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Mentee maketh a Mentor

The End …. or a New beginning The mail from Cherie Blair foundation, reminded me about time to end the mentoring relationship with my mentee Clare Appleyard. It’s been an year already! ….. seriously?…. Doesn’t seem so. A relationship which has blurred the lines of mentee-mentor, and moved into the realm of a relationship called friendship … could not end. It’s also time for me to reflect. It’s not too late to think, if it is fair to call myself a mentor! Clare tells me she has seen 35% growth in her business. Well .. let me also share … I’ve had about 95% growth in my business. My gains from the relationship has been far more than I could ever imagine. A flashback on the year that was. When I signed up for being a mentor with Cherie Blair Foundation (CBF) and wasn’t sure what to expect. The introductory mail informing […]

April 19, 2019

Is your language conveying your intent?

Our language fails to communicate our intent! Ladies, language is not what we learn in dictionaries, thesaurus or even Wren and Martins. Language is what others’ understand when we speak. In this piece I’m sharing 4 statements I’ve heard in the recent past, where the language is not conveying what the speaker wants to convey. Perhaps could even lead to sabotaging their own career. A little bit of thinking, and rephrasing is what is needed to convey your real intent. “I’ve had enough of corporate world” I heard this phrase when a lady was looking for a career change and wanted to move to a startup. It made me cringe. When talking about making a move into a new territory, any talk about wanting to move away from the old one is a big NO NO. Talk about wanting to move towards … like “I’m keen …” I’m looking forward to … “. 2. “I want to explore myself”, “I want […]

April 14, 2019

Respectful Workplace – Fundamental Right of Every Woman

A work environment that is safe and respectful for all genders greatly encourages and attracts aspiring individuals to participate and promote the growth of an organization. This results in dramatic development of the economy and the personal lives of the individuals. A plethora of examples will appear on the search results if one looks up on the organizations and individuals that have fallen from grace due to sexual harassment. It is evident that sexual harassment finds its roots in issues of behaviours and mindsets. Sexual harassment is a behaviour characterized by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances. One of the employability skills that is not taught in the conventional education system in India is on behaviour at workplace. Due to lack of awareness as to when and how the behaviour enters a realm of sexual harassment, lot of people victimize and get victimized. This further […]

February 4, 2019

BBC and The Gender Pay Gap

According to World Economic Forum (WEF) report, 2016, the gender pay gap will take 170 years to close. Appalling or unbelievable? While some have been rubbishing the claims of gender pay gaps and some others blaming it for lack of ambition in women. BBC’s disclosure on the payouts to its stars confirm the claims by WEF report. This despite the equal pay legislation in most of the countries. BBC’s revelation has sent triggers down the entire corporate world. What started as a mandate from the govt to make public the payscales of the stars, revealed 2/3 of its stars earning equal to or greater than £150,000, are men. The gender pay gap is real and mammoth. The backlash that followed is also real. The magnitude of the gap is what has brought BBC into the limelight for wrong reasons. Reactions to BBC’s revelation The backlash followed. The women personalities in the channel have publicly urged the Channel to […]

August 1, 2018

International Women’s Day – 2018

Tokenism is what we don’t need. The women’s day is meant to spread awareness about what each one of us can do to ensure and equitable world. The Women’s day is a reminder to everyone about a community which represents 50% of the world population, has an unfair share in economy, politics, society and culture. It’s an alarm bell as a reminder call for action for promoting gender parity Are we overdoing it? In light of India Ranking 108 on Global gender gap Index dismally low [from a total of 144 economies], India’s greatest challenges lie in the economic participation of women and opportunity pillar where the country is ranked 139; and the health and survival pillar where the country is ranked 141. The Economic participation is low as 66% of women’s work in India is unpaid Labour. WEF also claims, going by the current rate it will take 217 years […]

March 5, 2018

Development of Women in Mid-management – Is it worth the effort?

Women in Leadership Increasing the number of women in leadership is a topic of discussion perhaps in every business forum. Leaders across the world have been brainstorming ideas for almost 3 decades now but the pace progress in the area leaves much to be desired. Organisations are reaching a stage where fatigue has started setting in and they’re wondering if it’s worth the effort. India is amongst the few counties which have mandated at least one woman representation on board of directors in the Companies Act 2013. What followed was, either a female member of the family being offered the role or vying for that one single woman to serve on multiple boards. The reason may not as much as talent shortage as it was lack of recognition and development of talent. The lack of foresight and long-term efforts in developing women talent along with inconsistent effort in creating an enabling […]

May 28, 2017

Women in Workforce – Should India care

What does the data Say 48% of India’s population is women. Unfortunately, we call women as part of the minority community. This, despite the huge talent gap in our workforce, which continues to plague the growth of our economy. India ranks 87 out of 144 in the WEF Gender Gap report 2016, a definite improvement from its 108 positions in 2015. Amongst the four pillars of the economy, education, health and political representation based on which gender gap is measured, female participation in primary and secondary education has significantly improved. India still ranks a dismal 136 on economic participation and opportunity out of 144 countries, coming in at 135th for labor force participation and 137th for estimated earned income. It’s a cause for concern, women participation in the labor force has dropped from 42.7 percent in 2004-05 to 31.2 in 2011-12. We may hence conclude, India has progressed in getting an education for the girls but hasn’t […]

May 21, 2017

Ananya-Women@Work – Workshop for talented women professionals / Entrepreneurs to tap into their leadership potential As a woman in your mid-management career Do you find time to invest in your professional growth Do you ask for the raise that you wish to receive Is your office politics pulling you down? Do you have mentors and sponsors Do you find your voice not being heard in a group Are you struggling to find a balance between your professional and personal life Ananya – Women@Work: A two-day workshop specially designed for women professionals. This unique concept is the result of our experience in working with various organizations and individuals on Gender diversity initiatives. This two-day workshop is to “enable” women by helping them identify some of their limiting beliefs and support them with tools to replace these beliefs with empowering beliefs. The workshop also brings forth the sticky floor(s) that women experience which in turn serves as […]

March 17, 2017

Women in Tech – Sexist work culture in Uber and other startups

Uber as a business model is presented as a case worth studying, in practically all forums be it how a technology-based business is disrupting the dynamics of traditional business models, or how to make profits without any owning assets or how the youth in the world are thinking out of the box of creating innovative business models. No cars owned, aggregating services of the third party, VC’s vying to have their share, idea which is the envy of every brick & mortar business. Uber is making headlines for a different reason now – women in technology. While the entire world is busy brainstorming ways to attract, retain, develop and promote women in tech, Uber was busy ignoring/dismissing the reports of any wrongdoing by male high performers. The blog post by Susan Fowler which was read the world over, followed by a blog by #ubersurvivor brings forth to the world the […]

March 7, 2017

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