"Sensitisation and communication initiatives, rather than activism, is the way forward": Anita Bhogle

(Representational image: Cowomen via Unsplash)

Seeing and hearing about people like us in positions of power and responsibility can be a great motivator.

Of late, there has been a growing number of books documenting the journeys of Indian women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders that serve this function. (To be sure, the absolute number of such books is still low compared to similar literature about male entrepreneurs and corporate leaders or even men and women business leaders combined.)

Naina Lal Kidwai's 30 Women in Power, Rashmi Bansal's Touch the Sky, and Avinash Kirpal's Womentrepreneurs: Inspiring Stories of Success come to mind. More recent examples include Anita Bhogle's Equal, Yet Different and Shaili Chopra's Sisterhood Economy: Of, By, For Wo(men).

Typically, these books cite examples from the lives of successful careerwomen, to highlight both the gendered problems they faced and the solutions that helped them overcome.

Anita Bhogle

In Equal, Yet Different, Bhogle, an Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad alumnus and co-author of The Winning Way: Learning from Sports for Managers, draws on personal experiences as well as interviews to identify what she calls "career catalysts for the professional woman". These include ideas such as career intentionality (a woman's intention to stay on the career path despite challenges), long-term dream (pursuit of a fulfilling, rewarding career as opposed to shorter terms goals), and workplace allies and support group.

In an email interview, Bhogle explained some of these ideas:

Could you give one example of a woman leader who could be a career-intentionality role model for millennial and younger generations? What do you think they got right?

A woman’s Career Intentionality depends on herself and also her surroundings and circumstances so let me give you two examples from my book—one, where the woman was fortunate to have support from her family and another where the woman was not that lucky.

Kanchan Jain is an investment banker who was lucky to be born in a family that was not merely supportive but ambitious when it came to her career. Kanchan says she always opted for the best work opportunity and felt cheated in assignments where the work was not challenging. Unlike most women, her career choices were based on what was exciting and ideal for her career rather than what was manageable at that point in time. Managing a high-pressure job and a family is never easy but Kanchan’s husband, with whom she has two children, has always pushed her to prioritize work. It has also meant that she has had to stay away from the family for a while, but they managed. Having good role models, a supportive family and good employers all contribute to helping women invest in themselves and their careers.

Arpita, on the other hand, came from a traditional family in a small town. She made it to an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) without any kind of coaching. After engineering, despite getting calls to most IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), her family insisted that she drop the idea and get married instead. For most women in her situation, the dream would have ended there. But marriage and motherhood did not prevent Arpita from keeping her dream alive. A few years later, she did make it to the executive MBA from IIM-A and finished at the top of her class! Arpita is in a leadership role in the male-dominated oil and gas sector. Her career intentionality was largely a result of her own strength and determination.

If you were to pick one example, out of the many inspiring examples in the book, of a woman leader who’s done a great job of upskilling and developing their brand, who would it be? What would you say are some of the key takeaways from their life and career for young professionals?

My favourite is this category is marketing consultant, Rama Bijapurkar. I have known her for many years and am amazed by her ability to push her boundaries. Many years ago, when she realised that she was hardly anyone like her with both business and consumer understanding, she created a niche for herself. She is a researcher, consultant, teacher and writer. Each of these roles has enabled her to extend her knowledge base. Rama has extensive board experience and a great network. Whenever she needed to learn more about any subject, she reached out to her “tuition club”—her wonderful network of friends with the relevant experience. Rama has approached her career like a brand consultant would approach a brand and managed to stay relevant in a career of over four decades.

Could you give an example of an ally/enabler you admire. What did they do right, and what can others do to follow their example?

I found the whole conversation with Rishi Gaur very insightful. His journey from being a leader who was unaware of the largely unconscious bias in organisations to becoming a committed DEI champion was truly fascinating and convinced me that having the right kind of sensitisation and communication initiatives, rather than activism, is the way forward in creating a world that is gender just.

As a leader, Rishi has innovatively tweaked the hiring process to ensure more gender balance without compromising on merit and has been proactive in ensuring a level playing field for the women in his organisation by making sure they get the right kind of experience and exposure. Rishi says that DEI initiatives need to be driven like any other change management program.

Questions are bound to be raised and additional costs could be incurred. The results are not immediate either. It can be a test of the leader’s conviction and resolve. Having enablers and ambassadors like him will help hasten the DEI movement.

You’ve talked about drawing management lessons from sport, are there any management lessons that you think would work brilliantly for young sportswomen - from squash player Anahat Singh and boxer Nikhat Zareen to chess player Tania Sachdev?

I am delighted to see so much young talent in the country.

Winning in sport has as much to do with self-belief as it has to do with preparation. Despite having access to good facilities and coaches, athletes can falter on the big stage if they get overawed by the pressure of the situation, the hype or the competition. The anxiety of the result can affect performance. It is best to control what is in your own hands and focus on your own performance.