It’s important to have a good rapport with oneself: Pragya Misra

Celebrating the journey of women leaders, exchange4media is running a women's day series to mark their achievements. Today’s series features Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs in India with Truecaller. Misra has been quite experimentative with her career choices and has managed to crack the code at most roles she has played thus far – of an entrepreneur, a corporate employee, a columnist, and a heartfulness meditation trainer.

Currently working with Truecaler in the capacity of director of public affairs, Misra has a strong leadership sense and great clarity in thought when it comes to managing her professional life. Misra shares her thoughts on gender equality, her role models, and advice for young women professionals. She suggests that young ladies in business to go for what they want, never settle for less, and strike a good rapport with themselves.

Read edited excerpts here:

What are your thoughts on this year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow?’ According to you, how can women leaders and workers in the formal space create a sustainable future?

Gender is an important consideration in sustainable development. It is a way of looking at how societal customs and power structures affect opportunities available to different groups of men and women. It is great that there has been rising intolerance towards gender biases in the recent past as gender diversity has become a key topic across industries.

Women already have always had an inherent multi-tasking capability, a trait that was made more evident in the pandemic as they seamlessly pivoted in their professional and domestic roles. They are able to better consider perspectives in the workplace that are not evident to their male counterparts. Further, because of their calm and level-headed demeanour, they tend to be the ones that bind the team together in a company. This also helps make the overall work culture less authoritative and more cooperative, bringing a feeling of belongingness within the team which further boosts morale and helps implement a work-friendly environment within the organization. Women leaders are also stepping up to support employee well-being and diversity, equality, and inclusion efforts. 

As a forward-thinking brand, Truecaller has been at the forefront of raising awareness towards issues that matter – online harassment being an important one. Since 2017, our #ItsNotOkay Campaign was designed to help our customers in calling out instances of online harassment. This year we are taking it another step forward by urging people to #CallitOut and report harassment to the authorities when they see or experience it. Through meaningful initiatives like this one, women leaders and workplace culture can help build on a sustainable future that is inclusive. 

What is your idea of a gender-just workplace? Please draw from your own experiences to share how a supportive work environment helped you attain your goals?

More diversity in the leadership promotes an inclusive workplace and a culture that is accepting of everyone as they are - their authentic selves. Whether that is a fair representation of gender, race, socio-economic, religion and much more. I believe this is a top-down approach that begins with investors, board members, CEOs, VPs and then it becomes the DNA of the company.

To further encourage this, there is a need for leaders/ companies to play a crucial role in setting the right work culture suited to women by providing them with equal opportunities and actively pursuing diversity in the tech industry. I am a big advocate for gender pay parity, flexible work hour policies, non-discriminatory practices and timely opportunities to move up in the organisation. All these help drive an equitable work environment.

Supportive managers (both men and women) have played a key role in my growth. Their openness towards evaluating an opposing view by engaging in a constructive dialogue, has helped me create an impact beyond what I had thought I was capable of. Building trust early in the relationship has been the pivotal factor in getting more autonomy, thereby, leading to my growth. 

Which women have been your strongest supporters and role models (both personally and professionally)?

I truly believe that there is something to learn and that inspiration is around me at all times. Therefore, I try to stay alert for these moments of epiphany. I have closely followed the life and learnings of Indra Nooyi and have drawn inspiration from her journey.

My core value system comes from my mother and her patience, grace, ability to create wonders from limited resources is a constant reminder of the long journey I have ahead of me. The second significant supporter has been my aunt who has been a friend, mentor and a pillar of strength for me. With them by my side, I feel emboldened to tackle any problem that comes my way.

That being said, I should add the importance of having a good rapport with oneself. I have always aspired to be the best version of myself by improving on the person I was yesterday. This makes me my most ardent supporter on good days and the harshest critic on the bad ones. Being a competitive golfer taught me to be self-reliant. My meditation path of heartfulness gives me the courage and faith, every day to trust my instincts, constantly aspire to inspire, and always be collaborative instead of being competitive. 

What is your advice to the young women who are either working in or planning to join your industry?

1. Never settle for what you feel you don’t deserve
2. Always ask for what you want - Job, salary
3. Be an ally to other women
4. Find a mentor who can help you get perspectives you may miss yourself
5. Put yourself first - There are tough days, and many people easily give up on situations/people/careers without a solid support system. So, find your people and let them be catalysts in your journey. It could be your family, friends, mentor, or colleagues.