The most effective way to do it, is to do it. – Amelia Earhart
It is the end of the Navratri festival today in
India- nine days and nights where we as a nation worshipped the Mother Goddess
in all her nine forms- tough , tender, giver, teacher, protector etc. Here’s my
ode to the 9 strong women who have inspired me day in and day out. You will see
that its an eclectic mix drawn both from my personal and professional
life..These women have motivated me, taught me a lesson or two, inspired many
others and left an indelible mark on whatever they did in their personal or
professional lives. I hope the readers find the stories interesting and
inspiring..
The nine Goddesses are as follows :-
1.
Shivangi
Walke: My best friend, a Swizz citizen and a proud Indian at heart as she
calls her.She is an entrepreneur, leadership consultant, great mom, wife,
mentor and mind you also serves as a mentor to an aspiring Miss Universe New
Zealand….hmmmm
2.
Manjulabai
Chaudhari: Inspiration as they say begins at home. My great grandmother did
her double post graduation in Sanskrit and Mathematics in 19th
century Pune when education of girls was considered a taboo.She served the
education field tirelessly and also had an independent career when women
weren’t supposed to go beyond the boundaries of their house.
3.
Monica
Chaudhari: A leader par excellence based out of USA. She leads a business
franchisee at Merck/MSD globally and is an intrepid traveler, learner, hausfrau,sportsperson
all rolled into one..(not related to the other Chaudhari mentioned earlier J)
4.
Apurva
Purohit: One of the rare woman CEOs and head of a media group in corporate India who speaks
her heart out in an endearing way. Superlative performance is all that she
aspires for and gets it in anything that she does.. whether it is building
companies, brokering mega deals, writing, speaking or even raising a family..
5.
Sumita
Bose Roy- One of my first bosses who was also a lady.She was grace,
dignity, sharpness and zeal personified
6.
Annapurna
Das- An inspirational leader in the pharma industry in India who can
turnaround any situation with her insight , strategic thinking and drive. Also
one of the rare woman leaders to head a large business in the Indian pharma
industry!
7.
Vaishali
Kanse- Inspiration from the trenches!!Our housekeeper and cook of several
years with a positive attitude, mental toughness, great wit and something that
she is proud of- global experience(having worked in UK for several years) !She
can also bully me with her extra “knowledge” (her favorite word) of the Konkan
region in Maharashtra from where both of us originally hail..
8.
Poonam
Barua- The word warrior I think was coined looking at folks like her.An
economist by training Poonam started the pioneering WILL forum in India for the
development of women leaders in Corporate India
and continues with her quest with almost an evangelical zeal.I don’t
know how many awards and fellowships she has from the Whartons and the John
Hopkins’ of the world in different areas right from leadership development,
Economics to Conflict in South Asia
9.
Dr Vidya
Mepadath- A Coach and counsellor par excellence.She serves as a quiet
inspiration to many through the excellent work that she does in her chosen
field.
Salute To My Best Friend :Shivangi Walke( based out of
Switzerland)
How many times do you meet a real
woman who sweeps you off the floor with her grit, determination, warmth, desire
to learn and most importantly positivity? The woman that Maya Angelou describes
in the quote given above. That woman for me is my best friend, Shivangi Walke. Proudly
Indian at ‘heart and soul’, she is a Swiss citizen, a successful
entrepreneur, mother of 2 young children, a doting wife, sister in law,
daughter all combined into one. Why do I look up to Shivangi though we are of
the same age? I met her about 20 years back during our HRM Masters days at TISS
in Mumbai and our friendship still endures spread over two countries and
continents, marriage, children, careers, extensive travel, three post graduate
degrees… Since the past 17 years she is based out of Switzerland after
her marriage to Rajesh Chavhan.
