up! SURGE 2024: Oneindia’s CEO Ravanan N. at India’s Largest Women Leader's Learning Programme

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.    HASHTAGS  #XLR #UpSurge #Oneindia #WomenEmpowerment #CEO #Oneindianews #Thereisonlyoneindia                 ~HT.97~PR.274~

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 to do that.

01:15I have a very topical question for you. What are the benefits of having

01:20empowered women in an organization?

01:23Yeah, I mean, it's not just an organizational question. It is for everybody's life. I don't

01:29see a reason why women should not be empowered. And in a way, this question itself shows us a

01:35mirror as to what we are as a society. While women have struggled to get into a position

01:44of empowerment in society, it's even tougher in the corporate world at work. But in my last 24

01:51years of experience, I think, you know, having women in a position of empowerment adds a lot to

02:00the diversity of an organization. And with diversity comes a very different perspective

02:06of how people are managed. Because at the end of the day, the core of an organization is people.

02:11And the way people are managed when there are women in a position of empowerment is very

02:20different. Much, much better than where it would have been in a very male-dominated society

02:25and an organization. So the context, the perspective is very different when women are there.

02:34And as a society, we've seen the effects of having empowered women and I'm sure organization

02:43also will benefit out of it. There have been no examples of an organization which has not

02:47done well under women. In fact, women-led organizations have statistically done better

02:53than men-led organizations. Right. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Before I let you go,

03:00Ravanan, one last question. Do you have any advice for younger leaders, younger women leaders

03:06who are just climbing their ladder and, you know, who are there but they want to know more?

03:13See, while things have changed for the good in the last 14-15 years,

03:18but the challenges also have grown, right? And the challenges may not be from a gender lens,

03:24the challenges are. And whether you like it or not, things are slightly more difficult for the

03:31female gender than male gender in a lot of ways, right? But given the current context, I think what

03:38would help, you know, women getting into the career is that they should be in for the long haul,

03:45right? And a lot of stamina required. Initial days you will grow, but you'll hit a point where

03:50you'll have to manage, juggle a lot more things than what you're doing now, right? And be prepared

03:57for that plateau. I wouldn't say it is a downfall, but you will see a plateau at that point of

04:01career. Don't lose hopes. Stick on, have the, you know, stamina, then you'll go places.

04:07Very clear thoughts and, you know, views. Thank you, Ravanan, for joining us today.

04:10It's a pleasure talking to you.

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Transcript

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