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the-south-asian.com April 2004 |
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April 2004 Wildlife
Paragpur
- India's 1st
Corporate Talk
Books Lehngas - a limited collection Books Between
Heaven and Hell
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Page 1 of 2 POWER WOMEN REV UP ON THE CORPORATE HIGHWAY by Mukesh Khosla
:An increasing number of women are proving that when it comes to making the right business moves in the world of high finance, they have more than just a pretty face to show. Gender barriers in the workplace are fast becoming a thing of the past. Corporate women are no longer the proverbial needles in the haystack. The number of senior women managers are swelling - -thoroughbred professionals who palm-pilot their careers with battle plan exactitude. In fact, an increasing number of women are proving that when it comes to making the right business moves and keeping their best foot forward in the world of high finance, they have more than just a pretty face to show. Who are these women? What drives them on--- just the will to make big money or are there other motivating factors as well? Is it sheer luck or is it a labour of sweat and tears? In short, what does success mean to them and how did they achieve it? The answers are as varied as the women themselves. However, one common factor is their passion for work. They are totally committed and it can be safely said that their professional lives and their work are all just an extension of their personalities. The only difference is that each woman has a distinct work identity, a different personality, a different work style, and even a different interpretation of the word success. Seema Luthra is the newly designated President and Chief Executive Officer of Galileo India one of the world’s leading providers of electronic global distribution services that connects 46,000 travel agencies to 683 airlines and 52,000 hotels. Ms. Luthra, who is responsible for all aspects of her company’s business in India, says her 16 years of airline sales and marketing experience has helped her spearhead Galileo’s efforts to drive value in and costs out of the travel distribution business. How does she feel as a woman heading Galileo India? "Perhaps this question should be asked to men who see me at the helm of Galileo India. I have no gender bias. I see myself as a responsible leader and stay focused on my task, which is to maximize shareholder value," says the lady who in her last two assignments has headed the sales and marketing functions for Scandinavian Airline Systems (SAS) and United Airlines respectively. But she doesn’t think being a woman helped tremendously. " I don’t know if I would have been more or less successful if I was not a woman," she says No Gender Issue
Shruti Bajpai agrees. The Director, Marketing, HBO South Asia says, "... being a woman is no gender issue." She has been involved with the HBO TV channel since its launch and is responsible for conceptualizing, devising and implementing, and marketing programmes. In her three-year stint she has worked towards steering the channel through its launch and consolidation phase with the objective of establishing – with the viewers, and the affiliates - the franchise of the HBO brand. However, she says women are more sensitive and more dynamic. " Having a woman executive at the top inculcates a sense of balance, intelligence, higher Emotional Quotient level and respect to the management team," says she. An economics graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Ms. Bajpai did her MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. Prior to joining HBO she was Brand Marketing Manager at Nestle India Ltd.
Another Mumbai-based
corporate high flier, in the literal sense of the term, is Nalini
Gupta who has been the General Manager (India) for South African Airways for
the last three years. After graduating from Sydenham she completed her
Masters in Marketing Management and then joined Air India where she spent
the first 20 years of her career. After a stint at Abacus, she joined as
general manager South African Airways in 2001.
For Latika Thukral, Business Head, Citibank’s Auto-Associates Citifinancial Services, empowerment is a critical constituent for building managers and future leaders. " I have always worked in an environment, where empowerment is given to me along with accountability to deliver results. Over the years, I’ve never felt being a woman I was given extra or less," says the lady who started out with a two year Management program with ITC’s Welcomgroup. Has gender bias ever stood in her career path? No, she says emphatically. " It all depends on how you conduct yourself. If you portray yourself as helpless, then you get treated like one. I strongly believe if you are clear about your objectives and if your work speaks for itself, people look beyond gender."
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