There has never been a phone call or interaction with Shivangi
where I haven’t learnt something new. The last was when I told her how
determined I am now( obviously after much coaxing from her since several
years) to finally publish my first book and off she goes sending me links to
attend a few writer’s retreats in Europe that will polish my writing and help
develop the much required networks!! Shivangi was in a series of successful
global leadership roles based out of Zurich for almost 15 years in companies
like Novo Nordisk, Swiss Re, Syngenta before she decided to hang her boots and
start her own business. It was almost like now or never for her and her second
son was only 2. She started her business in the area of leadership and
organisational development consulting and it is a great success by any
standards in a short span of 3 years . She continues to work globally and
admits that managing this work along with her personal commitments and quest
for self growth remains a tight rope walk. Her business has literally grown
along with her second child Aarush.. In her day to day life you will find that
she is bubbly ,chirpy, warm girl full of exciting ideas related to personal and
professional growth . Till date I have never seen Shivangi either angry or
excited- never the extremes for her.
Shivangi is a fitness freak and ensures that both the mind and
body are taken care of in a busy day where she has multiple priorities and
challenges. She had a very difficult time with her first pregnancy, where
excess amniotic fluid confined her to the hospital bed right out of office for
70 full days!! She bore that with grit, continued to read from the hospital bed
and ensured that she was in a positive frame of mind when the child,Tanishk was
born.Tanishk has taken to his mother and is an avid reader along with being
extremely intelligent(he was actually recommended by the teacher to jump two
classes in the Swiss public schooling system).I owe a lot of my fitness journey
to Shivangi’s advice and guidance. She helps me in my professional journey too
with her tips and support.
Shivangi recently
completed her third post graduate degree i.e. an MSC in Organizational Development from Middlesex University, London - a cutting -edge program that
looks into OD through the lenses of Gestalt, Complexity and Systems thinking.
Previously she has completed MCIPD, a diploma in Transactional analysis and her
executive coaching education. All this challenging education she completed
after the birth of her children and while she was in the midst of demanding
global roles which took her literally across the length and breadth of the world.She
has of course done her Masters in HR from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and
is also a Bio Medical engineer from Mumbai University. She is a psychology geek
and constantly updates herself in the realm of coaching, psychometric testing,
OD interventions etc. But hold your breath-Shivangi is a geek with a
sharp business sense!! She has mentored a former student in the area of
cosmetic production in Switzerland, which is again a fairly successful
venture. Shivangi has a series of other ventures in the pipeline which are just
waiting to happen both in Switzerland and India.And then she has her routine
business which she runs both independently and in collaboration with a
host of European partners.If this is not enough she recently mentored her
equally geeky niece for the Miss Universe New Zealand contest .With only a very
strong background in academics to boast of and no exposure to the world of
glamour her niece, Tuljai Parkar(all of 21 years) featured in the top ten
in the contest!! On the social front, Shivangi works on supporting refugees to
integrate in the Swiss Society (www.lernwerk.ch), has co-founded a
Women’s Network in Zurich-Blossom, https://www.facebook.com/group
What are the things
that help Shivangi to do so much – it almost looks like she is leading multiple
lives at the same time..
- Energy and
drive
-Ability to create a
supportive environment at home and at work.
-Ability to build a
diverse network
- Excellent crisis management skills ( she is
also human and has her fair share of challenges with housekeepers, nannies,
creches, illnesses etc )
- Quest to learn and grow and take concrete
steps in that direction
- Ability to go with the flow and adapt to the
changing times
- Identify opportunities and convert them into
winning ideas
- Entrepreneurial spirit - create opportunities
where none exist
- Take help from professional sources for your
growth( I can share an example – many years back she convinced me to hire a
coach with a psychology background as according to her even in routine
professional coaching we are dealing with the mind and no one better than a
qualified psychologist for the job. That tip helped me a lot.)
- A very supportive husband- hats off to you
Rajesh for that
And most importantly a
positive attitude that helps her grow, tide over tough times and chalk out the
next winning plan!! May you continue to grow Shivangi and inspire one and all….
Inspiration at
Home- My Maternal Great Grandmother –Manjulabai
Chaudhari
Always
go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s
the one that is going to require the most from you – Caroline
Myss.
Let’s go back to Pune in 1890s.
What can you expect there with respect to the education and upliftment of women?
