Bhawna Shah

I am officially the CEO of the company, but I haven’t restricted myself to any specific role or responsibility. I play a hands-on role in all business units. I have to ensure that I fill up the gap in any area, where my skills could be handy.

Leadership means ‘the art to influence’. It mostly comes naturally but in some cases can be taught too. You can never be a successful leader unless you connect with your team. You cannot order people to work for you. You as a leader, and your team should have a mutual feeling of respect.  As an individual, you may not have all the skills. All you need is a good team, who should have a mix of skills required to run your company efficiently and eventually help the company progress.  Company is like a machine where every part is important and its performance has a crucial role to play in the quality of the finished product. If every member of the company plays the role well, company will automatically progress and so will everyone associated.
I therefore feel that, people management is the key requirement for a leader to be successful. Your people should be willing to work with you and not for you.

Most leaders feel that being technically good is enough to play an entrepreneur or a leader. You may be a good programmer, good accountant, good marketing executive. But ventures are successful only if you practice the act of patience. Things may not always go as planned. It is important that you maintain the calm even in the worst of times. If you are making the right moves, things will eventually fall in place. It may be just a matter of time. You may be upset at times with the failures, which is quite natural. But after a while you should get up, pull up your socks and get going. Failures should not stop you.

Mistakes are inevitable and are part of our learning. I do not always do the right things, but I ensure that I learn something from every failed attempt. Even today, I am not sure whether I am connecting the right dots. Only time will tell that. All I want is to ensure that people associated with me progress in life.

It’s important to understand the basic requirement of every individual. Just giving a hike or a vacation may not solve the problem. You have to get to the core of the issue. It is important to connect with every single individual of your team and understand their feelings. We as humans, have the gift of touching each others heart.  Get to the core of the problem, solutions will come up automatically.

At every point in time, whatever decision I took were the best. They made me happy sometimes and sad sometimes. When decisions went wrong, I ensured that I learned from them. When they turned out to be good, I lived every moment of it. I feel my most important decision was to refuse the fat pay packet of a secure job and start something of my own. But I am happy for the path I took. I had doubts many times, but my husband always gave me the confidence to keep moving ahead. He trusts me more that I trust in myself.  I still have a long way ahead, but I am enjoying the journey.

As a leader you are required to do two important tasks, motivate the team and lead them in a given direction. The most important task lies in choosing the right path.  Hitler was also a good leader, but he took his team in a wrong direction. He is condemned for his acts worldwide, even today.  A leader has to identify the right path and then lead his team in small steps towards the goal.  I therefore feel that spiritual development of a leader is the most important. A leader should be able to visualize the bigger picture and should take decisions that will benefit one and all.
I make sure that I read good books that enrich my mind. I meet people and learn from their experience.

Of course quite like every person, even I am influenced by my parents. I think I get my leadership skills from my Mother. She did not have much of school education, but she had a charisma and the power to influence others. She learned from everyday practical experiences. She managed small house affairs so well and my father could easily entrust his hard earned money with her. She would spend judiciously and save enough that always helped us in times of need. We never had scarcity of money. She planned everything well.  She would always say that ‘it is easy to earn but tough to spend’. Sounds odd, but it is true. Anyone can earn, but the one who can spend judiciously and invest wisely goes a long way.  
My father has influenced me by his ever simple policy of ‘simple living high thinking’. While growing up you don’t realize how the environment around you, shapes you.  Today I feel every bit of my growing up was a good learning and has shaped me well. All in all, I am proud of what I am today, as a person and as a leader.

I am proud enough to say that I was born and brought up by people who had strong principles and values. We were taught to not compare ourselves with others based on the wealth that we had, but based on the internal strength and will power that we had.  Our status symbol was never the fake show of materialistic accumulations but our spiritual and intellectual accumulations. My parents were never very protective. They taught us to distinguish the good from the bad, and then choose wisely. They allowed us to take decision and also live with the consequences of our decisions. When decisions were good, we enjoyed every bit of it.  When we made wrong decisions my parents ensured that we never ran away from the consequences. They taught us to face those too.
I married a man who is quite focused and lives life with a positive attitude. It is amazing to see how much he has achieved with sheer will power and determination. He and I are best friends to each other. We live like two friends sharing a house and sharing responsibilities. A woman cannot achieve much unless she has a peaceful environment at home and support of her family. My husband ensures that he keeps a positive environment in our house and I derive every bit of my energy from there.
 My son , my husband and I, we all perform better when we have fun with each other. The moment we have differences, the energy level dips and performances get affected. It is quite natural for individuals to have differences but important is to sort them out real quick before the damage is done. My husband ensures that he sorts things out and pulls us back. I am sure none of what I have achieved could have been possible without his constant support and positive attitude and above all confidence in me.