“Don’t give a leadership position to tick a check box of gender sensitivity”

We, at Adgully, have always saluted and honoured women managers and leaders across diverse fields. W-SUITE is a special initiative from Adgully that has been turning the spotlight on some of the most remarkable women achievers in M&E, Advertising & Marketing, PR & Communication industry. In the refurbished series, we seek to find out how women leaders have been managing their teams and work as well as how they have been navigating through the toughest and most challenging times brought about by the global pandemic.

Soumini Sridhara Paul is the Senior Vice President of Hungama’s independent content and talent platform, Hungama ArtistAloud. Since its launch in January 2010, Soumini has spearheaded the set-up of Hungama ArtistAloud and has since made it South Asia’s premier digital platform for established and new independent talent.

She also heads Hungama Kids, a dedicated platform with age appropriate, entertaining and educational content for kids, teachers and parents. She has over 20 years of experience as a pop artist and an artist manager. She has done several assignments with Channel [V] for Bollywood, independent and International talent, along with album launches, promotions and artist relations at Universal Music.

In conversation with Adgully, Soumini Sridhara Paul, Senior Vice President, Hungama ArtistAloud, speaks about women leader in today’s business ecosystem, lessons in crisis management during the pandemic times, gender sensitivity, Hungama ArtistAloud missions for 2022 and more. 

How do you think the role and scope of women leaders has widened in the post-pandemic world?

I wouldn’t necessarily attribute it to the pandemic, but I do believe that there has been some genuine focus being given towards building women leaders across organisations over the past 4-5 years and I think that is a big step towards progress. This has given women more confidence to take on bigger and better portfolios and also build start-ups. I am hopeful that in the next 5 years we will have more women in CXO roles and possibly on the board of companies too. It is a bit of an uphill task, but consistency is going to be key.

The rapid transition to digital, an uncertain economic landscape, charting unknown waters, working from home – how have you been navigating during the COVID-19 times? How are you maintaining work-life balance in the new normal?

The first lockdown, back in March 2020, was unprecedented. No one we knew had ever experienced something of the kind and it was an adjustment that everyone had to make. The advantage was that people were willing to adjust and innovate. Being a digital company gave us the opportunity to do the same and we came up with innovative virtual concepts that came alive with artists who were willing to participate. However, WFH, in my opinion, is not the most optimal approach to productivity. Personally, for me, it is quite taxing to work from home. While I am able to keep a check on my work-life balance, I feel work is more fulfilling in an office environment.

Multiple studies have shown how women leaders performed better during the COVID-19 crisis. According to you, what makes women the best in crisis management?

In my personal opinion, I am not too sure if you can generalise it to all women, however for married women or women who are working mothers, it is definitely something that they are already quite well versed with because especially when you are a working mother, every day is filled with some kind of minor or major crisis. The art of managing family and work comes naturally to such women and hence, the WFH phenomenon or businesses collapsing was just one more crisis to handle. Please don’t get me wrong here, because I don’t mean to say that other people may not have been able to manage it. I am just stating the above based on experience and examples. I believe that age also plays a big part in it. Also, men have been clinically known to not do well with multitasking and hence, possibly it was more evident during the crisis.

What are the five most effective lessons that you have learned as a woman leader?

The five most effective lessons I have learned is as a leader and not necessarily as just being a woman, and they are:

• You have to be ready to learn and apply
• Don’t disregard the millennial. They may be impatient, but they are more current.
• It is easy to dismiss but harder to be patient and give a chance
• Be ready to listen to everyone’s ideas. You don’t know where the best idea comes from
• Experience can give you stability and maturity, but can also make you redundant. So, stay relevant and open minded

Gender sensitivity and inclusion in the new normal – how can organisations effectively encourage and groom women leaders in challenging times?

I don’t feel an individual should be given a leadership position to tick a check box of gender sensitivity or inclusion. It should be based on capability, intelligence, performance and malleability. It is more important to ensure that these qualities are honed and enhanced.

What are your views and observations on content consumption by the viewers during these times?

The year 2020 has changed the face of content consumption and made the playing field more and more exciting. There is an audience for all kinds of content, in any format and of any duration – be it television, OTT or short form video platforms. We even saw the surge in cinema goers when cinema halls opened up. It just goes to show that in a country like India, content is always going to rule as long as there is an audience for it.

Hungama ArtistAloud will be celebrating its 12th Anniversary soon. What new we are going to see this year from Hungama ArtistAloud?

As a digital company, Hungama has been a pioneer in digital solutions and innovations. It has been our constant endeavour to offer entertainment through unique digital avenues. Hungama ArtistAloud has followed the same path and aims to continue to do so through 2022 and beyond. We are soon going to announce a new offering for consumers in the independent space which will help build a stronger connect between Independent Artists and their fans as well as allow the fans to support their favourite artists. Besides that, we have also completely automated our process of acquisition, where the artists have the control of offering us an exclusive or non-exclusive license for distribution of their content and thus, decide as to where the content needs to be distributed. 2022 is also going to see ArtistAloud evolve beyond music with the entry into regional comedy and artists across other art forms.

What is the idea behind the concept of the new show ‘'Getting Intimate’?

‘Getting Intimate’ is meant to be a showcase of the Artist behind the Art. Each episode will showcase different artists across different art forms, where they speak about their journey, experiences, challenges, dreams and hopes. With multiple apps and destinations giving people a chance to showcase their talent, we wanted ArtistAloud to be the place where these talent can be known for themselves as well.

What are some of Hungama ArtistAloud missions for 2022?

One of Hungama ArtistAloud’s biggest missions is to be able to create a democratic approach for every artist to be able to showcase his/her content and talent through the platform and to build super fans for independent artists.