The movement to educate women and create a safe space for them was just gaining
roots. Meanwhile it was considered a social taboo for women to mingle in the
mainstream of society forget educating themselves or having independent
careers. My great grandmother, Manjulabai Chaudhari was born under such
circumstances in the 1870s in the lap of luxury in one of the prominent
families of Pune city. She was unfortunately widowed at an early age and was
left to fend for herself and her three children. Mind you she was not even 25
years old and had studied up to a respectable 7th standard. As per
the norm prevalent then she had to shave off her head and stay in a closed room
either in her husband’s or father’s house for the rest of her life. Her fate
was sealed. But she and destiny chose otherwise. As a first step she absolutely
did not shave off her head and decided to stay on her own with her children
rather than as a dependent with refugee status in either her father/brother or
in laws’ house.Manjulabai Chaudhari then took up a job as a teacher
and also started educating herself.
Manjulabai was closely associated
with Ramabai Ranade, the educationist and social reformer . Ramabai along with
her husband, the legendary Justice Ranade had started the Seva Sadan-an
institution to educate girls for the
first time in Pune.Meanwhile as days progressed Manulabai completed her graduation
in 2 subjects: Sanskrit and Math.She both taught and educated herself at Seva
Sadan. In the evening all the prominent ladies of Pune would throng to
Manjulabai’s residence in their palanquins and tongas ie horse carriage. All
the neighbors would think that the high society ladies have gathered to gossip
and exchange news. But Manjulabai was
too busy a lady for all this. As she would cook rotis on the oven (chulha) in
the evening for her children the 6 – 7
ladies would sit next to her and she would teach them Math. The movement to
educate women had gained roots and these ladies
wanted to become literate. They could not go anywhere or study
openly in their houses as it was considered a social taboo for women to study; especially if they belonged to
the so called high caste and class. So this was a way they had found out to study
without society noticing it!!
Manjulabai then did her post
graduation in both the subjects –Mathematics and Sanskrit.When I completed my
Masters in HR from TISS after doing my masters in English Literature with an ok
academic track record my mother told me that I should not feel proud as the first
woman to complete her double post graduation in our house was indeed her
grandmother.It is so true looking at the kind of circumstances under which she
educated herself I was no match for her.
Meanwhile Manjulabai took another
bold step. She took up a job with the government which was transferable in
nature.Even today in the 21st century I see so many women professionals who cannot take up postings in different
locations due to family reasons and here my great grandmother was willing to
travel with 3 children in tow. My grandmother spent a large part of her
childhood in the hill station , Matheran as her mother was posted there for a
long time. There wasn’t a higher secondary school at Matheran as it was and continues to be a
very small place. So Manjulabai sent her son to a boarding school. Many years
back when I visited the Matheran school and the nearby surroundings which
matched with the way my grandmother had described them I did get goosebumps and
was wondering how did a single lady defying all norms come and stay here more
than 100 years back.Manjulabai continued
with her government service and retired as the chief inspector of schools for
the state of Mahrashtra.Even after retirement she served as the principal of a
school in Nagpur.She left behind enough and more wealth for her three children
distributed equally amongst the 2 daughters and one son.But more than material
wealth I think she left behind a rich legacy of courage, grit and a desire to
learn and grow. Pioneers like my great grandmother have paved the way for us
and we are today only standing on their shoulders , reaping the benefits of the
work that they did to emancipate and educate women. In a way we had it easy as
girls and women growing up in 21st century India.One important thing
in Manjulabai’s journey as I learnt from my grandmother was that she was very
collaborative in nature and managed to negotiate the change with the support
and consent of all her family members and society. Her biggest support and succor
in this journey was her mother i.e. my great great grandmother! What is it that
I learned from the legacy of the great lady whose genes I have inherited..
- A desire to grow and learn despite all odds
- Ability to negotiate the rough road of change management
- Ability to create allies and turn opponents into supporters
- Willingness and ability to work both hard and smart
- Leverage on the opportunities given
- Willing to dare and go beyond the well defined societal norms and boundaries in a genteel yet firm way
As we stand today and count the number of women CEOs and
leaders in all walks of life I think I was lucky enough to have a great woman
leader at home who continues to serve as an inspiration to me and all other
women and girls in my family each day!!
It is only when we truly know and
understand that we have a limited time on Earth and that we have
no way of knowing when our time is up that we will begin to live each
day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had.
– Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.
