Vinita Bali—the managing director of Britannia Industries Ltd., and the first professional woman to lead an FMCG not only in India but also across six countries and five continents. She shares her thoughts and experiences as a successful woman in the hot seat.
Hurdles along her journey
“I’ve never faced challenges from a woman’s point of view, because I never consciously thought of my gender at any time. For me, it was always a case of being clear about why you are in a particular role and how you can bring your best to that.”
“I see myself as an adventurer, not necessarily following a conventional path. I decided to go and live in Nigeria when people didn’t really think that, it would be a place to go and work.”
“After working for about five years, I decided to take a study break because I got a scholarship. I enrolled myself for a PhD programme; I decided halfway that business makes sense when you’re actually involved in it, not when you’re doing a doctorate in marketing.”
“For me, it is all about being in a place where you can learn, contribute and also have fun in the process. When I joined Cadbury in India, I was the first woman manager to join. I don’t spend too much time either thinking or sweating about it.”
‘There are no non-working women’
“My gender has never been a problem to me, if it is for other people then they have to deal with it. Everybody faces challenges at work. In the case of women, they are handling multiple stakeholders at any time.”
“We must remember that there are no ‘non-working’ women; all women work very hard, including the so-called ‘home makers’ — it’s just that they don’t get paid for it. And sometimes in our society, not even adequately acknowledged for the work they do.”
“We have to work within the eco-system we have; those of us who are working, rely a lot on other working women and men, whether they are cooking for us or cleaning our homes; our house-helps are also working women.”
Acceptance of women as leaders
“More and more women are coming into leadership roles, you can’t be in such roles without acceptance. We tend to spend too much time thinking about ‘male boss, female boss.’ People are not accepting your gender, people are accepting the totality of your being and how you deal with them, how you respect and respond to people, what value you place on interactions and relationships. In all this, gender is immaterial.”
“All minorities stand out in any environment and people tend to look at them far more closely. In the corporate world, as of now, women are the minority and therefore perhaps more closely scrutinised.”
“With more women coming into the formal workplace, things are changing, though too slowly for my liking. When I worked in Africa or Latin America or Europe, I had to make more efforts to prove myself because I was from India and not because I was a woman!”
“Those of us who are in positions of influence must make it easier for other women to be welcomed and accepted; organisations are only part of a larger eco-system, what we need is renaissance. Men and women who will ensure that there is equity, respect and dignity for everybody, irrespective of their gender, accent or religion or anything else that we tend to judge people.”
Inspirations
“My inspiration comes as much from Bill Gates to everyday people like our house-helps--who are working hard to ensure their children get a good education so that their lives are different.”
“I take a lot of inspiration from a certain profile of people in the classical arts and sports who continually strive towards excellence — and most of them are not even remunerated adequately for the contribution they make, but they stay their course.”
Hobbies
“I have been fairly active in pursuing my interest in sports, classical music, dance and theater and have lived by how my work and all these interests fit into my life, not how my life fits into my work.”
