‘The working woman has to juggle between duties at home and at work’
Published on : Monday 30-11--0001
How adventurous has the journey to success been so far?
I have always lived my life with a positive attitude and took decisions on my own based on my strengths and ability. After BE (Electronics), my professional journey of 23 years started as a Management Trainee at IPCL in the petrochemical industry, then rose to General Manager level at Reliance Industries and now working as Assistant Vice President at Chemtrols Industries in Sales and Marketing. Overall my journey was very challenging and with the support of my parents, husband and family, I could achieve my goals and moved on the success path.
Due to my father’s transferable job, my schools got changed every 3 to 4 years. This helped me resolve difficult situations on my own and made me bold and confident. I was selected as a school leader, which further strengthened my leadership qualities. After engineering, when I got placement at a remote site of IPCL, that was no dampener. My mother was the inspiration to start my professional life and to attain financial independence. Travelling in night trains made me fearless.
When women work, they need to prove themselves in the male dominant field. Interacting with seniors and juniors, learning to take positive criticism, gathering knowledge and gaining expertise in my field and bringing results opened up new arenas and opportunities for me. When my two daughters were little and at same time I was growing in profession, actually speaking it was very difficult to keep work life balance. But then you don’t have choice. I learned time management skills well.
Being a working wife and mother I shared with my family all the wisdom I learned at work and epitomise the importance of being independent. I became role model for my family. Now my grownup children are motivation for me. I am further excited to climb more rungs of this ladder.
For a country where women have joined the workforce decades ago, there are few in leadership positions. What are the possible reasons?
Our country has witnessed dramatic economic transformation but still it does not seem to bring changes in the mindset of people. The working woman has to juggle between her duties at home and at work. When a woman works, it becomes the responsibility of her family to support her and respect her work life. Encouragement from superiors and senior colleagues, and the organisation can support women having excellence to fulfil their dreams and reach to leadership positions.
There is always a glass ceiling and it is not always gender-based. But how difficult is it for a woman to enter the corner office?
A woman normally gives preference to her family rather than her own growth and becomes less ambitious after attaining a certain level. Self-motivation, self-belief, good emotional and physical health and excellent interpersonal skills are required to break the glass ceiling.
In recent years we have had some successful cases of women CEOs in banking/Finance, but not many in engineering. Will this change in the coming years?
Yes, this is changing every year. I have observed and witnessed a drastic change in inclusion of women in engineering work force. Corporates are recognising that girls and women are more Disciplined, Result Oriented, Multi skilled and better taskmasters.
Final question, do successful women deliberately avoid the limelight?
I don’t think so. If your good work and attitude is recognised in any organisation, you will be respected, appreciated and your contribution highlighted in the organisation, regardless.
(This is part of a series of interviews conducted by Industrial Automation on the eve of the International Women’s Day 2018, to celebrate the success of women entrepreneurs and achievers in the industrial automation domain)