A Will-o-
the wisp, perhaps a hurricane or a Lighthouse..
If I have to talk of walking,talking
inspiration in my life it has to be Monica Chaudhari (currently serving as
global business leader for an important franchisee at Merck/MSD- the company
where I work. She is an American and a person of Indian origin). Like a tornado
she came into my life during her India stint and actually made my world topsy
turvy.She made me rethink all my conventional beliefs about management , about
people and about life.. Monica is a head turner when she walks into the office
her effervescence and energy is so obvious!! You don’t expect a senior leader
in India to “ behave “ in that way. You are supposed to be strict almost a
stiff upper lip kind of behavior. But Monica does not have to behave in a
particular way she is made of a different mettle – a unique corporate leader
with a tough exterior but a very soft
heart if I dare to say so.Some years back I saw that she had got her younger
son who was then studying in the American International School @Mumbai(now
studying to be a surgeon at Johns Hopkins) to office and introduced him first
to the lady guard who stands at the entrance of our office building which
houses many other firms(not the office floors per se). Now how many folks (
read senior leaders) would do that? During her last India visit she asked me to
keep an eye on the career progress and continued education of the same lady
guard and support herJ
I was privileged to work with
Monica very closely when she was posted in India and we had sometimes very difficult
times as I questioned her a lot and she in turn challenged me many times . I
secretly felt that she was far more stricter than my Mom.It was much later I realized
that she reserved that kind of strictness for
folks whom she really liked a lot and wanted them to grow. She works
in a manner which can be called as an in
iron fist in a velvet glove. It is obvious when you work with Monica that you
are supposed to stretch yourself, question your beliefs and learn.. All this in
turn will eventually ensure that you grow as a person and a professional. You
also become brave when you work with Monica as she gives you the freedom to go
beyond your comfort zone and if you fall she is there to support you. She asked
me to start the gender diversity movement
at our company. It became a first of its kind initiative in the pharma industry
in India – to increase overall representation of women in the workforce, in
sales and customer facing roles!! She asked me to aspire for external awards as a company for
the work that we were doing in a focused way. With less than 1% women in our
workforce in our Indian subsidiary at that time I really thought it was a crazy idea. But by
then I was in this kind of mindset- I know that her ideas are not making sense
to me now but let me work towards it.. so we did get enough and more awards for
our company in the realm of gender diversity and creating a great employer
value proposition in a few years.As a matter of fact I got a couple of awards
in my individual capacity too for the pioneering work done in the same area.
Monica has worked in varied business roles all across the
globe in her stint with the company. The stint for which I admire her the most (
she was also heading sales for NY during
September 11 attacks )was when she was the MD of Central Asia heading tough
markets like Kazaksthan and 4 others. She did not know the language and
inherited a business fraught with
several serious challenges. She managed all of that successfully with her characteristic style- breaking down barriers, building bridges
with people, taking tough calls where required with grace and dignity. In all
this her family remains her priority and she is a loving mother, wife, sister
and daughter- executing all these roles perfectly along with her Global Franchisee
lead role..
Here’s a list of things for which I find Monica so very inspiring:-
-She is strategic , creative and has a can do attitude. At
the same time she is a great people’s person , sensitive and empathetic
-She is decisive, a fast decision maker and calculated risk
taker(that’s after evaluating all
options carefully).This is something that I have learnt from her and try and
implement in my life
-Heavy emphasis on enhancing your functional competence on
an everyday basis –that’s her mantra
-Very focused on self development e.g. she made me take sessions on effective development planning
for her business teams spread over 4 days during one of our annual meetings.
Now how many business leaders would do that as everyone wants time in business
meetings for other” important” topics
-She is an excellent mentor-but only shows you to fish. She
is also a tough mentor at times BUT the skills that she teaches you remain with
you forever
-Monica identifies the problem and leads you to the path of
the solution, not provide you the solution –if you fall she is always there for
you (as mentioned earlier )
-She literally taught me and many others the importance of
networking and building networks for your personal and professional development
-She is a great communicator and presenter. Without an iota
of shame or doubt I mention here that I aspire to be like her in my
presentations and speeches-impeccable, witty, powerful and above all endearing!!
