Bangalore: The fourth edition of the Women Leadership Summit, organised by the student-run Women in Management Club (WIM) of IIM Bangalore, was hosted at the IIMB campus on January 13 (Saturday), 2018.
The summit had eminent speakers such as Vinita Bali, former CEO and MD of Britannia Industries, and Member, Board of Governors, IIMB, who inaugurated the event and encouraged the participants to believe in themselves; Malavika Haritha, Distinguished Alumna of IIMB and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Focus Network, who explained how could be a “wonder woman”, and Nirmala Sankaran, Co-Founder, Heymath! who demonstrated how to leverage situational leadership.
According to Vinita Bali, “What is relevant is your skill, attitude, competency and experience.” Encouraging women to believe in themselves, she urged them to be open about asking questions at work.
Malavika Haritha, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Focus Network, shared insights on how women have strength to be leaders both at work and at home. “Strength of character shines through when one faces challenges with grace and dignity,” she added. Addressing the need for women to stay relevant despite taking breaks, she said one could choose from a plethora of online courses to stay invested in one’s career. “Do a self-SWOT in order to understand your entrepreneurial skills,” she added.
Nirmala Sankaran, CEO of HeyMath, and alumna of IIMB, said women must learn to better promote their work, create more visibility and address challenges.
In a panel discussion on ‘Networking and Self-Promotion: Women need to do more’, moderated by Prof. Dalhia Mani, faculty at IIMB’s NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, the panellists focused on the importance of investing in people and networks.
The three panellists – Sneha Priya, CEO & Co-founder of SP Robotic Works, Wilma Rodrigues, Founder & CEO of Saahas Zero Waste, and Lakshmi Ishwar, Director of Cerebral Consultancy, exhorted women to be a part of network organizations and use social media effectively, observing that one increasingly lives and works in a result-oriented society than a gender-based one.
The panel meet was followed by a workshop on ‘Power and Independence’ conducted by Nandita Sharma, Founder of Zavic India, and Meeta Verma, Founder & CEO of WorkSera.
