“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.”
– Japanese Proverb
Or, in today’s business world, shall we say a great ‘Mentor’? Mentoring has always been of tremendous value in every area of life where any progress is achieved by mankind. Be it Dronacharya for Arjun, as our ancient history points out, or Anne Sullivan for Helen Keller or numerous other examples from around the world.
Mentoring works because as Bob Proctor, Author, Speaker and Success Coach puts it:
“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.”
And what are the odds of bumping into a mentor, especially if you are just starting on your own to pursue your dreams?
With these thoughts in mind and support from US Embassy and Vital Voices, Biz Divas organized its first annual Mentoring Walk on November 17, 2012 at Leisure Valley, Gurgaon. The aim was to provide means for women achievers to “pay it forward” or use their knowledge and experience to benefit fellow women professionals.
The day saw an enthusiastic group of 75 odd mentors and mentees gather at 8 a.m. in the park. Our divas required no cues apparently as a hearty networking naturally started happening over warm cups of tea/coffee as they were enjoying the first signs of nip in the air.
A brief talk on the journey of Biz Divas so far was given by Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya, Founder Biz Divas, followed by introductions by our mentors. The group had the privilege of being in the company of some very accomplished women leaders of the day:
- · Gagan Singh (CEO Business & Chairperson, Sri Lanka Operations Jones Lang LaSalle)
- · Stephanie Morimura (Assistant Cultural Affairs Office for Exchanges, U.S. Embassy)
- · Kanika Mathur (President, Digitas)
- · Smita Mankad (Managing Director Artisans Micro Finance Pvt. Ltd.)
- · Dr. Rashmi Tiwari (Chief Operating Officer CEO Clubs of India)
- · Anuradha Gupta (Head Enterprise & Defense Solutions, Vihaan Networks Limited)
- · Seema Bansal (Principal Consultant, The Boston Consulting Group)
- · Pooja Goyal (Founder, buy zithromax 500mg online Director, Intellitots Learning)
- · Shivani Kapoor (Founder, Director, Intellitots Learning)
- · Payal Gandhi (Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Professional and Coach)
- · Nandini Gulati (Marketing professional and Lifestyle Advisor)
- · Ritambhara Agrawal (Founder and managing Partner at Intelligere)
- · Sapna Narang (Managing Partner, Capital League)
- · Papiya Sarkar (General Manager, HRO & Training, Wipro BPO)
- · Shivdasini Amin (Asst. Proffessor, Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management)
- · Sonal Kalra (Life Coach)
- · Namrata Arora (Founder, Growth Cube)
- · Stuti Jalan (Founder, Crosshairs Communication)
- · Neeta Ahuja (Quality Director, Vice President, Polaris Financial Technology Limited)
- · Divya Keshav (CEO, Krishna Printernational)
- · Kalpana Jain (Senior Director, Deloitte)
- · Retd. Lieutenant. Rita Gangwani (Professional Trainer & Motivational Speaker)
- · Simin Askari (Senior Vice President, Corporate Human Resources, Apollo International Limited)
The mentors and respective mentees were already informed about the pairing and were put in touch with each other. They were also given guidelines on groundwork to be done in order to take out maximum out of the event. After the formal calling out of pairs, the walk started on time. It lasted an hour but as per participants’ own admission, they had no idea where the time flew as they were engrossed in rich dialogue.
The thought-provoking, inspiring and enlightening conversation continued through the breakfast laid out at the Roots Cafe. Now the divas were also seen mingling out of their groups and making new acquaintances.
The group (now much charged and more at ease at the same time) assembled once again in the presentation room. Gagan Singh, CEO Business & Chairperson, Sri Lanka Operations Jones Lang LaSalle was called upon to share her wisdom. She shared her journey and learnings with a dash of zest and humour. Many others volunteered to share their experience and views. There were claps and there was laughter. There was also a SWAT session where participants wrote areas where immediate help or connections were required for their ventures. As it turned out, many had similar challenges and many others gladly offered to help.
No event, especially an all-women one, is complete without formal posing. So after a group photo-shoot, the participants dispersed with a spring in their steps and an association to cherish…
