Sudeshna Datta: We Women Are Inborn Leaders

She has led several large cross-functional teams as a Brand Manager for KraftFoods. During her stay at Kraft, she implemented a successful turnaround strategy for one of thecompany’s core brands and delivered substantial improvements in volume and profit growth. She is active as an author on various organisation building topics and regularly publishes articles onentrepreneurship, leadership, talent development, and global operations, and she has been a guestspeaker at various business forums. No her life does not revolve just around work but Sudeshna Datta, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder atAbsolutdata, is also an avid dog lover, an interiordecorator, and a passionate supporter of street art.

Datta agrees that being an entrepreneur is not easy and that each hits "the storm of a lifetime", but in India it takescourage for a woman to break the glass ceiling and give a tangible form to her businessvision and ideas. Yet, women have challenged the ‘boys’ club’approach of conducting business in India and abroad.

Many say that the scenario for women is changing. Do you think so?

In a country where the realm of entrepreneurship is largely dominated by men, it takescourage for a woman to break the glass ceiling and give a tangible form to her businessvision and ideas. However sheltered, progressive, or liberal our upbringing was, womencouldn’t have avoided the jokes — those that presumed women were bad drivers,temperamental and moody colleagues, or bothersome bosses that should never have‘left the kitchen’. These jokes and comments created a poisonous atmosphere at officesacross the globe, often brought up in watercooler conversations after a pseudo-apologetic “Don’t mind, but …” or something similar.

Today, the changing Indiancorporate scenario has helped bring more and more women in prominent leadershiproles. Their big gains and contributions to entrepreneurship and job growth have pavedthe path for thousands of other motivated women and challenged the ‘boys’ club’approach of conducting business in India and abroad.

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Most remarkably, women have made inroads into careers and professions traditionallydominated by men. Women employees aren’t just secretaries, HR personnel, or pushedinto support functions anymore. I am a co-founder at a technology company that designsand manufactures cutting-edge Artificial and Intelligence and IoT solutions.

Women havestruggled with and have overcome far greater obstacles to rise into the boardrooms andCEO positions of large corporations and successful start-ups. Every prominent womanbusiness leader is helping younger women nurture their dreams to grow up intowhomsoever they want to be. And this has revolutionised the business industry!

Did you ever feel like backing out and letting it go at any point of life?

I enjoyed working in the global corporate world and learned immensely by working onmulti-facet projects fast paced projects. Met great people and had good experiences. But,there’s a lot to love about doing a start-up like creating your own legacy, buildingsomething ground-up, being able to create something which can have life-changingimpact, ability to create employment. Added benefit start-ups are really freeing. Your timeis your own, its spent on inherently creative pursuits,.Having said that, entrepreneurship isnot easy. It's like a man riding a lion. People think, "This guy is brave", And he is thinking, "How the hell did I get on a lion, and how do I keep from getting eaten?"; Everyentrepreneur eventually faces a "real test”. We hit the storm of a lifetime. At that point, itcomes down to perseverance. You don't have be smarter than everyone else. Or all thatmuch better, you just have to hold on tighter.

Message For Women Out There

Developing girls’ leadership skills is a crucial step in giving them the knowledge, experience, and confidence they need to succeed. Women are inborn leaders, what can add up to their success is the way they are brought up, the confidence instilled in them, decision-making power and enhancing their multi-tasking skills. Their interests and energies should go be channelised in the right direction, they should be taught to make choices, acceptance to fail and then stand back again and run.