- She can pick up the intangible and subtle things in a discussion
and make it more fruitful e.g. in one of my mentoring talks with her she told
me that she hasn’t seen me work with male mentors/leaders consciously and
that I should actively seek help from them for my holistic growth . Another
example-She actually took up the topic of Resilience in one of our training sessions
and spun a wonderful interactive talk which benefited all employees. I call her
a human Harvard Business
Review for this trait of hers…
-With all this she is a very affectionate person and
balances her personal and professional life well. Monica is also deeply involved in varied community causes ( environment
and breast cancer)
You can read more about Monica here.
http://bestpractices.diversityinc.com/best-practices/global-diversity-best-practice-flexible-workplaces-in-india/
So that’s the hurricane called Monica – a force that simply swept
my life and life wasn’t the same any more..When I always thank her for her
guidance she says that she is that first crazy person who starts a dance and
later on it’s the second person who follows this crazy person and makes it a
movement -executes the crazy idea with
discipline and persistence. I am honored to mention her that she calls me that
second person. I wish I could work with her closely and be a second person for
many more such crazy ideas that come from this great lady- an excellent leader, wonderful mother , a friend and guide…
Extraordinary Inspiration
in the Corporate World-Apurva Purohit
When
we do the best we can, we never know what miracle
is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. – Helen Keller.
Apurva is a public figure and hence many people can claim to
know her. I met Apurva by chance in a diversity related conference at Hong Kong
a few years back where we were speakers. There were many speakers and panelists
in the room where we all assembled a day prior to the conference.What struck me
about Apurva instinctively was her
warmth and articulation. I had no clue about her background etc and she
introduced herself as the CEO of Radio City and
a writer. She had had just published her first book –Lady You are not a
Man. I liked the way she spoke on the CEO panel(I think she was the best
speaker in the room full of CEOs from
various nations) and to my surprise she came to my session to cheer me up! Months passed and
then I remembered her as someone we could call as the guest of honor for
International women’s day Celebrations at
our office. I had by then read her very catchy and gripping book which offered
a lesson or two to me in the way I
viewed myself and my career.
Apurva Purohit came to speak
about her book and how to win and thrive in the professional world . And lo and
behold her wit,insight and observations held the audience captive. She floored
everyone by her narration of different types of women in the professional
world- suffering Sita, the eager beaver hard working types, the ultra feminine
types who uses her charm to get her work done etc. She also spoke about the
biases we harbor as women and men and what
could be done to overcome them, how to co-create a support system at home, take
everyone along with you and generally evolve a win win proposition for all at
home and work. Many women sales professionals from our company who were eagerly
hearing the talk walked up to her and
shared that her speech changed their view towards their lives. A few of them
were actually planning to hang their boots thinking that sales is too tough a profession
and given the changed reality of their
personal lives they should leave work i.e. many of them had just got married.
However when they heard Apurva they got practical tips and insights about
actually making things happen, taking everyone along with you and not give
up mentally even before the actual
reality strikes e.g. a girl was planning to leave the job as she thought that
when she gets a child she will not be able to do a sales role. The fact of the
matter was that she had just got married and was not even on the family way
I realize that Apurva is a
relationship expert. She just knows how to build bridges with all types of people
in a short span of time. She is articulate, strategic, humorous and warm all
bundled up into one. About her articulation she can be straightforward but
present the truth in a way that is both
palatable and practical. Now wonder in sometime I heard that Apurva was
instrumental in the strategic buy out of her channel to the Dainik Jagran group
. The new owners decided to make her the CEO of the media group. So here you
find Apurva successfully heading a very
large media group, at the same time very active on social media, speaking in
various forums about her views on women at work and what could be done to
create a more humane workplace where both men and women thrive.In all this
chaos she is super responsive and there is never a message to her – email or
sms that goes unanswered. Apurva was also honored with the Most Powerful women
in Business award by Business Today in
2016.It was again a coincidence that I was present at the ceremony and was only
beaming with pride..
