Learning To De-Learn

Mathew John
Sabbatical Dates: 1st July 2025 - 30th September 2025

Well, to start with, this sabbatical was in my head more than a year ago and I had a chat with Vishal about it, sometime in late 2023. However, one thing kept leading to another and I had to figure out many things. An important thing was that I could not suddenly have a sabbatical in my sights without having someone take over my responsibilities.

Thankfully, one of our old senior staff rejoined the organization in March of 2024 and I could work with him to take over. In Dec 2024, he was designated CEO by the Board and then I started the transition. Not only was the sabbatical important, but it was also equally important to think about the future – how could a younger generation of leaders step up and start taking responsibility. I had thought that a transition period of 3 months would have been enough but realized that it was not enough and hence the delay.

Importantly, for this transition to take place, I had to have meetings with the senior team and explain to them, the process. In this, I was assisted by Sneh, one of the co-founders. This allowed the team to also relax and feel that I was not just dumping my work but that there were other people from the Board who could be reached. This sense of stability and continuity was important.

When I was away travelling, the sabbatical was much more meaningful as I was free. The challenge of having a personal house attached to the campus makes the idea of a sabbatical that much more difficult. Had to keep refusing and informing people that I could not join for many meetings as I was taking a break. Living so close to office has its pros and cons. In the initial formative years, it was great because it allowed you to be involved in everything but now, in later stages of life, I don’t want to be so closely involved in every decision.

I think that something that has come strongly to me during the sabbatical was the balance between personal and professional life. I think that most passionate folks struggle with this because you want perfection in what you set out to create. And that, in turn, affects family life – especially during that time of life when you are thinking of stepping back. You realize that maybe I should have spent more time with family. I have no answer to this and maybe this reflection is post-facto. Does it serve any purpose? What stayed with me was the quality time spent with family without any guilt feelings. As founders, it is very difficult to step out and just enjoy oneself – here, this was such a blessing.

For the team within, it took some time to get used to the fact that I was not around. By habit, when you are in office, people come up and ask for solutions. It forced them to start interacting with the CEO, Nandan – also, to see him as the person making decisions.

Initially, the struggle was in `keeping quiet’. Being a founder, one has the tendency to give one’s opinion on most things and without hesitation. However, it was a learning experience to keep quiet and let your successor take over and chart their own route.

For me, the biggest learning was to let go and just be!! For someone who is hands-on and wants to be involved, it was a de-learning process – how to sit still and watch from the background. It also brings along a whole sense of wellbeing and fulfilment – the urge to look at your mail or to respond on WA. I removed myself from all office WA groups and that was refreshing. Even now, have asked for being free for another 3 months so that the transition back is not so intense and heavy. I have also continued to keep myself away from the office workspace – not only does it `free’ the office of my physical presence but also gives me time which is more focused rather than getting myself involved in day to day matters.

I also feel that it is good that there is a minimum 3 month period – actually, I would have liked some more time but I am thinking of trying to create some policies internally. I feel that it is important that even on an annual basis, the senior team should switch off for a certain period of time. It may differ from person to person or from organization to organization. But being conscious of such needs helps the organization evolve.

So, in closing, what worked for me was just having an opportunity arise and because there is a process to it, it helped me plan and execute. Otherwise, it might have just remained a discussion. It might be interesting to have a small session of such alumni meet together and have a reflection. It will create a network (informal) and people could reach out to each other to chat and reflect. Even professionally, it might be a connect. However, this is purely a personal choice as there might be some who would not want to reveal their identity for various reasons and that is perfectly valid.

My personal advice – as founders and CEOs, we think too much of ourselves and our importance. It is healthy to step back and allow others to take over.

So, extremely thankful for this opportunity to take a break and step back. It was a great experience and much advised for institutional leaders.