3 Lessons from Women Leading From Within
Over the last 18 months or so with Shenomics, I have had the privilege, and pleasure, of speaking to many successful women about their leadership journeys. We run a series called #100MindfulWomen, which looks at how women in all kinds of careers have managed to reach the highest levels of leadership, and the lessons they have learned along the way. These conversations have been a source of great inspiration for me – not only because of the amount of clarity they have brought to my own way of thinking about my career, and life in general, but also because there is so much wisdom in them.
Here are a few ideas that have stood out for me in all my conversations with these amazing women (many of these ideas were reiterated by multiple leaders during these interviews):
- Your career is not a race you are supposed to be winning – it is a marathon you need to look at for the long term:
As Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan of IIM, Bangalore puts it – “Acknowledge that the society’s gendering of roles is going to make it difficult for us to negotiate and navigate our professional lives. You could be with a nonprofit, a volunteer, or an employee at an MNC – you need to be mindful that there are going to be breaks punctuating your career. And plan accordingly.”
This idea was a revelation for me, and I think it is a very important lesson for every young woman to be aware of. I had, as a young woman, been conditioned to believe that I had to be a constant achiever – I had to get through my degree, then get a great job which paid well, then get promoted, and then get paid more, and so on and so forth. That worked out great for me until I had my first child.
After I chose to stay home for the first year after having my elder son, I realized very soon that I had defined my life through the various jobs I held, and the roles I played in those organizations – and I did not know who I was supposed to be when I had no job. That year as a stay-at-home mother was one of much self-reflection, and a lot of harsh truths being exposed for myself – I had never in my many years of working ever sat down to think about what my long-term plan for myself was meant to be.
The more I have spoken to many of the women leaders we interviewed, the more I understood that all of them, without exception, had understood that everything they did was a building block for a larger vision they had for themselves – and so it did not matter if they took maternity breaks, or other career breaks. It did not steer them away from what they wanted for their career in the long term.
2. You have to be a constant learner – and over-invest in your learning:
As Geetha Kannan, Managing Director of AnitaB.Org India says “Learning is my key strength and as a result, today, I can put my hand on anything and turn it successful.”
This again, was something I had never thought about. I had believed that having my Master’s degree was enough – what more could I learn than that, right? Wrong. You need to be constantly looking out for new things to learn. Yes, that means you will need to be updated with the new technology, or new ways of thinking in the business, but it also means that you are always open to being proved wrong. And what an integral trait for any leader that is – being open to learning a new way of doing things, while also being ok with the knowledge that the old way you might have been doing it is actually, not good enough.
As women, we need to start investing in our own learning – and that means being ok with spending some money on it! Whether it is through the many online portals that offer courses and certifications, or whether that is in gaining a new skill every year that supports us in our personal or professional growth, we need to prioritize that more.
3. Never discount the power of a good mentor:
As Lavanya Nalli, Vice-Chairperson at Nalli Group of Companies points out “You have to find someone who can take you under his or her wings and basically create opportunities for you. There will be far fewer women who lean out of the workforce if that were the case. I’ve actively cultivated sponsors towards the later part of my career and eventually found them, and they really helped my corporate career.”
The role of a mentor, and a sponsor, in a woman’s career trajectory has been the focus of much research, and all the women I spoke to have been fortunate to have mentors and/or sponsors who have pushed them to take leaps in their own careers. But what is apparent from all my interviews was that many of these women built these relationships with their mentors very mindfully – it was not something that happened overnight, nor did they approach it with anything less than a 100% commitment. For many of the leaders I spoke to, these mentors have played a crucial part in identifying the potential they had early in their careers, and gave them the confidence to take up new projects, or to think differently about the role they were already playing. And so, all of the leaders I spoke to take their own roles as mentors very seriously.
As women, we live in very interesting times today – while there is so much conversation out there about creating more opportunities for women to grow in their careers, we are also seeing a social shift in the way we approach careers, and other priorities in life. I believe each of us has the potential to carve our own journey in ways that makes it more meaningful for ourselves, as well as the people in our lives. What a great journey to be on!
