I’m Pavitra Singh, CHRO at PepsiCo India, and this is how I Lead from Within
Pavitra Singh has a refreshing view on life, where she looks at everything as an opportunity. The CHRO for PepsiCo India , she brings to the table a vastly rich experience in culture, capability building, organizational design, diversity and inclusion, talent acquisition and employer branding. Warm, humble and delivering her best at every step, Singh was honoured with the prestigious Economic Times Women Ahead Award in 2016 for being one among 30 women who are making a difference.
Running my own race
I was never bothered about competition, even as a child. I was one of the few students to receive a PPO in my first year of MBA, and I rejected it. Saying yes to the PPO meant I had to join the company early in my second year and that would compromise my learning at the course. People were against my decision, but I followed my intuition and took that call anyway. After I graduated, I landed a great job that unfortunately fell through because of the dot-com crash mere months before I had to join. It came as a huge blow especially at that point in time, right after an MBA, when one is eager to join the workforce and start earning. That setback early in my career taught me how to handle failure, and I decided to take charge.
I started looking for jobs and was offered the position of a centre manager for a training institute. They were looking for someone to revive their sick unit and make it profitable again. It was the best leadership opportunity I could have asked for. At a young age, I was in charge of completely turning a situation around. I led a team of people who were experts in their field and far more experienced than me, aligned the entire team to the common goal, and explored every individual’s strength and leveraged it to achieve our objective. In five months, the unit was profitable once more.
That experience humbled me. Ever since, I approach everything, especially challenges, as learning opportunities. And I give my best no matter where I land up. I truly believe that everyone’s journey looks different. I run my own race at my own pace. I set my own standards and make my own choices. I know what my game is, I’m clear on my goals and so I know exactly what I need to do.
My Core Values
Both my mother and father have been my role models. My mother was the primary earner and I’ve seen her juggle work and home with confidence. She taught me that if I do my best, there was no way that things would not fall in place. She taught me to detach myself from the results, the outcome of my work. From my father, I learnt to be secure. I saw him support my mother’s journey of exploring her potential, without ever feeling threatened by it.
We live out our values every day but don’t always realise it. Only when we face a choice or a tough time do they become apparent, become our strength and our anchor. I cherish these three values:
> Honesty: to self, to what we do and who we are.
> Positivity: Seeing failures, or anything that has not worked out, as opportunities.
> Hard work: Accepting that there are no shortcuts to success. Everyone you see in a leadership position did not just get lucky, they toiled for years to reach where they are. Work hard because you want to up the game and beat yourself, not somebody else.
On Juggling Roles
Juggling the many roles that we play as a woman is not easy but it must be done. Remember:
> You are in the driver’s seat: You decide which direction you go, when you move and when you want to stop. You get to make choices based on your knowledge, experience and circumstances. They should make sense to you, that’s it. This is your race. There is no point in making comparisons; you only create unnecessary stress and pressure when you start comparing your life to someone else’s.
> Don’t view work and life as separate: View them both as priorities instead. I add appointments both personal and professional to my calendar, and based on importance / urgency, I tend to each. You can’t finish all the tasks under one category first before doing the other. It’s all part of your day so you need to integrate. It is also the way the workforce demographic is now changing. Their concept of flexibility is less about 9-5 and more about them deciding how they get something done.
> Find what rejuvenates you: Something that helps you unwind and energise. Once you find it, carve time out for it and don’t compromise. At leadership levels, it’s critical to retain and, hence, manage your energy.
On the Evolution of D&I
A decade ago people were asking the business case for D&I. They were asking why it is important. That was the level of awareness. There was a fair bit of cynicism too. Today, organisations understand why and how diversity impacts the topline and the bottomline and hence, why it is important for the business. More and more companies are investing in it. The mindset around D&I has definitely evolved. What still needs work:
> The ‘inclusion’ element of D&I. We have reached a point where organisations are hiring a more diverse workforce (and I don’t just mean more women) but the concern is are they all feeling a sense of belonging? We need to significantly move the needle on better inclusion practices. Once we achieve that, the talk around D&I will cease because everyone will be accepting everyone irrespective of differences, and truly helping them deliver their potential.
> Realising that it is not just women who add to the diversity quotient. We need to move the focus away from women to other aspects of diversity. We need to carefully look at the people joining the workforce and design ways to include them and leverage them for who the are and what they bring to the table.
Future Challenges in D&I
> We will see a lot of involvement of artificial intelligence (AI), which is the new diversity at workplace. It will be interesting to see how AI, if used well, could prove to be a leveler in recruitment, compensation and bring more transparency to our interactions.
> Distributed workforce and a location-free workforce are going to be the norm in the future. Inspecting the feeling of belongingness and inclusion in remote and/or locationally diverse team could be a challenge.
My Advice to Young Women Leaders
> Who you are is your strength: Your values, technical skills, soft skills, knowledge and experience are your biggest strengths. Who you are and what you have sets you apart. So, don’t ever compromise your authentic self to feel accepted or belonged.
> Take actions towards your dreams: Dreaming is only one half of the job; most of us fail to make our dreams come true because we never work towards them. Find the courage and conviction to take actions towards your goals. It’s the only way to realise them.
> Reach out for support: You are not a superwoman and you don’t need to be one. Imperfections and inadequacies make you human, and a more empathetic leader. Ask for help when you require – your peers, mentors, family and friends are invaluable in this regard.
