I grew up in a middle-class family in India and in a family that believed women should have a strong voice.

Among the many values I learned, I was encouraged to:

  1. Do what I wanted. I was not told I was arrogant; I was told I was independent.
  2. Ask why and challenge the status quo. I was not told I was difficult; I was taught that I could enable change.
  3. Be comfortable making decisions. I was not called bossy; I was called decisive.

I consider myself privileged because not everyone receives the support and respect they need to become fully themselves. The environment around us matters. When we are surrounded by people who recognize and nurture our strengths, we begin to trust those strengths. When we remain around people who do not see our value, we may eventually start seeing less value in ourselves. That is one reason I believe so deeply in strengths-based development.

Strength lives at the intersection

Today, I am an Associate R&D Director at Dow, leading a global analytical organization and supporting digital transformation within our Packaging and Specialty Plastics business. My portfolio gives me opportunities to transform the business through digital innovation while also helping develop future leaders. I am a mechanical engineer working in the chemical sector, within a polymer business. I am glad I do not fit the expected mold, because that difference gives me a perspective not everyone brings to the table.

Mechanical engineers are trained to see systems. That helps me approach problems holistically instead of viewing them through only one lens. My perspective is complemented by teammates who are exceptional materials scientists, chemists, and polymer experts. Our best innovation does not come from one person possessing every capability. It emerges from the combination of catalyst science, polymer design, chemical processes, analytics, digital capabilities, and application expertise. The same principle applies to individual strengths.

A strength is not simply something you are naturally good at. The real advantage exists at the intersection of:

Talent alone is not enough. Skill alone is not enough. Interest alone is not enough. The intersection is where a sustainable strength begins to emerge.

Discovering the perception gap

If you do not yet understand your strengths, start with an assessment. Use it as a reflection tool—not as a label or a limitation. Then ask people who know you well for feedback. Pay attention to where your assessment and their observations agree. Repeated patterns in what others say about you can offer valuable evidence about where your strengths live.

But also pay attention to the gap. The difference between how you see yourself and how other people experience you can be even more useful than the areas of agreement. That perception gap may reveal an overlooked strength, an ability you have not made visible, or something you believe you demonstrate more consistently than others experience. That gap is where some of the most important work of self-awareness begins.

How ACE fits within Discover, Align, and Rise

DARnova's Discover–Align–Rise framework describes a broader developmental journey. Discover means understanding your strengths, values, skills, and perception gaps. Align means deciding how those strengths should connect with the work, relationships, and life you want. Rise means turning that alignment into sustained action and growth.

ACE—Accelerate, Cultivate, and Elevate—is a practical discipline that can help you move through the Align phase and toward Rise. Discover–Align–Rise is the developmental arc. ACE is a way to practice it in everyday life.

Accelerate

Career progression is not only about moving faster. It is about becoming more intentional about where you direct your time, energy, and learning. I continue to accelerate my skills development by looking honestly at the capabilities I already have and the ones I still need to build. At one point, I did what any sufficiently lost person might do: I hired a career coach. I wanted a methodical approach to understanding my direction.

But acceleration is not limited to work. My daughter is 13, and I am increasingly aware that the time before she leaves for college is limited. I want to accelerate—not rush—the amount of meaningful time I spend with her.

At work, I accelerate my impact through stretch assignments, new ways of working, and innovation in sustainability. My portfolio has included single-use plastics, so helping transform the waste stream and close the loop has been an important part of that work. Today, my focus is digital transformation. That means understanding digital not simply as a tool, but as an ecosystem that can accelerate business impact. I am also accelerating my personal journey of understanding myself more deeply.

Ask yourself:

You do not have to choose only one area. Acceleration can be professional, personal, relational, or all three.

Cultivate

Cultivation is about discipline—the habits and conditions that help something important grow. All my friends warned me that life changes at 40. They were right. When you realize you can pull a muscle by sleeping in an awkward position, you know you have entered your 40s.

Here is what I am cultivating:

Consistent movement. I have exercised in some form for more than 20 years. It remains one of my greatest stress relievers. I also want to cultivate a more regular meditation practice.

Gratitude. I started keeping a gratitude diary. It is the first thing I turn to after waking and the last thing I use before sleeping. What stands out is that work is not the only thing I write about. I write about the people I love, my health, and the everyday experiences that contribute to a happy life.

The courage to be a beginner. I have been considering pottery and gardening. Despite being fully capable of killing a cactus, I have taken on the gardening challenge. So far, my plants have survived. Now I need to persuade them to bloom.

What you cultivate may also depend on your career stage. If you are early in your career, cultivate the discipline to learn. Find people you trust who will tell you the truth—including where their experience of you differs from your self-perception. If you are in the middle of your career, cultivate an intentional relationship between your professional and personal life. The split does not have to be 50/50. It does need to reflect what matters to you. If you are in the later stages of your career, cultivate the courage to follow your calling. Stop asking everyone else for permission to become who you already know you want to be.

Elevate

Elevation means expanding your perspective, judgment, contribution, and capacity. I elevate myself through reading. Sometimes I have four or five books going at once. I elevate myself through formal development—internal training, external programs, and leadership coaching. I also want to elevate my impact in the community. That includes becoming more engaged in organizations such as AIChE and serving on the board of Recipe for Success. My goal is to give back.

As a student, I elevated myself by participating in organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers and the graduate student body. Experiences like these teach skills that books alone cannot: teamwork, judgment, communication, decision-making, and navigating difficult situations.

Elevate your judgment. Elevate your ability to notice patterns. Elevate your willingness to listen to the instinct that tells you something is aligned—or that something is wrong. That quiet, persistent feeling often carries information worth examining.

What will you ACE?

Think about your own three dimensions:

You do not need to repair every weakness to create a meaningful future. You need to understand your strengths, place yourself in environments where they can grow, and use them with intention.

Three ideas to carry forward:

  1. Choose environments where your strengths are recognized and nurtured.
  2. Understand where your talent, skill, and values intersect—and where your self-perception differs from how others experience you.
  3. Discover and Align first. Then use ACE—Accelerate, Cultivate, and Elevate—to help yourself Rise.