Reflecting on Women, Leadership, and Empowerment

Posted: April 23, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Reflecting on Women, Leadership, and Empowerment

When I got an email response from none other than Arianna Huffington to write a blog for The Huffington Post, I was very excited. I had met her at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in California in October 2011. I decided to reflect on my life for the last year and I would like to share my exciting journey.

I was chosen for Fortune’s State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership Progra, which connects Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, i.e., leading women business executives in the United States with emerging women leaders around the world. It selects around 26 women from all over the world and I was one of them.

After spending a month in the United States last year, where I had the opportunity to spend time with Molly Ashby from Solera Capital, Sherrie Rollins Westin from Sesame Street, Susan Davis, Pattie Sellers, Dina Powell, Alyse Nelson, etc., something changed within me.

I felt there was a larger world out there; it is important to keep the process of learning going.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

That is the feeling that seeped within me the first day I arrived in Washington, D.C. Our first discussion on women leadership at the U.S. State Department and the White House, represented by emerging women leaders from 17 different countries — including China, Pakistan, India, Brazil, Africa Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Jamaica, Haiti and South Africa — opened up a whole new dimension toward the concept of leadership and women empowerment. Here we were, 26 women with a distinctive cultural divide yet unified in our strengths and opportunities.

I truly believe that this program is the vision for the future and I believe the women in my country have the power to build that vision into reality.

The program was a great learning experience on so many levels. I realized that “women” were the new emerging market. Investing in and empowering women would be the smartest and most effective way to improve the world, as nearly 70 percent of poor people in the world are women. The Asia Pacific region alone would gain $42 to $45 billion if women had greater access to job opportunities.

Molly Ashby from Solera Capital and Pattie Sellers from Fortune invited me for Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in LA in October 2011. I was all charged up to see some of the biggest faces of the business world there, including Warren Buffett, Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook, Susan Chambers from Walmart, Arianna Huffington, Indra Nooyi from Pepsico, Billie Jean King, Susan Lynn, Marissa Mayer from Google, and Tyra Banks. The list is endless.

At the sit-down dinner I saw Warren Buffett. The man we all want to meet once in a lifetime was, as luck was by my side, sitting at a table right next to me. Talking to him was one of the most memorable moments of my life. He was the only man present and yet every woman in the room wanted a photo with him. He showed me his wallet in jest and I was further amazed by his humility.

My thoughts: Interacting with such stalwarts of different industries was a remarkable learning experience for me. What makes their accomplishments even more significant is their ceaseless commitment to corporate philanthropy and social responsibility. I am grateful for the grace and humility shown to me by these extraordinary individuals who have set a high bar not only for themselves but for the rest of the world too as well.

On my return my thoughts moved to leadership. Leadership is about empowering others and power expands the moment you share it.

It made me realize while I was meeting all these great people that there were two Indias — one which we lived in and the other we saw every day and yet we never saw it (the other being the poor India).

Attending a few summits on leadership, such as Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leadership Summit, Hindustan Times’ Leadership Summit and India Today Conclave in India has made me think and wonder the role we must all play.

While I was writing this I met Diane von Furstenberg in India and she spoke about female empowerment. She also talked about the women in World Summit held in New York earlier and how the summit brings together extraordinary women leaders and advocates from around the world to find solutions to the challenges facing women and girls. The recent article on DVF in India titled “I Sell Confidence” made me reflect on when I was growing up. I thought about myself and how strong my mother had been for us when we were growing up belonging to a traditional family where education for girls was never given importance, she stood against my grandmother’s wishes to give us proper education. I think the answer has become much clearer for me today. For me it simply means: “Pay it forward.”

The experiences and my journey for the last year have been a revelation for me and I hope I can do something to empower the women in my country. I would like to sum up my experience by quoting Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

2011 Women Leaders in India Awards

Posted: January 14, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The 3rd edition of the II global business information Women Leaders in India Award 2011 was held on the 8th and 9th of December 2011, at the plush Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai.

This summit was attended by some of the most well-known leaders from across the industries. The theme for this year’s awards was Women, as transformational leaders.

The dignitaries for the award ceremony included celebrated director of Indian Cinema Mr. Nagesh Kuknoor and the famous Actress Ms. Sameera Reddy. Other speakers included the Chairperson of Shahnaz Group of Industries Ms. Shahnaz Hussain, the CIO of Reliance Group Ms. Alpna J Doshi, Ms. Sangita Singh who is the senior Vice-President of Wipro Technologies and many such successful women leaders.

