Isha Brahme Interviews
Payal Nanjiani: An Indian-American woman redefining leadership in the corporate world
We live in a world where every professional wants to be in leadership positions. But do they know how to achieve this milestone?
It is, hence, a rare occurrence when you meet someone who has broken the glass ceiling and left it far behind. One Indian-American woman has transformed the landscape and taken the corporate world by storm with her leadership programs.
Payal Nanjiani is a name that is synonymous with redefining leadership in the corporate circle. In her 20-year long career, she has coached and mentored the best of the best.
As the founder of Success Within Leadership, a training and coaching firm, Payal has to date helped more than a million people from Fortune 500 companies and large organizations to celebrity CEOs to recognize and overcome their leadership challenges and lead successful careers.
In this candid interview with Isha, she shares the story of her journey and gives us a glimpse into her thoughts on leadership, growth, and success.
Isha:
Let’s start with the obvious question first. As an Indian-American woman, what led you to do what you do? Tell us more about your journey.
Payal:
That’s an interesting question, Isha. Here’s a little bit of a backstory. For me, it all started with one question, ‘Why do we have only a few exceptional leaders in any organization?’
You see, I had a very successful start in my career in India before moving to the United States in the summer of 2000. I remember how friends and family told me that I was stepping into a land of opportunities. But the reality I saw around me here was very different.
I observed that despite all the information and resources, most people innately struggled at work. The number of successful people in the organization was few and far in between. The need to get to the root of this was so strong, I think somewhere, I realized this was my calling. I immersed myself in research that helped me understand the reason for this gap.
This formed the springboard of Success Within Leadership, a training and coaching company dedicated to developing transformed leaders who influence, inspire, and implement with speed and serenity in any circumstance.
Isha:
I would love to learn a bit about your company. What is the pain point that your company is addressing?
Payal:
From where I see it, the major problem in any company today is that we have many skilled leaders with functional expertise who get promoted to leadership roles. They usually form the mid-management level. I would have you know that a significant chunk of the organization; a whopping 75%, operates from this level. It’s no surprise that this chunk gets maximum training on leadership skills.
However, you will observe that these trained leaders often remain average performers. This leaves us with barely 15% of people in the organization who are responsible for the companies’ growth considering that the remaining 10% are passive employees. Take a minute to think about the effect that has on organizations.
My transformative leadership programs aim to help the 75%. We help this major chunk of the organization maximize their leadership potential and be the best version of themselves. The scale or growth that organizations achieve if the potential of these employees is leveraged is humongous. This is an opportunity that we want employers to notice.
Isha:
You are known for redefining leadership in the corporate world. How has your work in this field changed the corporate culture?
Payal:
I will answer this rather succinctly, Isha- I help people make a shift from being trained leaders to being transformed leaders. The journey of bridging this gap has helped professionals see rapid growth in their careers while companies are witnessing an increase in their bottom line.
Isha:
We speak about women’s empowerment a lot. Women like you are often role models that inspire so many of us. Even so, women, globally, are severely under-represented in positions of power. Why do you think that is?
Payal:
A lot has been done and is being done to empower women in leadership positions. But it would greatly help to view the issue of underrepresentation with an inward approach. Often, a lot of the challenges that women face are intrinsic. For instance, a woman might be offered a senior leadership role at her company but often doubts her capabilities of being able to manage the role. While this stems from the social systems that we have been raised in, I think women must have confidence and innate belief in their skills. I think once women realize what they are capable of, there is no stopping them.
Isha:
What does leadership mean to you, in the post-covid world?
Payal:
At its core, good leadership to me has always been about three things- getting your people to do the greatest things, being able to convert vision into reality quickly, and using your expertise to develop more leaders. Pre-covid or post-covid, these elements of leadership remain unchanged.
Isha:
Finally, what is the one thing that you’d like to tell people who aspire to be like you?
Payal:
This is a mantra that I have stood by no matter what so it would have to be this- work harder on developing yourself more than you work on your job. Because you will take yourself with you everywhere.
With this lasting thought, we come to the end of this insightful interview.
As I reflect on the learnings and the many facets of leadership, I can’t help but admire how simplistically Payal has managed to articulate powerful ideas. Ideas that have transformed the leadership landscape and taken the corporate world by storm.
To find out more about Payal and her thoughts, visit her website.
You could also tune in to her podcast here: The Payal Nanjiani Leadership Podcast on all major podcast channels.
Interview by Isha Brahme.
Isha is a writer, storyteller, and a postgraduate in economics. She’s passionate about education, stories, brands and loves finding out what makes people tick. She’s currently curating cutting-edge learning experiences at a leading ed-tech firm.
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