Women in Power - Bharathy Venkataraman – Director, Delivery Excellence, Mindsprint

What are the challenges of being a woman executive in a top role?

Challenges, in my view, are common across genders in a senior role: how to demonstrate equilibrium in all activities, what are the right ways to give feedback to deliver better, and more. But I do see that women do feel the need to tone down their feedback mode a bit to look neutral or be perceived as being emotional. Maybe it’s because “Men are from Mars; women are from Venus.” 

What is your educational background?

I am an Engineer by education and have a Master's in Quality Management. I do believe in continuous learning, and I keep myself enrolled in shorter skill enhancement programs to stay on the latest trends.

Can you share about your family background and what inspired you to pursue a career in the STEM field?

I am the first engineer in my extended family, and my inspiration was my mom - a schoolteacher, who was a pretty confident communicator, and who instilled in me that when a woman has a career, she has inherent confidence in herself. Secondly, my sister, told me that to get into a good career, you would need a professional degree. I was lucky enough to get a breakthrough with a job in an MNC through a common friend. To be candid, I was a bit open to exploring options in the field of communication, though I liked programming. All of this changed in the Delivery Excellence domain when my husband noticed the penchant I had for going through the “process way” and recommended me to take up a role in that team.

How does it go working in a male-dominated field of IT?

I believe our society is undergoing a lot of change. When I entered my first job in the MNC, I was lucky enough to have a team that had 33%-woman employees. In that sense, all the teams I have been a part of have had equal representation. Of course, when I started, it was rare to see women picking up leadership roles, but the last organization I was a part of, had many such woman leaders who have been in top positions. But I have been fortunate to have been a part of an evolution in gender stereotypes.

Does a glass ceiling exist?

I have a slightly different perspective on this. I think growth could be vertical or horizontal. A glass ceiling exists when you feel you don’t have the zest anymore to get up in the morning and feel the zeal to go to work. I always believe in “feeling happy” with what you do. We all need to accept the fact that it is not everybody’s ambition to grow vertically and become a CXO. So as long as we are contributing effectively to the organization and are content with what we contribute and learn, the glass ceiling is probably not a concept to worry about.  

What are your hobbies?

Listening to Music and watching movies – A newfound one is learning about ancient temples and their history. 

What are your future plans?

I am in a pretty exciting space with Mindsprint, as it is a growing company with immense potential. I am looking forward to shaping 'New Age Delivery Excellence Principles.' I have always believed that processes are better applied at the point of delivery. Here, I have a clean slate on which I am looking to conceptualize excellence embedded in delivery rather than as a separate arm. My goal is to reach a point where delivery excellence is designed 'For, By, and Of' the project teams.

High-Five:

• Your Fitness Mantra: Last 2 years – Walking
• Your De-stressing Mantra:  Listen to melodious music and watch Vadivel comedy.
• Where do you like to shop?  I am not an online person; whatever I want to buy, I believe in going in person and buying.
• Your favorite holiday destination:  Switzerland (Thanks to all Bollywood movies !!), Beaches of Goa
• 5 things you cannot live without: Morning coffee, home-cooked food, chatting for the day with my daughter, meeting people (either at work or personally somewhere outside), and learning something (either reading or listening to topics from others that resonate with you).

Workday:

• Wake up at: 6 am
• Morning activities: Walking, Cooking, starting to work
• Leaving Office at: 9-9:15 am
• 1^st half in office: critical meetings ( prefer the first hour for any thinking work )
• Lunch: 1:15 to 1:30 pm
• Post Lunch: Routine review meetings
• How you spend your evenings: 6 to 8 pm is generally personal time – I connect back for an hour to two to close my day’s work
• Sleep time: 10:30 pm