'Power isn't given, it has to be taken'

Apurva Purohit, president, Jagran Group, (seated, right) with women leaders of the industry at a discussion on Thursday

Women need to stop doubting themselves and firmly believe that they are deserving of being in a boardroom, Apurva Purohit, president, Jagran Group, told a gathering of eminent women leaders of industry on Thursday.

"Authority and power is not given to anyone, it has to be taken," Purohit told women COOs and CEOs from various backgrounds. "Only when women show undeterred confidence in their competence and skills will their male counterparts, organisations and following generations learn to see them as competent to be leaders. Conversations like these are therefore really vital to bring about the change we are all striving for."

Purohit was chairing a discussion with Sudha Ravi, Ajay Piramal Group, at a Sapphire Human Solutions initiative called Perspective, to spark a conversation about 'Women Stepping into the Boardroom'. The talk revolved around women assuming senior leadership roles on the board of directors, how they must aspire to get there, the challenges they face while in boardrooms full of men and what they must do to set examples for other women.

Prominent women leaders like Ritu Pandya (Head, HR, Raw Pressery), Arati Singh (COO, NDTV Good Times), Monaz Noble (CFO, Director, Novartis), Pinky Mehta (Group CFO, Aditya Birla Group) Shanjini Kumar (Head of Consumer Banking, Citibank), Dr Apurva Joshi (Technology and Due Diligence, Risk Pro Mgmt Consulting), Apurva Rathod (Group Company Secretary, L&T Financial Services), Dr Ranjana Pathak (Head, Quality, Cipla), Monica Bhandari (Chief HRO, TBZ Ltd.), Kirti Raj (CHRO, Brink's India Pvt Ltd), Roli Sanghi (HR, Ex-Truenorth), Padmini Mishra (Head, HR, Cox & Kings), Ritu Anand (Deputy Head Global, TCS) and Poonam Yadav (Connecting Leaders HR, Aditya Birla Group) were part of the meeting.

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