AVTAR I-WIN Pune Segue Session - Aug 2013 - My thoughts

I attended the AVTAR -I-WIN (www.avtariwin.com / https://www.facebook.com/AVTARIWIN ) Pune Segue session yesterday August 8th 2013 at Hotel Le Meridien. There were about 230 - 250 participants I think. While the event was mainly for women looking to starting their second innings after a break ( any reason - child care, elder care , marriage relocation , health ) I was surprised to note there were women who were working and were looking to change careers.

I do not want to go into what AVTAR I-WIN / Segue means. I feel their site does a very good job of it with more details. I do want to put in my thoughts on the session itself.

A presentation is present at the following link - in case you prefer to view a ppt instead of a blog !

http://www.slideshare.net/vidya_b/i-win-25101575  

What I liked - 

1. Profile of the speakers - The very first inkling of how serious AVTAR is regarding second innings for women comes from the profile of the speakers at the event. Apart from 

• Ms. Saundarya Rajesh  Founder - President,  AVTAR I-WIN & FLEXI Careers India

we had the following speakers - who you would agree form an impressive list.

• Ms. Sandhya Vasudevan, Managing Director DBOI Global Services Pvt. Ltd., Deutsche Bank Group
• Ms. Nisha Verma, Head - Talent Management, Vodafone India Limited
• Ms. Oindrila Majumdar, Head of Asset and Wealth Management Operations, DBOI Global Services, Deutsche Bank Group
• Ms. Priya Tandon, Director Development,  Allscripts
• Mr. CK Kumaravel, Co-Founder & Director, Naturals
• Ms. Aditi Sharma, Vice President - Quality & Six Sigma, Cummins India
• Ms. Mitu Seth, Mumbai Site Head of Human Resources, DBOI Global Services India, Deutsche Bank Group
• Ms. Sukanya Patwardhan, Senior Practice Consultant, Tata Management Training Centre, Pune
• Ms. Anita Borulkar,Associate Vice President Human Resource, Sandvik Asia Private Limited, Deutsche Bank Group
• Ms. Ritu Waila,Consultant,Tata Management Training Centre, Pune
• Mr. Ishmeet Singh, Business Head for Maharashtra,  Goa Circle, Vodafone
• Mr. Sharad Verma, Senior Director, Talent Engagement and Development, SunGard Global Technology

2. The agenda - The workshops included a panel discussion on India Inc.'s need for women managers, On the need for Networking to restart a career, Negotiation skills to arrive at a win-win, an Entrepreneurial success story, a different view of oneself  [Me Inc. ] and the idea of internal stakeholders.

3. The participants - This forum allows us to meet many women who are looking at either change in their current work or second innings and is a wonderful way to network and form new connections. I was amazed at the representation - women from different fields, backgrounds, different work histories, different sabbatical gaps ( the longest I heard was 13 years ) , entrepreneurs ( some failed , some planning to start ).

4. Learnings - I learnt many things from the session but am going to write down the ideas that resonated the most with me.

Specific Learnings - 

• Ms. Oindrila Majumdar, Head of Asset and Wealth Management Operations, DBOI Global Services, Deutsche Bank Group

• "You are needed" ! 

Simple, direct, powerful and honestly a morale booster. It is not just me looking for a job for whatever reasons I have - Corporate India too needs women like me who have experience and want to join the workforce. Personally I found her inputs the most inspiring of all the speakers. Perhaps because of this statement ! :)

• Ms. Saundarya Rajesh  Founder - President,  AVTAR I-WIN & FLEXI Careers India

• Work-life Integration instead of work-life balance. 

I like the idea that work and life are not two separate things that need to be balanced but instead should be integrated for a fulfilling life.

• Ms. Sandhya Vasudevan, Managing Director DBOI Global Services Pvt. Ltd., Deutsche Bank Group

• Emphasis on clarity of goals - Why go to work ? To be very clear with yourself on this.

