Finding the right balance, is really having the freedom to prioritise
Published on : Tuesday 08-03-2022
Shalaka Verma, Director, Customer Success and Customer Engineering, Modern Work, Microsoft.
What was the inspiration that prompted you to pursue this career path?
I have not really pursued a planned career path. The way I approach any role is to find at least one incremental opportunity to bring short term improvement/growth and find at least one transformational opportunity to create long term sustained impact and drive additional value.
Over the years, my mentors have coached me to be comfortable and almost inviting of discomfort that comes with challenge, ambiguity and uncertainty. So while seeking new roles, I try to seek transformational growth for myself and the position, and have a clear articulation of this to my leaders.
Can you recall your early days – say the first few days at work – and anything you would like to mention about that?
The biggest plus for me was the fact that I was always blessed with amazing coaches and managers, who channelized my drive towards opportunities that continuously stretched my horizon and kept me challenged and energised at work.
I have always been a voracious reader, and that helped me carry a very broad understanding of overall industry trends. My early career as a scientist and multi-disciplinary training that it offered to me, helped me have a nuanced understanding of the value of a truly diverse team and exponential growth that an inclusive diverse team can truly drive.
For a woman, it is a matter of finding the right balance between the jobs and managing the home – how do you manage this?
First of all, I would like to acknowledge the availability of strong role models in the family. I have grown up seeing my mother manage her career with her family in a matter of fact way, so professional career in my mind comes very naturally as an integral part of life like family. This takes either/or debate off the table in my mind.
My mother-in-law never did traditional office work or a job, but I have seen her manage 30 odd farms and 100+ farm workers with diplomacy, grace and empathy. To me, she is a fine example of a leader without being aware of it!
These examples at home have also ensured that in the family, careers of women are non-negotiable and are natural to everyone around, and that has made all the difference in the support that is available.
So finding the right balance, to me is really having the freedom to prioritise what is important and then have a support system around who will help where required. There are times when I have prioritised office work over something in the family and there are opposite times as well. Supportive family at home and Strong team at work helps you find the required flexibility.
What challenges (or privileges) do women stereotypically face, based on their gender?
I will answer this in two contexts. First the context of STEM. For many reasons, STEM is perceived as harder and families create mental barriers for girls to pursue this actively. Another challenge is STEM requires focus on concepts right in childhood, and is a harder stream to capture later in life. So in rural India, where parents give more importance to the education of boys, by the time girls grow up and decide to take control of their own education, it's late for them to catch up with STEM and it is easier to pursue other streams of education.
The second one in women in leadership. Glass ceiling is real in professional setups. We have come to identify certain manly traits like aggression, dominating presence with confident leadership and/or executive presence. This either presents women in an unfavourable way or women end up losing authenticity to fit in.
Have you ever missed a career opportunity or promotion due to gender?
Well, I would like to believe ‘No’, but then it’s not 100% visible, is it? I often think that there are missed opportunities because as a woman I have got conditioned in a way where I am not even able to spot certain opportunities and act upon them proactively.
Also I think as a woman I am more conscious about where and how I am spending my time at work. My perceived value of the trade-off by leaving family, especially kids at home is a lot more, and hence finding the right purpose, the right ‘why’ is very important to make it worthwhile.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than say, a decade ago?
I definitely think that now there is a lot more awareness and appreciation of the gender biases at work. Most of the time, awareness alone is a huge help, because it forces people to think again and seek perspectives so that they are not blindsided by unconscious biases.
Which women's 'cause' needs to be challenged and changed, first?
Oh, it’s hard to answer this. Every cause is important for the person who feels strongly about it. There are also economic, regional and religious backdrops based on which a group may feel strongly about a certain ‘cause’.
I think it is important to build nuanced understanding and have the ability to prioritise at micro level, so that we pick the right causes that locally make difference and empower the challenged group.
Are there areas at work that still restrict women when it comes to leadership roles?
Have answered this partially before. I think the lens of what it means to be an effective leader should change, so that women can be their authentic self and still have a level playing field for leadership positions.
I also believe that the roles need to be meatier and way more purpose driven, for women to go after them, because women have a higher perceived value of sacrifices, they may be making by putting additional leadership demands on their time.
What women-related myths or taboos need to be broken?
I will count three:
1. Women need to develop established manly leadership traits to be viewed as competent leaders
2. Women always prioritise personal commitments over professional (women, like men, are perfectly capable of prioritising based on importance and urgency. It is very likely that their assessments are different than that of men, that’s the value of diversity at play), and
3. Women may not attach high importance to having their say in a meeting. Their silence is not indicative of dis-engagement or lack of point of view (exactly like a dominant voice is not indicative of breakthrough point of view, and highly engaged individuals to a cause).
Do you have a mentor or a role model? If yes, you may state briefly how it inspired you.
Over the years I have had many mentors and coaches. They have kept changing as I evolve in my professional journey. It would be unfair to call out a name or two here.
I also consider books as a strong coaching pillar for myself. They generally leave a lasting impact on me, and have helped me develop the right kind of attitude at the right times in my journey.
For inspiration I always count fiction, for grounding and self-reflection, spiritual and philosophical reading works for me. I enjoy reading about Quantum Physics, Universe and Black Holes. I find they scientifically enlighten and spiritually enrich me at the same time.
What would be your message to the youth who are just starting their career?
Even if this sounds cliché:
1. Choose to work on things that you are passionate about, and then you don’t have to ever work.
2. Pursue excellence in everything and rest will follow. Excellence is not an act but a habit.
3. Work is equally important like family. Give it the same respect, love and care for a fulfilling life.
Describe yourself or your aspirations, dreams in 3 words.
Innovation. Excellence. Growth (Mindset).
A passionate global technology leader with 20 years of experience, Shalaka Verma currently leads Customer Success and Engineering in Microsoft as Director, Customer Success. In her current role she drives technology adoption and value realisation of Modern Work Solutions Portfolio of Microsoft. In her extensive career, across Research, Development and Technical Sales, she has delivered several first of its kind wins for AI platforms, Database Platforms, Hybrid Cloud and Always ON Architectures. She is well conversant in Quantum Computing and was chosen to be the first Quantum Ambassador for IBM in the ISA region. Shalaka is best known for her breadth of technical understanding, and ability to apply it directly to business situations to drive measurable business outcomes. Shalaka has strong technology R&D Leadership – has filed three US patents in Blockchain, Storage Virtualisation and Big Data, one of which has already been commercialised and converted into a licensed product feature. In her earlier roles, she has pioneered futuristic application pilots for Mobile Value Added Services and has also been awarded with Gold Medal (from the hon’ble Prime Minister of India) for achievements as computer scientist in BARC.
Shalaka started her career as a Scientist in HPC at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and subsequently worked in research of GSM protocols for a global start-up (Mobileum Pvt Ltd). In her previous role at IBM, she has served as System Architect, APAC Lead for Storage Technical Sales, and Country Head for Industry Architect Teams for ISA and Director, Technical Sales for IBM Systems.
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