Stuti Jalan, MD at Crosshairs Communication won the Best Young Women Entrepreneur award at this prestigious event.  She was presented with this award by Mr. Nagesh Kuknoor. Stuti won this award for the sheer hard work she has put in to make Crosshairs Communication a rapidly growing company fused by talent acquisition harnessing a business strategy based on effective ideas and ingenuity and leadership.

Stuti was recently selected for the Fortune US state department mentorship program in the United States. This program connects the most powerful women from Fortune 500 companies with emerging women leaders around the world.

Stuti was also invited for FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit that took place at Laguna Niguel, CA in October this year. The premiere gathering of its kind, the Summit-now in its 13th year-was by invitation only. She had the incredible opportunity to interact with the participants for this prestigious summit.

We congratulate Stuti on this wonderful achievement, and hope that she will keep on winning such accolades in the future.

Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit- Truly Enriching!!!

Posted: December 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit I knew was going to be the most amazing experience for me. I arrived in LA on Oct 2, 2011 and after an hour drive, I reached Ritz Carlton at Laguna Niguel. I was all charged up too see some of the most big faces like Warren Buffet, Sheryl Sandberg Facebook, Pattie Sellers Fortune, Susan Chambers – Walmart, Molly Ashby – Solera Capital, Sherrie Rollins Westin – Sesame Street, Arianna Huffington, Indra Nooyi, Billi Jean King, Susan Lynn, Marissa Mayer – Google, Tyra Banks,  and the list is endless. The Hotel on a cliff faced the beautiful Pacific Ocean. I could see the action at the ball room and the hotel for the Fortune MPW and energy level all around me was high. I slept early and was geared for the next day.

All excited for the next day I reached the solution desk at 9.00 a.m for the very first session on BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: SPARKING CORPORATE INNOVATION which had Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Google, Christine Day, Chief Executive Officer, lululemon athletica

The whole session turned up to be really inspiring for me. Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Google made a point saying that 20% of time should be dedicated to new ideas. She also further made a point that Google focuses on the license to be creative (20% time) and an open info culture, so employees can self-organize.

Her emphasis was that at Google “we believe it’s totally fine to fail. You just have to fail fast.” In Google brainstorm meetings, they focus 70% of time on core ideas, 20% on related, and 10% on far flung ideas to inspire creative thinking”.

As evening approached there was more in store as we had a SUMMIT NEWCOMER MEET and GREET by the gazebo. Once the summit winded up we all proceeded for a sit down dinner and that’s when I laid my eyes on Warren Buffet. The man we all want to meet once in a lifetime. And as luck was by my side he was sitting on a table right next to me. Talking to him was the most memorable moment of the Summit for me.  He was the only man present and yet every woman in the room wanted a photo with him. He showed me his wallet and I was amazed by such humility. “Interacting with such stalwarts of different industries was a remarkable learning experience for me. What make their accomplishments even more significant is their ceaseless commitment to corporate philanthropy & Social responsibility. I am grateful for the grace and humility shown to me by these extraordinary individuals who have set a high bar not only for themselves but the rest of the world too as well. ” says Stuti.

Amongst all the talks at the summit music also entertained us as Rosanne Cash sang many numbers and with passion. Seriously an amazing performance by her.

Day 2 started with the morning breakfast at 7.00 a.m followed by a session on BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL PLATFORM: ASSERTING YOUR POWER AND SKILL OUTSIDE THE CORNER OFFICE.

The other sessions that followed were THE GOLDMAN SACHS – FORTUNE GLOBAL WOMEN LEADERS AWARD Presenter was Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He played a key role during the financial meltdown – Please watch the movie – “Too Good too Fail” on the same subject.

As awaited by one and all Warren Buffet was back with us, and being the world’s best investor and richest man he too shared his latest insights. For those uninitiated Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. He was of the opinion that Berkshire Hathaway’s 5 largest businesses will set records for earnings. “It was my boyhood dream, I wanted a tax named after me.” Since ’92 the avg income of richest people has gone from 40 odd mil $ to 220 mil. Yet tax rate has fallen for the rich.

Next session my eyes got stuck on Glenn Close when she introduced herself as Patty Hewes, her character on Damages. On her new film, Glenn Close says that the most interesting is what face people (women) choose to put on in order to survive. She made a very strong point saying “women need their own money to have power”.

