This Women’s day, MediaNews4U.Com is acknowledging women leaders of the Media, Marketing, Broadcast and Advertising fraternity who have given more than expected.
Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, formerly Lintas, is an Indian advertising marketing communications company. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Interpublic Group, and is part of the multinational Mullen Lowe Group.
In this segment, Garima Pant, Group HR Director, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group shares her experiences and breaking the gender stereotypes and how she continues to inspire many other women who are true leaders in the making.
Journey:
It’s a story of how someone can flourish because of a great ecosystem, open mindset and the virtues of equality and progress.
Humble Beginnings and progressive thought process makes a great combination. Children to middle class working parents, me and my brother grew up with good hands-on experience and understanding of our privilege, duties, and responsibilities. Independence helped me understand the power of courage and responsibility which has supported me through my personal and professional journey. I have worked across Industries from ITES to IT, then Pharma, M&E and very recently advertising. Never has change of industry made me too uncomfortable, curiosity always helped me flourish in the business. Growing up in the capital of the biggest Indian state, living in cities across the country and outside during work- life, provided the much-needed life experiences and learning’s.
Looking back, I realize one of my biggest virtues has been that I have never bothered about my title to make a point or get work done. I always had an unafraid voice even while I was a Management Trainee or the case maybe today.
Inspiration & Inspiring the Team:
My inspirations in growing up years have been all the women in my family who have been fiercely independent, even though their journey hasn’t been an easy one. One consistent quality that I learnt was exceptional work ethic, resilience, and a go-getter attitude.
In my professional journey, I had a role model in one of my first managers, Chetana Sukumar, who stood tall amongst an all-male leadership. She was most times the brightest and the most confident in the room. Subhashish Sengupta and Pratap Gopalakrishnan were my other managers who helped set my foundation on deep business understanding and helped shape my thought process. They also bestowed their belief in me, took some big risks, and provided me with opportunities to learn and grow.
Being authentic and sharing my stories of failure and triumph is how I feel that I choose to build bonds with my team. Being my own vulnerable self as I connect with my team helps me build trust. Providing a clear vision and communicating often helps the team stay focused and feel purposeful and relish achievement.
Empowerment of Women:
Since I have enjoyed a bias-free surrounding, privilege is sometimes invisible to me; however, I attempt to make it a point to hear my women colleagues and see how I can help pave the way. Being in the People function, I have been able to raise this agenda and make it an organization imperative. To impact empowerment at scale I have used policy making as a path to ensuring systemic empowerment. Also, awareness has helped as a tool – a change agent for women to be more conscious of their rights, and being unapologetic about not following society defined stereotypes.