• Ms. Nisha Verma, Head - Talent Management, Vodafone India Limited

• Women are good in social networking but poor in mental and physical networking - Too true !
• Grow "YOU" as a brand - What other people think of you, what people attribute to you and 'your' brand should invoke strong emotions.
• In response to a question - Visibility alone is not good enough - visibility to the right people is also important.

• Ms. Priya Tandon, Director Development,  Allscripts

• Be sure of what you want in life and be happy with it. Also understand the price you are prepared to pay for what you want in life.

• Mr. CK Kumaravel, Co-Founder & Director, Naturals

• His talk had the most humorous moments ! Candid on a previous business failure as well as difficulties in the current journey.
• Money is the by-product of serving others.
• Irritation is the biggest source of energy ! :)
• Initial seed money from 3F's - Family, Friends and Fools ! 
• Be an eternal optimist - they always learn more and try more
• Value people and use money - not the other way round
• Answer to a person who had a failed business behind her - Failure is an opportunity to begin again.

• Ms. Aditi Sharma, Vice President - Quality & Six Sigma, Cummins India

• Don't over commit your employers and lose your flexibility 

• Ms. Mitu Seth, Mumbai Site Head of Human Resources, DBOI Global Services India, Deutsche Bank Group

• Prioritize
• Accept you cannot do everything
• Asking help is okay
• Exercise the power to make choices 
• There will be good days and bad days
• Definition of success keeps changing - define it for yourself and don't inherit from others

• Ms. Anita Borulkar,Associate Vice President Human Resource, Sandvik Asia Private Limited, Deutsche Bank Group

• Inspiring talk - challenges in the field where not many women employees are present as well as handling unions and government. 

• Ms. Sukanya Patwardhan, Senior Practice Consultant, Tata Management Training Centre, Pune

• You are the CEO of Me Inc..
• How well can you take the nonsense thrown at you / being taken for granted / feeling low / comparison ?

• Ms. Ritu Waila,Consultant,Tata Management Training Centre, Pune

• An inspiring story of managing a break forced due to health issues.

• Mr. Ishmeet Singh, Business Head for Maharashtra & Goa Circle, Vodafone

• Inputs from view of employer when a person with career break comes for an interview - Yes there can be a bias.

• Mr. Sharad Verma, Senior Director, Talent Engagement and Development, SunGard Global Technology

• Define your goals , priorities / ambitions / commitment to success 
• Decide what you are willing to settle for / not settle for / your strengths / perceived weakness
• Aim to be likable and competent - and showcase this with your attitude
• Try to close a negotiation positively
• Anticipate

Areas of improvement - 

I sincerely believe the Segue session was a superb program - so these critiques should be be considered with an open mind. They should be evaluated against obvious practical considerations as well as alignment to the goals of the program. However the best of people / groups like to see how they can do better - so I will give my inputs honestly.

1. Practical networking - It is good to say "Network" but an ice breaker kind of game would have been good. [ So many conferences have this- short 10 - 15 min game that gives say about 5 connections right away !!! ]. Yes we did connect with the ladies at our table and during tea but more would have been nice.

2. Segue success stories - Women who have benefited from the Segue sessions. Perhaps it is early to talk about this - I am not sure. The women need not come in person nor should women who do not wish to be spot lighted be mentioned by name. However I still think couple of stories would have been good.

3. Profile of the women participants - Not on an individual basis but in a very broad sense - the kind of industries they come from, the sabbatical gaps, education profile, business start ups .. etc

4. Entrepreneurial how to - The Naturals success story is inspiring but a general how-to for entrepreneurship would have been wonderful. I am not completely sure of this topic though since I have a feeling it could be so vast that it would not fit in the schedule !

Takeaways - 

1.  Networking - The forum helped to meet women in the same boat as I am - trying to make a comeback to work after a sabbatical.

2. Perspective from the company end  - It was good to hear from the other side of the table. The inputs were invaluable.

3. The workshops / talks / discussions - These were encouraging and motivating.

All in all - an informative and inspiring workshop which I am happy I got a chance to participate in. 

