Derrick Menezes: Wie die Elternzeit zu einer beruflichen Neuorientierung führte

Yeliz Castillo:
Hello everyone. This is my first episode and I’m really happy to welcome in today’s episode or in my first episode, Derek Menezes to join me for a very interesting conversation. He is the global head of talent management at Bolt and we’ll talk today about his transformation journey and how he changed his career path after coming back from parental leave and we’ll share his challenges and yeah, with the changes that he had to go through. Really excited to have you here today. Thank you so much. So my, you’re very welcome. So my first question would be, why is this topic important to you?

Derrick Menezes:
Thank you. Thanks for having me here. Yeah, this topic is important to me because I think it was a life-changing moment that I was experiencing and it transformed the way that I was thinking about myself and my career. And it was not only a professional thing, right? It was also on the personal side that things were changing dramatically. And as a result, it did get me to think completely differently than I had thought in the past.

Yeliz Castillo:
Okay, so it has also affected the way you then worked with people around you, is that what you’re saying? Or was it more like your own mindset?

Derrick Menezes:
Potentially, it also changed the way that I worked with people around me because life changes and life is not simple, it is complicated. So when you transform yourself, it’s not only about a professional transformation, it’s a personal transformation as well. And I think this experience did have an impact both professionally as well as personally.

Yeliz Castillo:
Absolutely. Great. Would you then share with us your story and what exactly happened?

Derrick Menezes:
Yes, absolutely. So this was October of 2023. that’s when, and just taking a little step back, before that, I was blessed with a baby boy. And I decided not to take my parent to leave immediately because I realized that parent leave potentially needs to be taken in a more strategic time.

Yeliz Castillo:
No.

Derrick Menezes:
And the time that I planned was when he was going to turn around one year old. So that was the time that I planned for a parental leave. So it was October of 2023. And that was the time that I had decided that, okay, this is when I’m going to go on parental leave. And it’s not an easy decision, right? Because on the person’s side, things, you can plan things, but on professional side, things can change on its own, right?

And exactly at that point in time, what was happening in the organization that I was in, there was a restructuring that was going on. And that was a point that I knew potentially when I come back from parental leave, things might drastically change for me. So it was a decision that, should I delay my parental leave because this can impact my career or should I go ahead with my parental leave and protect my career?

And this was a very lengthy discussion with my wife and we thought through it because it was not only a professional choice, it was also a personal choice. And I decided to make a decision to go ahead with my parentily because it does, you can’t lose those moments in life, right? It was a time that I really wanted to be around my child. I really wanted to experience him growing up at that point in time.

And that was the time when the child actually starts opening his eyes and starts exploring the world, right? Because as an infant, they don’t do much, but around the year of one, that’s when things really start happening. And I didn’t want to miss that opportunity for the world, right? So I said, okay, I’ve done a lot in my career so far. Potentially I can think about it and see where it leads.

So while I was on parental leave, I stopped thinking about work, completely cut off. And I’m grateful that I got the opportunity to do that. And then when I was closer to coming back to work, that’s when I was reached out by my manager then. And she told me that, OK, we have gone through this restructuring. And there are a couple of options for you on the table. One, you go back to your previous role, but this role has completely changed and potentially it’s not exciting enough for you. And the second option is that we have a new career path for you. This is leading talent management for the org. This has not been set up in the past and we have not been able to hire a person in this position. So do you think that you can make this change?

So, yeah, even though I had thought that, okay, I’ll take it as it comes. These changes, of course, they impact you, right? Because I was doing people partnering and heading people partnering functions for the last 13 years. And this was a change in my career where I have not headed talent management before. Of course, I’ve done a lot of things around talent management and programs and talent management with the businesses that I’ve worked with, but not really led it as a function, got that deep into it. So I thought this…

There are two ways to go with it. Stay with what I have done. That’s a less risky option. I know exactly what I need to do. I can close my eyes and do the role of people partnering. And the second option is, OK, do you want to jump into the deep end of talent management? Set up this function from scratch and lead this function, which has not been done before in the organization. Yeah.

Knowing me, if you know me well, I am a risk taker in my life. I have made multiple risks. When I feel that I’m settled in my career and when I feel comfortable, that’s exactly the point when I take the next jump. So it has happened multiple times in the past where I moved from India to Germany and then three and a half years in Germany, I moved to the UK. So there have been massive transformations for me.

I’ve never done this professional transformation, right? Because this is like changing your career path. And it might seem simple that, I’m moving just one team to the other, but it’s not, right? It is a big decision. But given that I have taken risks in the past and it has paid off substantially, I believe that when you have to take risks and when you have to transform yourself, there is no right time, right?

And I thought this was a great opportunity for me to diversify my career, move into a different stream of HR and also explore that stream. And eventually I think I believe it has paid off because the last one year has been all about transforming myself, learning about the role, understanding new areas of HR, building a team, an amazing and awesome team that I have right now and I believe that the last one year has been truly, truly rewarding for me and my career.

