Storyboard on Darshana Ogale – Business head and Sr VP Capgemini India. She is also the Chairperson for Capgemini Diversity vertical Winspire in India. A truly inspirational women leader who continuously broke stereotypes and worked around her strengths to becoming a woman of influence.

Darshana was born in a typical Gujarati family in India with a privileged upbringing. But having privileges also got with it a set of rules which had been habituated over a period of time in the family. Foremost among them – ‘girls in her family never worked’. The focus was not on education for girls and the space ear marked for women was the comforts within the home and family relationships. This was in spite of the fact that her grandfather was the pioneer in rayon production in the country and her own father had been sent to America to study engineering.

Standing up for what she believes in was inbuilt in Darshana from an early part of her life. She was the only girl in the family who was continuously breaking the status quo and wanting to be different. Despite having a differentiated upbringing at home, she was always in the top strata in her school and contender for head girl. After completing her graduation in sciences, it was no secret that she wanted to work. An easy place for her to start would have been her own family business. Unfortunately she could not break the taboo in the family as girls were just not allowed in the family business.

This did not deter the young Darshana and she swore to get a job without any Influence and recommendation. Consequently she started studying part time for her diploma in business administration from Jamnalal Bajaj, Mumbai. In 1978 she got her first job as a commercial Trainee in Siemens India Ltd. Till date she maintains that her first job gave her a very hands on foundation to the professional that she eventually grew up to be.

Getting a job, proving oneself did happen, but as a woman caught up in the web of family and life in late 70’s, work did take a back seat for her. And consequently she took a break from work which stretched to 8 long years. A decision that she consciously took for motherhood.

Getting back to a full-time career after eight years of being a full-time mother meant she had to start all over again. She also found herself working with people much younger than her, but having more experience than she in terms of work. However, this did not stop her from wanting to learn more and proving myself. But there was an advantage in it which was that she no longer needed to take any more breaks. Her children were already in school and it was easier for her to focus on work and build her career. “

Her getting back to work also shows the determination in her to be different and breaking all taboos. Says she

“I was a regular housewife taking care of house and kids while my husband was working very hard for our combined living. Consequently I hardly saw him till late night and there was no work life balance. So I wrote a letter to my husband one day which said –

“I hereby resign from the post of Ayah, nanny, head chef, guest relations..I quit”

This worked, as her husband was very supportive to get her back to working, as he also missed the rebellious, self-actualized sparkled girl. The next step was to finding how to get back to work but at her own terms. Her first thought was to invest in herself by picking up relevant skills. She got lucky by choosing a Computer diploma of a year which worked for her as the timings suited her in between housework and kids’ being at school, and also it was next to where she was living.

Once she finished her computer course she invested in a 8086 computer for Rs. 75 K in the early 1980’s. At that point of time computers were a rarity, and having one itself at one’s home was unheard of and path breaking. A guest visiting her home one day saw her passion for computers and offered her retainer work that she could work out of her home using her computer. So that kick started her re-entry to her career. Couple of years of retainer work still kept the ambition high for darshana who aimed to do much more than what she was currently exposed to.

Good luck came in the name of Mahindra British Telecom advertisement which incidentally was seen first by her mother in law and who coaxed her to apply. She consequently got selected in Quality, Training and offshore business in British Telecom. This job also gave her exposure to the IBM main frame, LAN Network and other new age technology which eventually shaped her career. She worked her way through sheer hard work, and kept growing from strength to strength. There was now no looking back. As she says :

 “Authority is not given-It’s taken. If you are given responsibility then authority comes with it and you be ready to face the consequences whatever it may be.”

 In her earlier days of  her career she refrained from taking up opportunities that required her to travel and be away from home for a prolonged period because her children were young. Although this was a conscious decision, at that point of time she did feel disadvantaged to some extent. In hindsight, this worked to her advantage cause she was able to take on roles that not many people were interested in. Way back in the early 1990s when most people were looking for opportunities that would give them a chance to travel abroad she rejected those opportunities in favour of family in India.

Post working with Mahindra British Telecom  for 8 years and then Tandon Information Solutions for 3 years she joined E&Y in 2000 and which eventually got taken over by Capgemini. Darshana is now a part of the India Management Team of Capgemini India having spent close to 16 years in the company.

Getting back to work did have her share of work life balance issues for darshana. But she navigated it by being organized and structured. When she travels, which she does quite a bit she has able to create an ecosystem where personal work doesn’t get impacted due to her absence. She tries to compartmentalize her professional and personal life by avoiding or carrying work home as far as possible. She spends extended hours in the office (if required), but once at home she prefers to completely switch off. She is conscious of the fact that she needs to get rid of the habit of frequently checking for e-mail updates on her cell phone, so that she is able to spend quality time at home. The same practice holds true for her professional life by not making too many personal calls while at work.

Her advice to young woman in corporate India

“Be conscious of one’s strengths and weaknesses and always be confident and self-assured in whatever work that you take up. On the way you will get feedback, so take criticism positively and objectively as that will help you learn from your mistakes.”