I admire Apurva for the following reasons
- She has enviable track record of superlative performance and yet she is one who can get things done gently but firmly
- Apurva is one of the best communicators I have seen and I think that really differentiates her from the rest
- She can adapt and adjust to any situation and challenge
- She is a seeker, giver, learner and a very generous person
- She has got the magic formula (if I can use that term)to balance her personal and professional life
- She is socially conscious and is actively involved in various community issues
- · She is a pioneer yet very authentic and humble
- All in all Apurva is very balanced in her approach and serves as an inspiration to all.
- You can read more about Apurva here..
Apurvaspeak
· -Everyday we have to try to become the best
versions of ourselves
· -Put yourself out there and be bold
· -Stories have been an inherent part of my life as
a leader
Apurva - her name means unique and she is indeed a unique
corporate leader with a heart of gold!!
Inspiration at the Workplace: A Unique Colleague and Friend-Annapurna Das
Forget
about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to
your passion. -Oprah.
Annapurna has been my friend and
colleague since 10 years.In this decade I have seen her grow, learn and change immensely. The reason I find her
inspiring is that she has an uncanny tenacity and ability to make a comeback
professionally when you least expected her to do so.And that comeback she does
in style, braving all odds and is in fact called as a turnaround specialist. In
a way I find her to be like a strong banyan tree that stands braving all kinds
of weather and grows its branches and
sub branches so that it provides shelter even to passers by .She has mentored
many budding women leaders and puts in lot of structured efforts for her own development.
She has a hunger to learn and has attended leadership development programs in the best of
Universities all across the world. Most importantly I have observed that when
she comes back she makes copious notes about her learnings and how she is going
to implement them in her day to day life. True to her work style she monitors
her progress against the intended objectives. Annapurna managed several kinds
of roles in strategy, business development , market research functions for many
years and then as a planned career move switched over to handling more customer
facing, Balance sheet owning type of roles. Her first such stint was very
tough-managing and setting up business operations in neighboring countries-Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka.She did it quite nicely and moved on to handle along with these countries large
business operations in India.
When you think of Annapurna the
word that comes to your mind is strategic. She mentioned once that she isn’t just
strategic at work-she is strategic in the way she plans her menu, cooks,
teaches her son or runs the household!! At the same time she actively seeks feedback,
reflect on it and goes ahead and implements the change in her life. The reasons
why I admire Annapurna and find her so inspiring:
- Her hard word , drive and tenacity is admirable
- At the same she is not afraid to show her vulnerable side to people and is very sensitive and empathetic like most of the ladies who feature here
- She is very strategic in her outlook, as mentioned earlier and very articulate
- Annapurna is very sharp and insightful and can size people and situations very well
- Decided to pursue a pure P&L oriented role in pharma in India which is rare for a woman to do..
- Pharma industry business roles in India involve a lot of travel and she does that tight rope walking very well-managing her work life and personal life.All the roles in her life- business leader, mother, wife, daughter, daughter in law , friend she puts in her level best and always emerges as a winner!
You can read more about Annapurna here....
Annapurna-may your tribe increase and may you serve as an
inspiration to more and more women joining business roles in pharmaceutical
industry in large numbers in India in the future.
My First Boss Who Was Also A Lady- Formidable Force To
Reckon With:Sumita Bose Roy
Life
is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments
that take our breath away. – Maya Angelou.
As a young management trainee I
met Sumita Bose Roy in the corporate HR department of BPCL. What struck me
about her in the first meetings that she was a qualified CA and had come to HR
to bring about a turnaround in the way the people management practice at BPCL
worked.The task at hand was like literally making an elephant dance and well
that did happen knowing that Sumita was at the helm. Sumita was articulate and
very competent. She took great pains to keep herself updated with all the
latest trends and practices in the HR realm and encouraged her team members to
do so.That habit has stuck with me still.. As a rookie she taught me the
importance of understanding the balance sheet, connecting with the people in
the field to understand the business and their concerns and getting an in-depth
understanding of all HR related aspects.Sumita Bose Roy handled roles of
increasing responsibility at BPCL in finance , international trade, supply chain
departments. A few things about Sumita that makes her so inspiring- here I go
-She was willing to take tough
decisions where required
-Excellent in sizing people
-Authentic leader who walked the
talk
- Introduced the concept of HR “outside
in” to me(when it was not in vogue) and encouraged us to look at external best practices,
participate in industry forums, award functions etc
https://tinyurl.com/y7zas3pk
( her write up about the Balanced
scorecard system which she introduced in BPCL)
-As she effortlessly handled
various functions with equal élan she encouraged us to go beyond our
comfort zone.I remember early on she
asked me to do a stint in Industrial
relations stream which involved travel to far away plants, installations, ports
etc by rail, bus.
