An insight into India’s powerful businesswomen

30 Women in Power book launched by FICCI

The FICCI Ladies Organisation launched a book titled ‘30 Women in Power’ at a pleasant evening on Friday. The panel included five top women of the country – from the fast moving consumer goods sector to health care, all seated on one platform. Some of the women who were part of it included Preetha Reddy, executive vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals; Debjani Ghosh, VP, sales and marketing and MD, Intel Corporation; Avani Davda, CEO, Starbucks India; Shanti Ekambaram, president, Corporate & Investment Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Vijyalakshmi Iyer, former CMD, Indian Bank.

The panel discussed on the topic, ‘Some Leaders are Born Women’. The book which is a collection of personal essays by thirty powerful women in India was edited by Naina Lal Kidwai, chairman, India director, HSBC Asia Pacific. The discussion involved topics of time management, families and the importance for more women to identify their potential and be determined to reach high standards.

All the ladies on the panel also agreed that women bring to organisations something that men often don’t. “Women tend to be very loyal to their work. They also have the emotional quotient which gives them that natural edge of understanding a situation,” said Shanti Ekambaram.

Debjani Ghosh said, “All of us have been born with this idea of a ‘perfect woman’ who can cook and be a great mother. But nowhere in that perfect picture is a great CEO or a great scientist or a great sportswoman.” She went on to say that each woman has to make peace with trading-off what is not too important to them, and focus on following their dreams.

Talking about balancing the “crystal ball” of family, Ghosh quoted Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook as saying that choosing a husband is also a career decision a woman will make, and it’s the most important one. Discussing whether women in all sections of society are able to achieve great roles, Kidwai said, “The perception that women should only be in support roles like finance and HR is certainly going away.”

Vijyalakshmi Iyer, former CMD, Indian Bank, added, “In small villages and towns we now see that many women join together to create self-help groups. We have to believe that the change has truly started to happen.” The idea for the book came to Kidwai after the Nirbhaya incident happened in the country. She was determined to show the world that there are many successful women in India who go against all odds, despite incidents like the December 2012 rape case.

Kidwai later also said that this book is as much a message to all fathers and all men as it is to women.On what the word “power” means, Ekambaram said, “It’s the ability to transform, to influence and bring about change – and that could be a homemaker as well.”

Without a doubt, the event ended with this message ringing true in everyone’s minds – in a man’s world you have to have a competitive spirit to raise your hand, get things done and climb to the top of the ladder. The panelists also mentioned that it helps to have role models to build one’s dream; and what better role models to have, than those of such caliber as the panelists themselves.