"Often at CXO levels, priorities may clash & analysis paralysis is common"

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 the M&E, Advertising, Marketing, PR and Communications 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.

In conversation with Adgully, Bistriti Poddar, Chief Communication Officer, uKnowva HRMS, candidly speaks about why there is less participation of women in the top managerial roles in India, lack of gender-inclusive ecosystems, creating positive or impactful disruption, and more.

Please tell us about your journey as a communication expert.

Well, it wasn’t a great start, I was written off in my very first job by a toxic manager. But I was committed to achieving my goals. When you’re consistently chasing excellence, you can’t be too far off from success. I always strive to break through any limits and create the kind of life I have designed for myself. From being written off to becoming a 4-time TEDx speaker, winning Asia’s top 100 power leaders in Marcomm, ET women leadership award and Business World’s E4M 40 under 40 title, the journey has been exhilarating. I have always believed that if you want the doors of opportunities and success to open for you, you have to open the doors in your mind to start with. What got me this far is my attitude that in the end, all rejections are good, just reframe them well.

How do you deal with the stress and pressure as a communication expert during any crisis?

Often at CXO levels, priorities may clash, anxieties run high, and analysis paralysis is common, but during those times, I try to break through the inertia and focus on business continuity. I focus on building a simple, scalable framework for quick decision-making. Being able to differentiate between urgent and important and making smart trade-offs is all that an effective leader should be.

Why do you think there is less participation of women in the top managerial roles in India?

Because of the lack of gender-inclusive ecosystems. Balancing work and family can be a challenge that limits women from seeking leadership roles. Women struggle to balance job, family and social obligations, leaving little time for professional networking. An effective network is also essential for a leader. ‘Work-life balance’ is a significant challenge that women constantly encounter. Success will go to those who can strike the correct balance. Other barriers include gendered leadership, hostility against female managers, poor negotiation skills and apathy towards pursuing power and status.

What are the success strategies that can help women leaders thrive and break barriers?

To create any sort of positive or impactful disruption, you need to build great teams which will eventually lead to great results. I am also extremely assertive, and self-assured and I put across my opinions without being sorry or shy. It’s important to be an avid learner as well. I think that’s the mantra. There are certain skills women must focus on to overcome these barriers:

• Women should have great communication skills to know how to handle communication with men at workplaces in India and call out on anyone who does not respect the opinion of a woman leader.
• Time management for fine-tuning the work-life balance and working hours and having a propulsive impact with every invested hour.
• Integrity and honesty are critical skills for women to overcome barriers. Women leaders must own up to their professional values, principles and ethics. Without honesty about their deliverables, it’s hard to scale up and be indispensable for the management.
• A higher emotional quotient helps in conflict management, stress management and team management to play with people’s strengths and competitive capabilities. This helps to extract desirable business outcomes in times of rapid and uncertain changes in the industry.
• Succession planning is one of the core skills women leaders must equip themselves with to instill trust, empathy, guidance and honesty internally in teams.

How do you look at the importance of content creation in today’s world of social media?

Content is the cornerstone for any business. New, frequent and insightful content drives loyalty, brand awareness and stickiness. Good quality content that truly creates value is undeniably important. But knowing exactly what that content is and how to make it show up on searches so people can find it is what smart marketers should be focusing on. We live in a world where there is a constant flow of fact, information and opinion. Influence is immediate. Engagement is continuous. Action is always imminent. Combined with the predictive power of big data analytics, content is transforming how we live, work and interact with each other. One of the best practices is to create cornerstone content that is a high-value, foundational piece of content that helps you start building traffic and brand awareness by showing the audience your brand value and offering. Your cornerstone content should be highly relevant to your business goals – and establish authority in your industry as a thought leader.

You are working in a Tech company right now; how do you think women can thrive in the tech world?

As a woman leader, place a higher premium on working in an equitable, supportive, and inclusive workplace. Companies should consider focusing on two broad goals: getting more women into leadership and retaining the women leaders they already have for more meaningful progress. That will require pushing beyond common practices. Businesses must teach their staff members how to handle situations of harassment and discrimination. Companies with better representation of women are going further.