Women Power

With Women’s Day just around the corner, Yasmin Taj talks to three female executives, who have proved their mettle in their professional and personal lives with great panache

    After centuries of living confined behind the veil, the so-called ‘weaker sex’ has finally come out in the open and conquered the world. There is no feat that the women of today have not accomplished. From travelling to the moon, ruling nations, fighting wars, driving trucks and trains, managing humongous organisations, to the simpler yet most challenging role of a homemaker — there is no conceivable field where women have not marked a niche for themselves.
DESTINY’S CHILD
A trained textile designer, Neerja Bhatia, Country Manager, Etihad Airways, admits that her professional career has been a testament to the old adage that hard work and an inspired performance lead to success. “Prior to joining Etihad, I worked for a year with Galileo India, as a General Manager and for 13 years with a leading global airline as a Sales Manager,” she informs. She has been with Etihad since the launch of its services in India in 2004. “We live in a wonderful time. The economy is booming and we are being exposed to different experiences and challenges. Women are now realising their potential and are supported by the society we live in. Constant growth and competition are features of today’s corporate environment and it is not really about men versus women at all. The battle is always between the ideal candidates for the job. I like to believe that we are recognised for our work. With women entering the corporate fray, it is not far-fetched that we would occupy prominent positions as we grow,” she expresses.
“The biggest mantra for me is to ‘believe in yourself’. As long as you have a strong sense of self, you have the strength to face the biggest hurdles in life. Indian women certainly have done the country proud. Today, women are making their mark in practically every field. As more and more women become educated in this country, we are not too far away from the day where organisations would have a 50:50 ratio of men and women working together,” she concludes.
A BORN LEADER
A BA in Economics from the University of Delhi, Ranjani Ranganath, Senior Managing Director, Global Development Centre, Cisco has over 25 years of industry experience in information technology, banking and financial services. Prior to Cisco, Ranganath ran her own consulting company specialising in providing entry strategies for Fortune 500 companies setting up offshore operations in India.
    Talking about her journey to the top, Ranganath expresses, “My mother instilled in me values like compassion and also a very high work ethic into the way she brought me up. I attribute a large part of who I am to the way I was brought up.” Considering the fact that when one is on the top most seat, a lot of egos have to be dealt with, Ranganath says that the biggest challenge was learning to lead a team where she was one of the youngest. “I figured out early on, that a woman has to work twice as hard, learn new skills in half the time and deftly juggle home and work to be successful. As I moved up the ladder, I got used to being the only woman in the room. Being a woman has an impact on your growth, development and personal network. It’s up to you, to confidently use your unique skills or believe you’re at a disadvantage if you are a woman,” she claims.
    For women who aspire to reach the heights that Ranganath has reached, she advices, “Believe in yourself; believe in who you are and what you can do is only in your hands; perceive yourself as a victim of gender bias, work pressures, family circumstances and that’s exactly what you will be - a victim.”
WINNER ALL THE WAY
Recently selected as one of the twenty-five ‘Most Powerful Women in India’ by Business Today, Akhila Srinivasan, Managing Director, Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd., is the Honorary Consul for the Kingdom of Netherlands, State President of the Art of Living Foundation and Chairperson of the FICCI Ladies Organisation. Srinivasan says, “I started my career with the Shriram Group in the year 1986 as an executive trainee and after a year of intensive training, I was absorbed as the Marketing Manager in Shriram Investments Ltd. In December 2005, I have been appointed as the Managing Director of Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd., the new entity of the Shriram Group. My focus has always been on effective team building by selecting the right kind of people and empowering them completely so that they transform into first class managers,” she informs.
    Talking about her journey till date, she expresses that gender has never been an obstacle for her. “In the Shriram Group, merit, talent and hard work alone are the criterion to evaluate an executive’s contribution. I feel proud to be a woman in the corporate scene. I strongly feel that more and more women who are in mainstream professions today should strive hard to make a mark for themselves in their career path,” she adds. Though her journey has been a very fruitful journey, Srinivasan does agree that there are a lot of challenges that women have to face in order to strike the right balance between work and personal life. “Since a woman’s primary roles are being a wife and a mother, one has to strike the right balance in the roles between domestic life and the demands of the corporate sector. The real challenge is quality time management and ensuring that one performs all the duties to the fullest satisfaction. For balancing the schedule of work and other responsibilities, time management is very critical in enabling me to function as a productive executive. I have travelled quite a lot in my 22 years of career which has given me rich exposure. It is the challenges that bring out the best in an individual,” she opines.
    Srinivasan also states that though urban women with good family background and education are able to exercise their choices and make a decision as to what career they want to pursue, majority of rural women who have no access to education are still struggling in their lives. “My heart really goes out to such women who should somehow be given opportunities in the areas of education and employment,” she claims. For women who aspire to be like Srinivasan and follow a similar path in life, her advice is, “Give your 100 per cent to whatever you are doing and pursue your objectives relentlessly with optimism and confidence.”
    Time and again, it has been said that success and power is not something that can be based on gender. And the women of our country have certainly proved this fact by reaching for the skies and achieving everything conceivable. Happy Women’s Day!

 

 

 

 

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