At StartUp Terminal, we believe our diversity is our strength. As International Woman’s Day grows near, we celebrate the achievements of women around the world.
To kick off our celebration, we’ve asked India-based Manbir Kaur, Executive & Leadership Coach, and Author, few questions on her experience achieving success in the corporate world, and what advice she has for women entering the workforce today.
Excerpts:
ST: Please tell us briefly about you.
Manbir: I’m an Executive and Leadership Coach (Master Certificated Coach, MCC-ICF). I’m also a Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ) Enhanced Skills Practitioner, Team Coach (GTCI), a Positive Intelligence Coach and a key-note speaker.
I specialize in coaching leaders from technology organizations. I help leaders and entrepreneurs to align themselves and their teams to the strategic goals, unleash their own and their team’s potential. Over years, I have developed specific frameworks to help organizations and leaders achieve success in the most effective way. My frameworks make coaching progress measurable, and I believe in creating value for my clients in every engagement. My clients include executives from various technology companies from India, UK, USA, Middle East and so on.
I have also authored two books-
Are You The Leader You Want To Be? This book combines various principles, studies and practices to present a path-breaking, five-part framework called HUMAN which helps engage your teams in a human way. The book presents a business story-based narrative, which has been very well received by the readers. This book was nominated as top 5 Business Books in India for BBLF CK Prahalad Best Business Book Award 2019.
Get Your Next Promotion was published in August 2020 and helps professionals understand the path to leadership roles and CXO positions.
I also run a Video Interview series called Growth Mindset Conversations aimed at helping professionals get new perspectives from industry leaders.
ST: Who is a woman that inspires you the most and why?
Manbir: I cannot say that there is just one woman, there are so many that inspire me. Indra Nooyi for instance is a great inspiration for her business success. I also admire Michelle Obama for all the great work she had done as the first lady. I would like to mention Judith E. Glaser from whom I learned the art of Conversational Intelligence. She was suffering from cancer but continued to contribute to the lives of many professionals including myself even through her last days. There is so much to learn from the lives of each one of them, and I can just keep going, adding many many more names. There are so many women that inspire me.
ST: How are you celebrating this year’s International Women’s Day?
Manbir: I will be interacting with women at a few organizations and am glad to be sharing some perspectives with them. I hope to help inspire them to achieve continuous growth. There are a lot of possibilities and sometimes we don’t see them until someone points them to us. I will be connecting with various women groups to share some of my own inspirations and lessons I learned.
ST: What is the most important message you want to send out to all the women around the world on this occasion?
Manbir: I believe that women must take charge and set their own goals and priorities. They must make conscious decision about what they want and plan for what they need to achieve. Then they need to build a net of supporters around themselves. They should not think of themselves as alone, they must reach out for help when they need. And most importantly, they must offer their help to other women around them when they can.
ST: What according to you is ‘women empowerment’?
Manbir: The day we do not need this word will be the day that women become equals in all walks of life. Why should women need empowerment from others, it is their right to have equal opportunity. Best way to empower women is to make them owners of their own destiny, when they feel that they can make decisions that are best for themselves and do not need to compromise their own careers or success in the name of responsibility or duty. I believe we are getting there, though we have a long way to go!
ST: What would you say are the main challenges facing women at present globally?
Manbir: Getting recognized as equals is the biggest challenge that women face even today. Women do not have equal opportunity in may facets of life staring with education, healthcare, professional growth. I believe we still have a lot to do before we can get close to the goal.
(Email us: editorial@startupterminal.com)