Ramblings ...

Why do we worry about who will cry when we die ?
It seems futile,
Perhaps we merely seek an answer to - who wants us happy and alive.

Why do we want to know who will be impressed ?
It is just the stress ,
Of wanting to belong to an elite club I guess.

Why do we worry about the road not taken
Our road by another is 'not taken' either,
And yet we pine,
For the grass that is greener just across the line.

I see everywhere it seems - puzzled minds,
That wonder why they missed the train,
Just by inches.

Slight Edge again ....

One of the earliest jewels I got from my friend when the internet had not been as ubiquitous as it is now - was an article on "Slight Edge Philosophy".  I found the article amazing and very instructive. I would like to say I have followed it diligently but alas! that is not true. :)

However .. time and again .. it never ceases to amaze me how little things add up !

I use Andromoney and I am very happy with the app - I am able to enter the day's expenses and get basic reports. I can use it to budget too but right now I am not using that feature. Which actually reminds me that I should rate the app in google play. I definitely like it.

Coming back - each time I go out it surprises me to see just how much spending happens even though the individual amounts are never alarming. A Rs 50 here, A Rs 120 there, Rs 35 here and .... et voila .. already I  have spent Rs 945 !!!!

Same goes with food - a little munching here and there add up to a huge amount at the end of the day. I am talking about little bites - extra 1/4 th roti. Small 2nd helping of that cashew nut subji, a sliver of extra cake  ! :) Not binge eating --- just a little extra at every meal !

A few minutes wasted indiscriminately add up to a couple of hours at the end of the day !

And so ... to turn the tide towards the positive perhaps a slight edge is all the start we need. Even if 10,000 hours an expert make - compounding is good - in small bits and bytes. :)

Of jobs and sops

I read the latest gimmick involving grains to the poor. I wonder if these kind of alms will help the party in question. One never knows !!!

Cynically speaking it is easy to see - why this is a PR move - I mean if the PDS system in India was made more streamlined - guess it would not garner that many votes na ? And yet tonnes and tonnes of grains in our country are wasted when we have so many hungry people. Horrible !

As an educated urban person - I was dismayed by the handling of the Uttarakhand disaster. I was even more disgusted to see the flagging of relief material a few days after the tragedy with packets having printed leaflets of the party !!!

Swinging into action would have been more appreciated but I am a normal everyday person .. I cannot claim to know how vote-bank politics works !! Plus we are an emotional lot - and perhaps the pomp and show mean more to us than ground reality of a job well done ?

After all - isn't the hunter who kills the tiger more hailed than the hunter who ensured there would be no such problem in the first place? ( Sending tiger to zoo story ).

There was no statement from the PMO , no message from the party , nothing for quite some time. Appalling !!!  To be honest I am disgusted even by our celebrities who were strangely silent. Reactions were so delayed so as to be non-existent !!

I have never believed that just b'cos a person is older - he / she deserved respect. I prefer to go by actions.

If more people believed that their actions would give them respect and not the number of years on this planet perhaps our older generation would stop pontificating and would do more to understand if not integrate with the younger generation that wants jobs and not sops !!!

There is a dignity and joy in working for yourself , your family and perhaps the society if you are so inclined.

Yes - the class that is abused should be given a helping hand but not handouts ! It is like the age old wisdom - "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day , teach him how to fish and he will never go hungry".

Our vibrant youth should have opportunities to work once they graduate. They should have a hand in the future of the country. They should be encouraged to be entrepreneurs !

Wisdom without the benefit of the viewpoint of the people the future is being built for is useless.

Yes there are always exceptions to the rule. There are plenty of people who would rather cheat than work, or laze than work but we are not talking about the outliers. We are talking of today's youth which wants to enter the workforce - and should be given an atmosphere to do so.

Youth - disengaged and jobless is a danger to any country.