It all started when I got a call from the Deloitte recruitment
team asking me to come for an interview at the Bangalore office. It was at a
short notice, and I didn’t know who I would be meeting, other than it was a
Director. I had no idea what to expect from the conversation. At the office, I
met this simple yet vibrant woman, and in a few minutes of talking to her, I was
charmed. It was far from an interview. I felt like I as meeting an old friend
and the conversation just flowed. I went back from that interview feeling
energized, inspired and nervous (I wasn’t sure if I would get through, because
we never talked about work) After a few days of suspense, I got the offer, and
in a few weeks, I was “Deloitted”.
The Director I met that day was Vidhya Visweswarababu - a
veteran at the firm who had risen through the ranks and had recently taken up
the Offering Portfolio Leader (OPL) role for Customer & Marketing (Deloitte
Digital). She was the first woman leader to take up an OPL role in India. I did
not realize what a bigshot she was until I was a few months old in the firm.
Vidhya’s humility blew me away. Regardless of her huge title and role, Vidhya
was always an inspirational and approachable leader, who I could look up to and
reach out to for advice. Although we were at different locations, I kept in
touch with Vidhya, updating on what I was up to and seeking her inputs on
whatever I did. I always found comfort and encouragement in her words. I
remember excitedly sharing my English communication test result with her when I
got the Mastery level across the board. I sent Vidhya a note saying that I was
too excited, and that it might be silly, but I wanted to share it with her. Vidhya
promptly responded back saying she was happy to see my score and was glad that
I shared it with her.
Despite her hectic schedule, Vidhya always made time for me
whenever I asked for it. It meant a lot to me. Whenever I felt lost or confused
in this large firm, she would always say or do something that would help me
feel anchored again. Whenever I got an opportunity to see Vidhya in action as a
practice leader, I would always observe her and take notes on how she would
clearly lay out the priorities, call out things that needed to change, and find
a way to connect with the audience.
During my association with Vidhya over the last 5 years, I
have learnt many things from her – some consciously, some unconsciously. Here
are my top 5 learnings from Vidhya:
Culture of courage
I have seen Vidhya always encouraging people across levels
to speak up, to voice their opinion and take a stand if something isn’t right. While
I personally haven’t had a challenge being the person in the room who would ask
the question that everyone had on their mind but no one would ask, yet Vidhya’s
constant push on building a culture of courage gave me the license to openly
encourage my team members to be bold and vocal. With a leader like Vidhya
behind me, I have gone all out to build teams where people feel comfortable
being themselves and speaking up. I realized that it not only creates stronger
teams but also helps run projects more smoothly.
Feeling empowered
“What do you need in order to feel empowered to do what
you think should be done?” During my first year, Vidhya often asked me this
question, when I expressed frustration or helplessness about things that I
wasn’t able to navigate. Over time, I realized I have made “empowerment” a core
value, both for myself and for my teams. I have learnt to challenge assumptions
like “There is nothing I can do about this” and I am constantly trying to find
ways to make my team members feel like they are the ones in control, and that
they can change things that aren’t right. This simple concept has made work
more meaningful for me, and I hope for others too.
Leading with empathy
Vidhya is one of the most empathetic leaders I have ever
worked with, and it has profoundly shaped the way I lead as well. Observing
Vidhya, I have learnt that leading with empathy requires you to drop your own
agenda, put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and then guide them on a path
that you believe is the right one for them. Leading with empathy doesn’t mean
you are “soft” or that you “compromise” on fundamentals. It just means that you
treat people as people before anything else. You accept their differences,
their emotions, their ideas, without having to agree with all of them. Empathy arguably
is the most important leadership skill, and thanks to Vidhya, several of us may
have become better at it over the years.
Tackling challenges head on
If there is one camp that believes in “letting sleeping
tigers lie”, Vidhya is certainly in the one that believes in “taking the bull
by its horns”. I have never seen Vidhya shy away from a challenge or a
difficult conversation. I vividly remember when Covid situation was just
starting to unfold and there was extreme uncertainty about work, Vidhya set up
this call simply titled “Coronavirus updates”. With the widespread anxiety
around the situation, the call received such unprecedented high participation
that for the first time we maxed out on Zoom attendee count! In fact, Vidhya
even joked that we should use the same subject line for all our meeting invites
going forward! During the call, Vidhya acknowledged the high degree of
uncertainty in the situation, she answered questions patiently and calmly, and
the gave people the assurance that they could have hoped to get during that
time. I was full of admiration for the dignity and courage Vidhya showed during
that time.
Supporting other women
“As a woman leader, what do you do to support gender
diversity at work?” After I became Senior Manager, I increasingly faced
this question, and I realized that I had conflicted thoughts on this. I was
fortunate to get wonderful mentors and role models across genders throughout my
career, and I was very conscious of inadvertently doing or saying something
that felt exclusive or favorable to one gender. I was starting to feel a sense
of responsibility, but I wasn’t sure how to fulfill it in a way that felt
authentic to me. As a strong advocate, Vidhya constantly talked about this, and
the two things that she said that resonated the most with me were - 1) Be
intentional about supporting women. 2) Just because you may not have faced
bias, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Whenever I struggle on this topic, I think
back to these as guideposts, and it helps simplify my decision or action.
To conclude, I firmly believe that there is no such thing as
a “self-made person” and that our career is an amalgamation of support, mentorship,
and kindness from others, apart from luck and hard work. I seem to have had
more than my fair share of luck when it comes to mentors both within the firm
and prior to it, and for that I am very grateful.
I have been fortunate to work with Vidhya and benefit from
her tremendous mentorship. Her influence on me can be gleaned from the number
of times I have quoted her to my peer group and teams, all these years. As a
famous person once said – “We must find time to stop and thank those who
make a difference to our lives” – I believe this is my way of thanking
Vidhya for everything she has done, and for helping me become a better version
of myself. I hope I can pay it forward, because “we rise only by lifting
others”…
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