her career and how she uses what she has learned in B-school in her current leadership role.

Along with engaging executive leaders in her work, Priya is also passionate about creativity and giving back to the community.

Episode Quotes:

On her experiences at Georgia Tech

"Most transformative years of my life, for sure. I think my mindset, my values, everything was challenged in those four years. I had the privilege to be meeting people from all walks of life, meet some great friends there, and learn a lot from people. It was a journey. At Georgia Tech, there were people who challenged my belief system, created awareness with respect to what's a different way of thinking about certain scenarios. And I appreciate that. I learned so much during those four years, not necessarily academically, but personally, about my hopes for life, what are the things that I like, what is the kind of life that I want to live? All of that reflection happened in those four years."

Why she pursued an MBA

"The first one, again, student always. Truly, for me, that constant learning was very important. So, getting an MBA fulfilled that part of me that wanted to learn more. The second was imposter syndrome. At Google, there are so many amazing people that I always felt, am I playing catch-up with their brilliance and their expertise? And do they know something more that I don't know? And since I knew I'm going to be in the business side of things for the rest of my journey, at least how I see it now, I wanted to make sure I, at least, understand at a one-on-one level, what are the different aspects of running a business as a leader? And what better way than to learn it in a structured manner at this school?

And the third reason was to learn from other people. I think we as human beings are meant to be social beings. We are not meant to just be put in one place. And the best learnings and reflections that I get are from conversations and idea exchange and conversations with other people. And I really felt that, at Haas, meeting people from different backgrounds, bringing different perspectives, just like how it was at Georgia Tech, helped me think through the way I'm thinking about certain things. Opened my mind to different concepts, different ways of approaching, and grew myself professionally."

On giving back to the community through mentorship

"One of the things that keeps me grounded is giving back. Every six months, I mentor two women who are either at Google or outside. And I do this in a six-month rotation to allow for me to scale my impact, but also to allow them to take the learnings and go be successful. The reason it is so important for me is because I am acutely aware of how privileged we are to be here in the Bay Area working for the best firms. I would not be where I am today without the help of other mentors who coached me and guided me, either in a formal or informal capacity. The best thing I can do is pay that forward. And mentorship is one of the best ways I find of doing that."

One piece of advice for MBA students

"The biggest thing I would say is to not get pressured by the concept of networking. I have always done what I term as selective networking, because there often are going to be people in the room who are not there at every bar, who are not there at every party, but they still manage to get a lot out of the program. And I think I am one of them. And I would still like to think I'm friends with many people in my cohort because I took out the time to do those one-on-one relationships and create those bonds that were outside of the traditional networking avenues. So, for those who are unable to participate in those traditional avenues, I would say, don't be afraid of selective networking."

Show Links:

• Priya Bajaj LinkedIn

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