Up!SURGE 2024: Oneindia’s CEO Ravanan N. Shares Experience At India’s Largest Women Leaders Conclave

Oneindia

#Watch| XLRI’s Up!SURGE, in its fifth successful cohort, empowered 150+ women leaders across diverse sectors through a three-week program led by the Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusive Leadership (CGEIL). Aimed at bridging the gender gap in C-Suite roles, the initiative culminated in India’s largest senior women leaders' conclave. Ravanan, CEO of One India, shared his first-time experience at the prestigious event.    #XLR #UpSurge #Oneindia #WomenEmpowerment #CEO #Oneindianews #Thereisonlyoneindia                  ~HT.178~PR.320~GR.344~

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome. I'm at the Upsurge event, where more than 150 women leaders are getting

00:06empowered. The event is fantastic and so is the ambience. I have a very special guest today,

00:13Ravanan, CEO One India, joining us for some of his insights and his first experience in the event.

00:20Welcome Ravanan.

00:21Hey, good evening, man.

00:23This was your first year with Upsurge. How was the experience?

00:30And I've been hearing a lot about Upsurge because Maya has been doing this for almost three,

00:34four years. And I was partially involved in the previous edition, but this edition,

00:40I landed up actually accidentally. I was called for a dinner meeting, but

00:45having interacted with this bunch of people today here, it's an overwhelming experience.

00:52And I think this is the right platform for a lot of women to participate. And it gives them a lot

00:59more context, power and tools to maneuver the whole corporate world that they are in right now.

01:05And I think this is no better platform. And I've not heard about any better platform for women

01:10till now in my personal experience there. So it's an amazing event. And I think they should

01:15take this to more places across India. And it's important to do that.

01:20I have a very topical question for you. What are the benefits of having

01:25empowered women in an organization?

01:28Yeah, I mean, it's just not just an organizational question. It is for

01:32everybody's life. I don't see a reason why women should not be empowered. And

01:37in a way, this question itself shows us a mirror as to what we are as a society.

01:44While women have struggled to get into a position of empowerment in society,

01:51it's even tougher in the corporate world at work.

01:54But in my last 24 years of experience, I think having women in a position of empowerment

02:04adds a lot to the diversity of an organization. And with diversity comes a very different

02:10perspective of how people are managed. Because at the end of the day, the core of an organization

02:15is people. And the way people are managed when there are women in a position of empowerment

02:24is very different. Much, much better than where it would have been in a very male dominated

02:29society and an organization. So the context, the perspective is very different when women are there.

02:39And as a society, we've seen the effects of having empowered women and I'm sure organizations

02:48also will benefit out of it. There have been no examples of an organization which has not

02:52done well under women. In fact, women-led organizations have statistically done better

02:58than men-led organizations. Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. Before I let you go,

03:06one last question. Do you have any advice for younger leaders, younger women leaders

03:11who are just climbing their ladder and who are there but they want to know more?

03:17Sure. While things have changed for the good in the last 14-15 years,

03:23but the challenges also have grown. And the challenges may not be from a gender lens,

03:29the challenges are. And whether you like it or not, things are slightly more difficult for the

03:36female gender than male gender in a lot of ways. But given the current context, I think what would

03:43help women getting into the career is that they should be in for the long haul. And a lot of

03:51stamina required. Initial days you will grow, but you'll hit a point where you'll have to

03:56manage a lot more things than what you're doing now. And be prepared for that plateau. I wouldn't

04:03say it is a downfall, but you will see a plateau at that point of career. Don't lose hope. Stick on,

04:08have the stamina, and then you'll go places. Very clear thoughts and views. Thank you,

04:14Ravanan, for joining us today. It's a pleasure talking to you.

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