Manisha Singh: Head of Coaching, Shenomics
About 10 years back, during my tenure at IBM, I got an opportunity to work with Hema Shah, who had taken over as Director Service Delivery. During the early days of being on her team, we both went through an experience that gave me a glimpse of how she had unique ways of lending support without saying much. One night, I had a meeting scheduled with one of my team members. However, he did not show up for the meeting. It was my last meeting that night, so after waiting for him for a couple of minutes and trying to reach him on his phone, I left office. As I reached home and began eating my dinner, my phone rang and it was a call from the team member. Much to my surprise, when I answered the call, it was not him on the other side. It was someone trying to tell me that my team member had met with an accident and had sustained serious injuries. This person was calling me because the last call to my team members’ phone was from me and hence he had concluded that I would be able to help. I left home immediately, but the location I had to reach was quite a distance from where I stayed. When I reached the location, my team member had been moved to the hospital, so I rushed to the hospital. Once I reached the hospital and began looking for him, I got to know that the injuries were fatal and he was no more. A few hours ago, I was waiting for him at the office, wondering what he wanted to discuss in the meeting, and now here I was at the hospital trying to make sense of what had just happened and thinking how his parents would come to terms with this loss. Feeling almost numb, I called Hema. It was late night by the time I called her. She picked my call immediately. and heard me out patiently. The first question she asked me was how I was doing and whether I needed support. When I said I was fine and I thought I can handle the situation on my own, she said just one word “okay”. Though it was just one word, the confidence and faith with which she said it, gave me immense courage.
At our meeting in office the following day, my colleagues offered to help with the next steps we were to take as an organisation to work with the family through this tough phase. Hema and I were the only women, in that meeting, and once again, as soon as I said I could see this through on my own, she said “okay” with the same confidence as the previous night. The next few days weren’t easy, but Hema’s faith was a huge factor in helping me do everything that I needed to represent our organization while supporting the family through the tough phase and working through the legal formalities that followed.
After a month or so, I got a call from one of the senior leaders asking me if I could take out time to help manage one of our accounts that needed support with improving service delivery. Once again, I got a chance to work closely with Hema. We would be on calls together and I would watch her handle tough questions with unshakeable confidence and she would give me space to do the same. On International Woman’s Day that year, she walked past my desk and reminded me to join the celebration. It was very unusual for her to remind me of something. When I joined the celebration, I was taken by surprise, as she called me to stage and narrated what had happened a month back. She recognized me for my courage. I still remember her words – “I know it would have taken immense courage to pick up the phone that night and speak with parents to tell them that their only son was no more”.
We worked together for about a year, and I continued to get opportunities that challenged me and have shaped me to become that person I am today. We took on different roles and Hema moved to a different vertical. About seven years later, I had put a post on facebook, talking about my work in the area of supporting women to express their authentic selves powerfully through the way we choose to show up – the way we dress up and our body language being critical aspects of our expression. I got a message form Hema, saying she was interested in my work and would love to know more. We met and discussed the subject at length. With utmost humility and curiosity, Hema asked me questions that she had about the subject and asked me if I could consult for her. For me, this was an honor and one of the most enriching phases of my work. Soon after our work together, she referred another wonderful woman leader who needed support in the area of amplifying certain aspects of her personal presence. I was amazed at how she knew we would work well together. We enjoyed working together and ended up becoming very good friends. Hema continues to be my own personal board of directors, my go-to mentor for advice, and someone I look up to for inspiration.
As I look back at my journey, there are numerous occasions when she has lent me a voice in rooms where I wasn’t present and helped me get opportunities that aligned with my goals. She has been one of the most supportive sponsors in my journey.