-Again had excellent Work life
balance with a nice focus on self-development,
family and fitness
-Tireless striving for perfection
and knowledge
- Treated all of us as
professionals e.g. she did not differentiate between girls and boys who had joined from different campuses at the same time and
encouraged all of us to travel to plants, installations in remote locations;
climb tanks, supervise plant operations; visit retail outlets and get a first
hand view of Business reality
-She was clearly a versatile
genius, a superb presenter and instilled the importance of impeccable
professional etiquette early on in our careers
You can read about Sumita’s profile
here…
Sumita remains an enduring influence in my life with her
professionalism, grace, drive and above
all a great human touch!!
Inspiration in the
Trenches: Our Housekeeper Cum Cook -Vaishali
Kanse
I don’t think of all the misery but of
the beauty that still remains. – Anne Frank.
It takes a village for a woman to
succeed at work , pursue her hobbies , manage her personal life.Half of that village
for me is our Housekeeper cum Cook since 8 years –Vaishali Kanse( nickname
Nanda). The reason I find her inspirational and admirable is that she has taken
bold decisions early on in her life and
moved ahead without mulling over the hardships. I find so many educated and
economically well off ladies struggling for years and they neither improve their harsh
domestic life nor do they gather courage ever to walk out of a hopeless situation(especially
in India). They become what Apurva Purohit calls in her book Lady, You Are not
a Man –Suffering Sitas and make their lives and that of others around them a miserable
wreck. Vaishali is made of sterner stuff and she had the courage to leave her oppressive,
drunkard husband many years back and pursue an independent life along with her
children. This she did without any social or family support. But over a period
of time her detractors have become her supporters and she has created a strong
support system.
Vaishali is a very patient and resilient individual.She is very
hard working and most open to change despite her limited education. She even
took another bold decision several years back when her long time employer
requested her to accompany her to UK. She went along with her and started a new
phase of her life-toiling hard in a far away country entrusting her 2 young children in her mother’s custody in India.
Once she returned to India (due to personal reasons) she bought a house for
herself in a place like Mumbai( which may boast of one of the highest property
rates in the world).Again this was done with much opposition from the folks around
her as they said that a single mother may not know how to manage a house in Mumbai
and that she should save her earnings for a rainy day etc. But she was determined
and secured a bright future for herself and her children. The reasons for which
I find Vaishali so inspirational:-
-She lead a dignified life despite societal pressures
-She is very collaborative in nature (both at work and in
her personal life), has a positive attitude and a no nonsense practical
approach to tackle even the bigger challenges of life
-Vaishali is very witty and sharp in her comments and observations.
She calls a spade a spade yet nicely e.g.- A rather funny anecdote:she observes
my friends who come home and recommends birthday gifts for them based on their personality.
- She is open to change, to learn
and has a can do attitude e.g. there was
a time when she even cooked 4 types of different cuisine for multiple
preferences of family members. She took the efforts to learn various types of cuisine
from me, watched YouTube videos based on my suggestions and made me write down
all the recipes in a language which she understands. Another example I can
quote here is about a To Do list which I give her at the start of the week. She
follows it meticulously and then goes ahead and makes her own list… She also
learnt English to make herself ready for her job in UK.
-She is patient in her approach
to work, extremely hardworking, resourceful and selfless . In her own way she
tries and helps as many people she can in terms of educational assistance, providing
them with jobs etc e.g. she introduced many
young children in her neighborhood to me
who needed guidance with respect to higher education and continues with that
till date.. According to her she could not complete her education due to economic
reasons. Hence she would not like other children to suffer due to lack of
guidance or funds.
Hats off to women like Vaishali who have proven yet again
that limitations with respect to education, economic and social background are
not a barrier for a strong person to succeed in life.
