Download Journey from Kitchen to Boardroom - Mrs. Meera Sanyal

JOURNEY FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE BOARDROOM
‘A woman’s true beauty is not in the way she dresses, in the clothes she wears, or in the way she
does her hair. A woman’s beauty is seen in her eyes, because they are the window to her soul,
the place where love dwells.’
Such a lady, a Woman of Substance, Mrs Meera Sanyal was our guest speaker on the occasion
of Women’s day, which we at IASAP celebrated on Tuesday March 6, 2012. Mrs Homai
Mehta,– our President Emeritus introduced Meera Sanyal as the Chairperson and Country
Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland in India leading over 12,000 employees across 24 cities
in India. She chairs the Supervisory Boards of 3 of the bank’s local subsidiaries, and has
executive responsibility for the Indian branch of RBS.
Meera is a multifaced personality. In September 2011, she was invited by Secretary of State
Hilary Clinton to join the International Council on Women’s Business Leadership, that focuses
on the economic empowerment of women for global prosperity. Meera also supports the world’s
largest youth driven organization AIESEC as a national Advisory Board Member to AIESEC
India.
She has mentored RBS’ extensive MicroFinance program that finances over 650,000 women in
rural India. She chairs the bank’s Foundation overseeing projects dealing with Sustainability,
Poverty alleviation and Climate change. She is also Chairperson of the Financial Inclusion
Committee, of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
Meera was awarded the Woman of Substance Award by the Rotary Club in January 2010; the
Karmaveer Puraskaar, a national people’s award instituted by iCongo, a countrywide
confederation of NGOs, for her work in social development in 2008; the Woman banker of the
Year award by the Indian Merchants Chamber in 2006, and the AIESEC International Hall of
Fame Award in Poland in 2006.
Meera has an MBA from INSEAD, France and has completed the Advance Management
Program at the Harvard Business School. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers
(UK). Meera is married, has two children and enjoys reading,chess and sailing.
Meera said that she has risen from humble beginnings, and comes from a conservative middle
class family, wherein she was taught that she should learn the art of cooking, a must for an
Indian woman. However, Meera also had the makings of a leader right from the beginning, and
this quest took her to study management at the hallowed portals of IIM Calcutta. Being an astute
observer she soaked in her surroundings.
More recently, she went to Washington DC and met with Hilary Clinton - Secretary of State.
Whilst being a very powerful woman, what touched her about Hilary Clinton was that she was
also a very warm person. When she met Meera, Hilary mentioned that she saw her own role
primarily as a ‘care-giver’.
Meera said that basically, women are care givers, and they excel in this role besides their roles as
corporate citizens, and busy working professionals. Due to their high EQ levels, women are able
to do a better balancing act than men, of doing justice to both their roles - that of busy working
professionals, as well as managing their home and children.
Meera gave full credit to her support system - her family - her mother, mother in law, her earlier
bosses, as well as to both her current assistants - Zenobia Patel and Vivian Crasto. She confessed
they were the ones who ran her office like well-oiled wheels of a machine, and that without
them, her work would certainly get disrupted.
Meera also gave credit to her two children, for their honest and loving critique and feedback,
which she said, kept her on her toes ! She also gave credit to her women friends as well, and said
that girlfriends help us to reconnect, even after a gap of so many years !
Of women she said, that in the course of their career, women also develop several core
competencies, which they can fall back on later in life, when / if they wish to try out a different
profession, or play the role of a ‘support person’.
Women in rural and tribal areas lead a very tough life, she said. She has also embarked on a
program for rural development in certain villages in India. The people there live in a very poor
eco-system, with minimal facilities, and appalling living conditions. These villages have been
adopted with a view to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants and also to protect the
eco-system - prevent the hunting down of rare birds and animals species. She praised some of the
women she has come across in the remote villages, some of these women are sending their
children to school, and through sheer hard work, have pulled their families out from the clutches
of poverty !
Meera said she was about to embark on a 3-month long visit to some of the rural areas of India,
the foundation villages to work towards their upliftment. She said she would welcome public
feedback on her account on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Following her inspiring talk, there was a question answer session, related to issues like mid-life
career switchover and issues associated with it, as well as women who wanted to get back into
the profession after a break of 5-10 years, or various options open to women post-retirement.
Meera took up each of these questions patiently, and gave her advice and encouraging words.
In fact, to one of the queries Meera requested Wilma D’Costa - our All India President to speak
on the ‘second career for women’ prevalent in the Tata Group for highly placed women
professionals.
The meeting ended with a very apt vote of thanks by Gracy Lee - our Vice President.
SHERNAZ KAPADIA
(MANAGER-POLARIS SOFTWARE FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY LTD)