What is the Success Mantra for Indian Women in Business? 'One important factor that poses challenge is the typical tendency to underestimate a woman's capabilities in the entertainment industry in our country'
By Baishali Mukherjee •
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Women are steadily changing their conventional way of working in the corporate world. Business regulations are more women-friendly now and they have better access to business opportunities.
Currently, 4.4% of Fortune 500 company CEOs are women. Recent report states that companies with women in the c-suite are 15% more profitable than others.
SBI, Standard Charter, ICICI, Axis bank et al have women CEOs. They are setting a trend of their own by daring to break the mould and take unconventional career paths and making conscious decisions of switching industries, opting for higher educational degrees or launching their own businesses.
One such young entrepreneur is Chaity Ghosh, who overcomes challenges at ease and looks out for new ones. Founder of Phreedom4Ever, an event management company, Ghosh has played roles in diverse industries for the past 17 years.
In an interview with Entrepreneur India, Ghosh expounds on the pathways to success for business women in India.
Confidence, Fearlessness and Ability to Improvise
"Reaching the top requires much more than just professional commitments. It takes a lot of grit and dedication to be at the top in the corporate world in whatever field it may be. Therefore it is of extreme importance that a woman possesses extreme confidence not only in her performance but on herself, remains fearless to new challenges and improvise with every new situation that poses challenge to her," opined Ghosh.
"Besides, she has to face diverse occasions in her life as a daughter, a wife and a mother. These responsibilities and challenges enhance her inner-power to face and win any situation. To me, it is a wholesome quality, which is a prerequisite for a woman to excel in a male-dominated world. However, I personally do not believe that the world is male-dominated anymore," she added.
Challenges Come in Diverse Shapes in Entertainment Industry
"The entertainment industry is a mix of various personalities unlike other industries, where people usually emerge from similar backgrounds. This variety exposes a woman, in particular, to many factors, which are not quite common. The challenges predominantly come in the shape of late nights, lack of proper politeness, erratic behavioural patterns and long-standing male dominance in this particular industry. Another factor that poses challenge is the typical tendency to underestimate a woman's capabilities in the entertainment industry in our country," informed Ghosh.
Diversification of Professional Domains Enables Growth
According to Ghosh, an individual grows as per one's ability to diversify the potential one has within. "Diversification of professional domains extends the outreach of an individual and provides scope to educate the person and gain experience in varied verticals. This, in turn, increases the confidence for taking up more challenges, makes one adaptable to any new situation and helps in excelling in any field or profession one is put in to. However, the change should be made after proper understanding of one's capabilities," she added.
Entrepreneurship Requires Understanding in Multiple Fields
Ghosh does not consider it to be a must for a successful woman to become an entrepreneur. "Leaving a successful career and taking the new challenge of starting on-her-own as an entrepreneur is not an easy job. Only when an individual acquires the confidence of sacrificing a successful chair and comfort zone of an employee in an organization and move forward to live her passion — an Entrepreneur is born," she asserted.
"Entrepreneurship involves a deep understanding in multiple fields where one needs a lot of knowledge and confidence to act independently and it is only possible when she is interested to expand her territory beyond the usual and script a fresh success story. Any successful woman has to fight many battles within and outside her professional world to overcome the odds and achieve success," notified Ghosh.
Chaity Ghosh has handled positions like Country Head, Customer Relations in First Flight, National Head, Operations in Medicare Services India Pvt Ltd and Regional Chief -HR of Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Ltd.