The session by DARPA “AM YOUR MATH AND SCIENCE” focused on the next generation of girls to generate intellectual capital that can drive the economic engine of our future prosperity. The session was proceeded by Regina Dugan, Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. Department of Defense.

The next session that I attended happened to be of someone of whom I am a real big fan- Billie Jean King, Co-founder, World Team Tennis – Tennis Icon. She spoke about YOUR HEALTH: FACING THE BIG CHALLENGES, along with Charlene Begley, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, General Electric Co.; President and CEO, GE Home and Business Solutions.

When Susan Lyne, Chairman, Gilt Groupe, who also happens to be on the cover of FORTUNE magazine addressed the summit everyone was in awe of her. “As a women, we tend to wait until we’re actually invited to the party.” I managed a quick chat with her post her session on the luxury market.

The session ENTREPRENEURS: BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP

Tyra Banks, Chairwoman and CEO, Bankable Enterprises  was interesting and it reminded me of me as I started young. Tyra said “I kind of like the wind in my face. If it wasn’t there, I don’t know if I would push as hard.”  Rosanne Cash who talked about creativity, building on her famous father’s legacy, and her addiction to Twitter! She had brain surgery four years ago. After she recovered, she says music became deeper, richer for her. While Hewlett-Packard’s new CEO Meg Whitman 7th day into her job took the stage spoke about taking big risks in her career risks. Yet her biggest challenge as she quotes is says turning around America’s 10th-largest company. Meg Whitman says she’s in far better shape today to run than she was before she ran for governor of California. She’s tougher now and “Politics is a blood sport, and it is personal.”

Following all the excitement was the next session by Sheryl Sandberg where she talks about the evolution of facebook and her own career. She was an amazing person and my  visit to the facebook office later into the week at Palo Alto was amazing. When she started speaking out about being a woman in business she was told by some that it would ruin her career. She added “Worry about growth, not career trajectory”. Gloria Steinem, Writer, Lecturer, Editor, Feminist Activist, and Co-founder Women’s Media Center  said “You can’t have democracy without feminism”. Another interesting session was conducted by Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief, AOL Huffington Post Media Group and her Interviewer: Chelsea Handler, Bestselling Author, Talk Show Host, Comedian, Actor. Huffington “I love crying, almost as much as I love sleeping.” And to justify this statement she says that she has installed 2 nap rooms in her office. Their session revolved around Sex, sleep, and power.

With some nice chilled out moments a GOURMET BBQ was organized with Guest Chefs include Siapin Chutima, Lotus of Siam, Las Vegas, NV, Zov Karamardian, Zov’s Bistro, Tustin, CA, Dahlia Narvaez, Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles, CA, Nicole Plue, Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA, Maricel Presilla, Cucharamama, Hoboken, NJ, Andrea Reusing, Lantern Restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC, Holly Smith, Café Juanita, Seattle, WA, Celina Tio, Julian, Kansas City, MO.

Nothing was missed as even fitness was taken care where Tracy Anderson, Celebrity Trainer and Founder, The Tracy Anderson Method.

Day 3 started with SHAKING UP THE BOARD ROOM: CAN QUOTAS WORK?
Trina Gordon, President and CEO, Boyden World Corp. Baroness Mary Goudie, Member, House of Lords, U.K., Kristin Skogen Lund, Executive Vice President and Head, Nordic Region, Telenor ASA, then taking the stage was Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo talked about about getting breakfast with Tyra Banks being the subject of a GossipGirl episode and Michael Jordan. Nooyi brought up the concept of “Conscious Capitalism,” citing a speech written by Whole Foods’ (WFM) John Mackey as an inspiration.  “If we don’t all practice capitalism with a conscience, we are doing the world a disservice,” she said, ending with a “plea to everyone who is a CEO.” Said Indra.  She speaks so well and later when she realized I was from India she was very happy. Nooyi also discussed the company’s gradual shift toward foods that are “good for you” rather than simply “fun for you”.

The session winded up with Barbara Bush, CEO and Co-founder, Global Health Corps and on WOMEN, POWER, HUMOR, AND MAKING IT BIG by  Chelsea Handler, Bestselling Author, Talk Show Host, Comedian, Actor Interviewer: Pattie Sellers, Editor at Large and Co-chair, Most Powerful Women Summit, Fortune. “It’s about being really savvy, about making smart decisions, and about making original decisions” said Chelsea.

I would like to end by quoting Gandhi  “Be the Change you want to see in the World” !!

 

 

Stuti Jalan

MD, Crosshairs Communication