An Inspired Revolutionary
–Poonam Barua
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the
fun. – Katharine Hepburn.
There are women who are born warriors
and eternal optimists and Poonam Barua founder of WILL(http://www.willforumindia.com/founder_chairmans_note.asp)
is one of them. Poonam is such a strong personality that she has her fair share
of opponents and proponents. But the way she is she says – throw the darts at
me I like colorful darts. Poonam
has been Regional Director - India, The Conference Board, New York, providing
thought-leadership on best business practices for companies in India. She is
actively committed to bringing transparency and corporate governance, and
serves as an Independent Director on corporate boards. But according to me the
biggest thing that she did even bigger
than the multiple fellowships that she has from Wharton, John Hopkins etc was
to establish the WILL forum- an apex body to develop women leaders for corporate
India. Economist that she is Poonam
always says that when you exclude women in leadership roles you are
actually excluding 50% of the economy and that is plain bad economics!! Poonam
again like many women who feature here is a versatile genius – he core area of
expertise is conflict resolution in South Asia(with focus on India and
Pakistan)
The reasons now- why do I find Poonam Barua Inspirational?
-She has pursued the cause of developing women in Corporate
India and making their voices heard with evangelical zeal.She has got opposition but I think she manages to tide
over it very well
- She can engage in “ hard talk” in a very professional way
and calls a spade a spade.In fact a prominent business leader once told her
that –Poonam you are successful despite the way you are as a person. She said
that it was the best left handed compliment she every got. But it’s a compliment
at the end of the day and she cherishes it.The reason why she comes to the point
at once and is what can be called a blunt is that she says that she has a
mighty task at hand and very little time
-She is strategic, meticulous and open to change eg She has
moved on to an online mode for most of the WILL forum meetings
-She is excellent at networking and has ensured that Indian
voices are heard in many countries
-She deeply cherishes Indian values and heritage despite being
a global citizen
-She offers practical and insightful solutions to the
workplace challenges which her multiple mentees discuss with her
-She is a fitness and grooming geek and in fact plans to write about its importance
very soon
You can find more information about Poonam here....
Poonam-may your revolutionary zeal, discipline and attitude continue to fire us up each single day.
A Quiet Inspiration
–Coach and Guide :Dr Vidya Mepadath
The question isn’t who’s going to let
me; it’s who is going to stop me. – Ayn Rand.
Dr Vidya is my life skills coach.
In short I consult her to be more effective at the workplace in particular and
life in general. The fact that she is a qualified psychologist helps me immensely.
I admire her for the fact that she is objective ,analytical and is able to
provide practical solutions to challenges with the wink of an eye. At the same
time she has immense empathy and adopts a multi pronged approach to tackle any
issue. It was Shivangi Walke (who features in this post) who encouraged me to
engage a life skills coach with a psychology background many years back as she
said that finally we are dealing with the mind and who better than a
psychologist to deal with it rather than someone who has just done a coaching
certification. Monica Chaudhari too gave very sound mentoring advice of
appointing an external coach who will help me in my leadership journey. Thankful
to Shivangi and Monica for providing that valuable advice. It always helps if
you have a coach who can guide you and provide you with an objective view to
manage the rough and tumble of the corporate world.
Dr Vidya is learner at heart and is constantly updating
herself with the latest techniques and newer ways of looking at the human mind or
even alternate healing. She is excellent at sizing people , situations and
opportunities and has always provided me
with newer perspectives and insights in addressing even everyday
situations.
I admire her for the following reasons
-has great functional competence
-is non judgmental and practical. This is a heady
combination for any coach as it helps one to arrive at newer understanding and
solutions
-can quickly get a 360 degree view of the situation and anticipate
what can happen ahead
-educates you about varied techniques to become more
effective right from affirmations, visualisation, mindfulness and sometimes to
just go ahead and execute etc
-again like all other women in this post she is excellent in
balancing both her personal and professional life
-above all she has great empathy and is very professional in
her outlook
Dr Vidya is an excellent human being and a professional par
excellence. She embodies the Shakti concept that we in India worship during the
9 days of Navratri-the Goddess who is both tender and tough…
The
future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
– Eleanor Roosevelt.
