Cisco India's Daisy Chittilapilly, RBI MPC Member Ashima Goyal, Viacom18 Media's Jyoti Deshpande and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility’s Suman Mishra discussed how women can shatter glass ceilings at work at the Business Today Most Powerful Women in Business event
Cisco India and SAARC President Daisy Chittilapilly laid out a three-point action plan that worked for her in breaking through bias to reach the top. She pointed out that while organisations and institutions have good cultures and values, working women are likely to encounter biases because of people who have not progressed
"Skill up because you have to be good at what you do to be taken seriously, speak up boldly because there will be lots of naysayers who come your way, and get up when you get knocked off because there will be those times as well," said Daisy Chittilapilly
RBI Monetary Policy Committee external member Ashima Goyal emphasised that it is important to really be happy and enjoy what you do. Women have to look inside themselves and develop their own skills and personality, she said
"When I started out, I was part of groups where I was the only woman or there was one other woman. In such situations, most women tend to copy what others are doing because all of us tend to copy people who know more than we do. But that's very dangerous," said Ashima Goyal
Ashima Goyal urged women to identify something they enjoy doing and do it better than anyone else. She said, "You can do well in a career but to really be at the top in a decision-making position, you need to have something extra. That's what you'll find by developing your own personality.”
Jyoti Deshpande, CEO, Viacom18 Media, shared her experience of leading one of the big four media companies in India. She said that in the media industry, while there are a lot of women in the junior and middle management roles, there are not enough women who are up in top management positions
"What really worked for me was focusing on outcomes. I'm very outcome focused and don't get distracted by anecdotes or someone trying to bully you. I fight my own battles and moving those needles on those outcomes is what has got me here," Jyoti Deshpande said
Suman Mishra, CEO, Mahindra Last Mile Mobility said that while it is easier for women to do business today, compared to how it was 10-20 years ago, there is still a long way to go. She also spoke of both extremes of outright bias as well as support and sponsorship for women
Recounting her experience with a large supplier who said, 'For a pretty woman like you, we would do this' and the support from the Mahindra Group in countering it, Suman Mishra said, "The first is very irritating, where the second exists those organisations will progress."
Business Today's 19th edition of BT MPW awards event was held in Mumbai. Women business leaders from across the fields such as SUGAR Cosmetics’ Vineeta Singh and Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh, veterans such as SBI’s first women chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, HCL Tech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra and others addressed were part of key sessions at the event