I’m Anita Arjundas, and this is how I Lead from Within
Coming from a business family but determined to create an identity for herself, Anita Arjundas has had an illustrious career at the Mahindra Group. A seasoned business leader and a champion of sustainable development, she is currently on the India Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy, and on the Board of Management of TERI School of Advanced Studies. She has also been named one of the most powerful women in business for multiple years, by Fortune India. Excited by diversity and perfectly comfortable with ambiguity, Arjundas loves to continually learn so she can better serve a purpose that is greater than the self.
Solving For a Higher Purpose
Right from the start of my career I was interested in looking at everything from a consumer’s lens – whether it was a problem that needed solving, a pain point that needed to be addressed or a need that had to be satisfied. I spent 13 years – 10 in the FMCG industry and 3 in the IT industry – in marketing roles. That made me realise that when you keep the consumer as the centre of focus you succeed in fulfilling real needs and creating successful businesses.
When the opportunity to head marketing for Mahindra World City came my way, I was thrilled to take on the challenge. Mahindra World City was India’s first integrated business city in a public-private partnership. People around me felt that it was too ambitious a project and I was committing professional hara-kiri by committing to it. But I realised later that when you take on roles that are seen as challenging, it underlines your very existence – it brings you visibility, growth and recognition as someone who can successfully turn anything around. Personally, what I found exciting about joining Mahindra World City was the idea of creating a product whose need was still to be felt but that was important from the context of nation building, and shaping the development of the country. The thought of being able to solve for something that was serving a larger purpose truly inspired me.
My time with Mahindra World City shaped the way I approach things. I was always interested in nature and wildlife conservation. When I got the chance through this project to create urban infrastructure, I was conscious of doing it in a resource efficient, climate positive manner – good for the residents as well as the environment. As the head of the parent organisation, Mahindra Lifespaces, a few years later, I crafted our mission around sustainable urbanisation. That was a defining moment for me because it made me sharpen my focus on creating a profitable, customer centered business that urbanised in a responsible fashion. In this journey, it also made me realise how I increasingly wanted to focus on the intersection of development and nature and in solving for a planet where humans and nature can live and grow together.
Behaviours That Helped Achieve the Purpose
Curiosity and continuous learning are strong attributes of my DNA. They have given me the confidence to go into unchartered territories and take on projects that seem difficult. When you’re curious, open to learn and want to create impact, you’ll find yourself happiest creating something from scratch. The desire to continuously learn means that I also seek to reinvent myself, but with a larger objective – of solving for a purpose that is greater than self. It is not about me or my immediate short term goals. It is about asking if I am doing things that make a difference to the larger world; whether it’s the way we (the organisation) built homes or cities when I was in real estate and infrastructure or about my decision to transition into the not for profit space with a focus on environmental stewardship.
My Core Values
> Authenticity: it essentially implies staying true to what you say you stand for, in difficult situations and complex decision-making scenarios. If I say customer centricity is a strong corporate value for my company but I don’t live up to that when a decision needs to be made, people around me will see me as someone who only pays lip service to customer centricity. Some of the decisions may mean that you have to sacrifice short-term profits but, in the long run, holding out builds brand reputation and credibility, which makes up for any loss that you may have incurred in the short term.
> Humility: we are mere doers of work; a small part of a bigger universe. We should not let our position, power or status ride over our interactions with other humans and the environment. It is important for leaders to be humble. Once you accept that you don’t have all the answers and are on a continuous learning journey, you’re more open to others’ points of view. Humility is also the primary quality that allows you to stay grounded and, hence, connected to the consumer.
Critical Skills for Young Women Leaders
> Accept tough assignments: you can do a great job on an easy assignment or you can do a great job on a difficult one and, it’s obvious, that the latter will bring you more visibility and recognition. Have the self-confidence to take on tough assignments – don’t bypass them thinking you’ll fail. If you fail at a tough assignment, people will still recognise your effort of moving some distance in trying to make it happen.
> Stay authentic: I see many young women leaders overwhelmed by the need to comply to stereotypes of a successful leader – how they communicate, manage teams, manage work-life balance, and adopt an aggressive leadership style. But people are no fools; they can see through somebody who is trying to be someone else. If you’re authentic instead, over a period of time, people will begin to appreciate what you stand for and you will build credibility as a leader.
> Set aspirational goals: Often we believe that we’re only looking for a job, not a career. We believe that we don’t have it in us to create a career or that the organisation will not give us such a break – so we’re satisfied with reaching middle management and remaining there. Set higher aspirations for yourself by hanging in during the middle-management phase – those years are the toughest for a woman. More often than not, women take a break around that time to have a child. And when they return they struggle to catch up with their work as well as with prioritising – child vs family vs job. At such a time we may choose to step down, not take on challenging assignments, stay in maintenance mode or give up our career altogether. I’d say don’t think small – hang on in the middle management years, because it only gets easier from there with respect to time prioritisation and managing different aspects of one’s life.
> Build a network: it’s important to have mentors, people you can reach out to for help, people who can connect you to the right roles or put in a word for you and, therefore, it’s important to put conscious effort into building a network. The more you connect with a diverse set of people from different industries, the more you build your own diversity spectrum as well as a support base. Your network can also be a source of ideation and innovation.
On Inclusion and Diversity
Diversity is not just about gender. It could be gender, different abilities, sexual orientation – many different things. Diversity and inclusion are critical for any organisation’s context. It implies that we can bring together a microcosm of the universe in a way that the organisation represents all kinds of stakeholders. Inclusion ensures that the organisation’s mindset is open, and encourages discourse and differences of opinion.
Ensuring that future workplaces are diverse and inclusive is everybody’s responsibility, both men and  women leaders. The more diverse the people in an organisation, the more it’ll enable different conversations, perspectives and solutions – creating greater sensitivity and rigour around  inclusivity.
Role of Women Leaders
> Proactively mentor young women: women often struggle to consciously build a network to seek mentorship. Share advice with young women on their career choices and priorities, and support them through their difficult years.
> Sensitize the workforce: it is not enough for women in the organisation to support each other; sensitisation of the rest of the workforce is equally important. It is a vital responsibility of women leaders to ensure that the overall environment is comfortable for more women to join and perform comfortably in the workplace.
> Share your story: your story is valuable because of the unique set of experiences you bring to the table, so be willing to share the same / be a role model. This is not about you, but about creating reference points and aspiration for younger women leaders who, in their early career look for inspiration anchors in the stories of established, successful women. I’ve had women tell me that while they joined the firm for the role and the repute (of the firm), an important factor in their decision-making process was that it happened to be lead by a woman – to them it provided important inputs on the organisation’s DNA and the support that other women would receive by being a part of it.
On the Concept of Superwomen
Being a superwoman essentially means wanting to do everything – juggling all roles of a woman, flawlessly – and never seeking help lest it be seen as a sign of weakness. I believe this is an overrated phrase and puts unnecessary pressure on a women while reinforcing stereotypes on gender based roles. The concept feeds into women feeling guilty about not doing practically everything, or reaching out for help.
I believe that the same way we outsource a part of our business operations at work – based on the knowledge of our core competencies, to optimise management and resources – we must outsource repetitive and mundane tasks to free up time for what is important for us. When dealing with multiple roles, you do not have to feel overwhelmed or fatigued. You don’t have to be a superwoman. Let’s accept that time is limited and you have multiple priorities. Focus on those priorities that are important at a given point in time, whether at work or at home, and don’t feel embarrassed to seek assistance.