Yeliz Castillo:
That’s great. And what would you say was like the hardest decision in all of this? Was it choosing between like which path to go to or was it more like facing the uncertainty about the role? What would you say was like the hardest decision or the hardest moment in all of this for you?

Derrick Menezes:
Yeah, the hardest decision was the uncertainty, right? Because whenever you are transforming, you never know what’s on the other side, right? As I’ve never worked in this career stream before, I did not know what I’m headed into. It was a complete unknown. I’m, of course, very grateful to my manager and my team for supporting me through this transformation because trust me, if you don’t have a supportive team and manager, it will not work right. And especially when you come back from parent to leave, there is a huge transformation on the personal side and then easing into work is not easy. And I think I am extremely grateful to my organization, my manager and my team. And of course my family as well, my wife was supporting me through this journey because these transformations are not easy for anyone. And it is, it’s a huge unknown. You never know what’s on the other side.

Yeliz Castillo:
Yeah, for sure. And how did you then deal with the changes like after you started the new career, obviously then also have the big change in, you know, your private life with having then a child who’s probably also then more active and needs more attention and all of that. Like how did you manage to create like the right headspace for yourself to succeed, I guess in both the best way possible.

Derrick Menezes:
Yeah, so I think parenting teaches you that, right? When you become a parent, there is no manual guide to your child. And as you become a parent, you start learning on the job. And you also start learning different skills of how do you do things differently? How do you think out of the box? How do you start learning faster because you’re literally dealing with a child, an infant human being that you need to bring into this world. And I think these are some of the skills that I learned becoming a new parent. And I think that also helped me taking on this new role, So it was literally parenting this new role and birthing this entire organization, which did not exist much in the past in the organization. And I think these were some of the skills that I learned from my personal life, which I brought into my professional life. And it did help me succeed in this role.

Yeliz Castillo:
Yeah, great. And what would you say when you then had your first day in the new role, how did you start? What was the plan? How did you think, okay, I’m going to tackle this this way? What was maybe the first, if I would have been a fly on the wall, what would I have seen you tackling or how you got into the new chapter in your career?

Derrick Menezes:
It was a challenging moment because as I said that I have done a lot of programs in talent management but when you’re leading this entire function it’s a completely different ball game. I started, obviously before I got into this role I had a little bit of time to get into day one.

And during that time, was towards the fag end of my parental leave. I started researching on talent management. I started networking with a lot of people from my network, reaching out to them, understanding what they are doing in the space of talent management. I started reading up a lot, talking to friends, understanding what’s happening in different various organizations across the world. And that gave me a good insight into how I should plan and organize myself. Then I started working with my manager on building out the vision, the roadmap and the strategy for the function. And that was a point in time that I believe it’s it that was my transformation journey, right? Because you don’t just jump into the tactical stuff, you need to really plan strategically on how do you want to move forward in your career. And this was a strategic move as well for me.

So I had to think about it, do my research, network, talk to people, and then understand, now this is the team that I’m going to build. What exactly are the nuts and bolts that I currently have in the organization? And what do I need to get in to set this up for success? Right? So yeah, it was a very interesting last one year. Yeah, I’ve learnt a lot through this journey.

Yeliz Castillo:
Great. And are there any failures that you can maybe share with us that would maybe help others in that space right now?

Derrick Menezes:
I think one, I won’t say it’s a failure, right? I think one of the things is you’re constantly in doubt yourself because, and it’s self-sabotaging, right? Because sometimes given that you’ve not had that experience in the past, you will constantly doubt your experience. You’ll doubt your capability, your potential.

There are like several things that creep up in your mind constantly. And I think that was happening with me as well, right? Given that I was dealing with things on the personal side as well, which was the massive change. And then on a professional side as well, I was dealing with another set of changes and it’s nerve wracking, right? So it was extremely hard that period in time. But what helped me is something that I believe…

So I’m a psychology student. I’ve also done a bit of coaching. So I’ve certified in coaching and I believe this was the time that I really needed some support, which was not only in my environment, but it was an external support. So that’s where I also reached out to a coach and that coach really helped me through this journey. Not only on the professional side, but also on the personal side and that just helped me keep myself together. Because things, it was in a rocky situation. I was dealing with a lot of change at that point in time. And my coach did play a big part in helping me through this period.

Yeliz Castillo:
That’s amazing. I think that sometimes it’s so easy to underestimate the external support that you can actually get yourself, whether that is a book or a podcast or a coach or a friend or a therapist or whatever it is that can make such a difference to just have, I guess, some sort of guidance or a place where you can go and you know, be heard or let something out or gain some new knowledge to the gap that you have in your mind as well or the doubts that you’re facing. So I think that’s a really good example of, yeah, to ask for help when you need it. And I think you did that in a very great way. Obviously it sounds like, okay, you managed it all and then you all sorted it out. But even like the self doubt, think I can like, anyone can relate to that. Like whatever you do and that’s new and unknown. Same for me with this podcast, for example, now, right. Is there so much self doubt and so much, overthinking because it’s just, yeah, the uncertainty at the same time, place to grow. Right. So, yeah, I think that’s a, that’s a really, really good example. And, you said that you, in the beginning of your journey you were reading into things and you know like doing your own research kind of. Is there anything in particular that you said like has really helped you? Was it like books or was it anything like a specific form of knowledge gaining that you say that has really helped me?

