Betoshini Chakraborty: Expanding horizons

Who have been your sources of inspiration, your role models?

I strongly believe that the success of any individual is shaped by many individuals and varied experiences. To that extent, I have been fortunate to have had many role models and mentors who have inspired me. Firstly, my inspiration began with my parents – my father Prof SS Chakraborty, a resolute man, unwavering professional and an unrelenting entrepreneur who built one of Asia’s largest engineering consultancy firms from scratch (himself coming from very modest family background) and changed the face of infrastructure consulting in India. He has inspired me to be adventurous and perseverant as an entrepreneur – a trait which is quite a necessity in the sometimes adverse business environment in India. My mother, a strong academic and acclaimed writer in Bengali, has always imbibed in me to keep one’s feet firmly on the ground, to remain intellectually aligned and when in doubt fall back on one’s knowledge base and the wisdom of others, but both unanimously taught me the value of humility and honesty.

In the professional sphere, I have drawn tremendous inspiration from my mentors – Howard Woods, a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Comcast, one of the largest cable companies in the US. Howard taught me the necessity of audacity in business, knowing one’s strength, believing in one’s convictions and then go all out to achieve it.

Interestingly, Howard never forgot to remind us the importance and necessity of CSR activities as businesses and entrepreneurship.

However if you were to ask me, which personality inspires and excites me professionally the most I would have to say Steve Jobs and Walt Disney – because both of them had the vision to transform customer experiences through products and services in a manner unimaginable and they did this through sheer imagination, creativity, ingenuity and building a culture of innovation. These are the same values and ethics I try to bring into any organisation that I associate with – innovation, transformation and team spirit. In essence, my inspiration comes from both small and large worlds – 3M with their post-it pads, Google with their search engines but also Godrej with their Chotu kool – the mini refrigerator for the rural areas. People who transforms the lives of others and mentor others to be the best that they can be along the way are the ones that truly inspire me.

Women can thrive in a man’s world without having to change who they are. Do you agree?

I do believe that there are fundamental differences between men and women, in the way that they handle conflict, in the way that they develop their teams, in the way that they articulate a vision; in the way they engage with their employees and in the manner in which they transact deals. Women are programmed to bring people along with them on their journey, whether leading a large household or a large company. A successful leader is not just one that leads from the front but one that brings people along with them on that journey. It is this trait that makes women successful leaders, better team builders and sometimes better at resolving conflict in business. In terms of thriving in a man’s world,

I believe in certain industries that are more male dominant e.g., infrastructure, mining, transportation and logistics women may need to be more assertive and bold to be heard and may have to work harder to be recognised. But there are also industries such as healthcare CPG and banking where women leaders are so common now that they no longer need to play along their gender stereotypes, they just need to be a good leader – persuasive with a clear vision, innovative, a people developer and build a culture that rewards sincere and focused hard work rather than just results allowing people the opportunity to experiment and the luxury to fail, as it is only by experimenting that one strikes upon products, platforms, services, solutions and business models that are unique and transformational. I don’t think women have to change to thrive in a man’s world, men and women have to both realise and recognise that they bring in different skills sets and should therefore play from their respective areas of strength to lead and succeed.

How difficult has been your journey to the top?

I am still on my journey and nowhere really close to the top but the journey has been difficult. Being an entrepreneur in India must rank amongst career choices that one can make world-wide. This choice brings with it repeatedly dealing with failed ventures and also facing constant hurdles to get to the next milestone whether that be the bureaucracy, antiquated laws, poor law enforcement, limited legal options and a lackadaisical work culture. As an entrepreneur in India, I believe that one requires a tremendous amount of drive, belief in one’s dreams, lot of support of one’s family, friends and mentors and a healthy dose of luck!

At a personal level do you maintain good work-life balance?

To be perfectly honest work-life balance has always been my Achilles heel and professional drive often pushes me and our team to keep on going at it till we solve the professional issue at hand, this in turn requires long hours of work and sometimes not achieving the healthy work-life mix that one desires and even requires for long term success.

Do you think that the business landscape in India is changing for women?

Absolutely. Firstly, I think more women work in a job outside of their home than ever before in the history of India and more and more women are joining everyday both into the job force and business landscape. From a perceptions perspective, India has become more accepting of ‘business women’, Women from business families have become more accepting of both daughters and daughter-in-laws joining, leading or starting their own businesses. More impressive than all of this, India is witnessing a tremendous number of first generation business owners in this generation many of who are women. The reasons for all the above are multi-factorial – economics (free markets have raised the upside of engaging in self-owned businesses as evidenced by multiples that PEs are willing to pay for successful businesses), social (greater gender empowerment and greater familial support to women in the family to be both in business and run a family), greater levels of female education especially in professional fields (e.g., education/healthcare/law), male acceptance of the changing role of the woman in the family (e.g., most successful women leaders describe their spouses to be tremendously understanding and supportive). This perception change has been further fuelled by the media which has done a tremendous job in creating and showcasing successful women business leaders for the young Indian female talent to emulate (e.g., showcasing Indra Nooyi from Pepsi CEO, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw CMD of Biocon, Chanda Kochhar- MD and CEO of ICICI bank and Vinita Bali – MD of Britannia Industries).So in essence both the macro climate of India is changing and so is the perception at the level of families both in urban and rural areas, all contributing to greater female participation in business, decision making and in contributing to the growth and development of this country.

mneelam.kachhap@expressindia.com