Derrick Menezes:
So I think it’s a bit of multiple things, right? And I think what helped me the most one was actually going deeper into myself, right? So going within understanding what the experiences that I already have, right? Because I think there was a vast amount of knowledge that I already had in the field that I was doubting myself on.

I think my manager really believed that, this guy comes with immense knowledge and experiences and that can make him successful in this role, right? So that was one belief that actually got me going. So I needed to tap into that inner experience and knowledge. The second thing was my network, right? I think that was also a great support because your experiences and knowledge is limited, but your network actually helps you gain a lot more experience and knowledge than you personally would have yourself. So that’s where I have reached out to a lot of people in my network to understand how they have built out those teams and functions and what are they doing in the space of talent management. And the third is of course researching the web, right? I think that’s always there. That’s always something that is handy and you can do it. And it is extremely useful and beneficial. And currently we are in the age of AI. So I won’t be ashamed to say that I did use a lot of AI as well to help me understand what are some of the things that potentially I’m missing. And I think it has also been super, super useful.

So probably AI is a different topic for another day, but I think these are the three elements that did help me structure myself and plan my steps ahead.

Yeliz Castillo:
Yeah, no, think there, mean, I think it’s, it’s a great thing to use AI actually, because it’s going to be the future and it’s going to be, again, it’s going to be a topic probably for another episode is it, or it’s a topic by itself. But I think I’m just saying this because I think it’s very important to encourage people to use it whenever you do have a need because it is the future and it’s going to be more and more integrated in our everyday life. So I think the sooner you get going and you making use of it and knowing how to make it used to you, then I think you can move forward way quicker because that’s the point of AI, right? yeah, thank you. That’s, I think that’s, that’s really good takeaway. And I also liked the fact that you mentioned, what you said about your manager in the beginning that again, I think it’s so crucial to really have someone who believes in you. And sometimes when you doubt yourself that they see that in you, that you maybe can’t see, you know, of the capabilities you have, or maybe because of the doubt or the overthinking, but like the support system is so, so crucial, right? To tackle those challenges or changes or yeah, the uncertainty again. So great.

Derrick Menezes:
Yeah, absolutely. If you feel you’re alone in the entire transformation, it can be really hard. You really, really need to have a support system to enable you. And that is the game changer, right? Because as human beings individually, we have a limited capacity and potential. And what can give you a boost of that potential is your network, it’s your society, it’s your entire ecosystem.

Yeliz Castillo: 
Yeah, totally agree. And actually I read ones or like I heard ones, I can’t remember where I got this from, that, you know, even when you have a lot of changes going on, they are positive. Like for example, moving to a nicer house, let’s say having a new car and I don’t know, having a promotion or like if those things happen back to back or, you know, close within a period of time, even though they’re positive, they can still have a negative impact on yourself in terms of you feeling overwhelmed because there’s so much change for your brain at once. So it’s not necessarily even the fact that, you know, something good happens, but a lot of change in a short period of time can still be very overwhelming and takes up so much energy for your brain and for yourself to process. So I think that in itself is also very important to take into consideration that, you know, we’re just human beings that are constantly evolving and I think now more than ever there is so much change happening constantly that it just takes really a network or yeah, as we said, like a support system to get over all of that, whether it’s a positive or a negative. So yeah, great. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us today. I would have one more question and this can be general or you know, the way you want to answer it, but what would be your top three tips for someone who goes through either the same situation or just general, you know, who was in a big change period of their life.

Derrick Menezes:
Yeah, I think the top three tips that I would have is one, truly believe in yourself, right? Because until you do not believe in yourself, you don’t know what you can unlock in terms of potential. And I think it’s that self-belief that can literally take you places and never doubt yourself during a transformation because that can actually take you down a completely different path, right?

It’s absolutely not a good place to be in. The second is make sure that you have a strong support system around you. So make sure that you are gathering the forces together and you do not feel you’re alone during this transformation, right? Because it’s that support system that can ensure that you are successful through the transformation journey. And the third is, I think, you need to have a broader approach to thinking about things, learning on the go and making sure that you’re taking in a lot of information and able to process it. So if you’re not able to learn during the transformation, it will become really hard. And if you don’t have that open mindset, the transformation can take a toll on yourself. So I think these are the three tips that I would have for anyone going through transformation.

Yeliz Castillo: 
Thank you so much Derek for being here today and all the great tips.

Derrick Menezes:
Thank you so much for having me here.