'A leader empowers team members to embrace their unique leadership qualities'

Celebrating the contributions of women, exchange4media PR & Corp Comm is running a 'Women Achievers Series'. It will feature the journey, success, and achievements of some of the top women leaders from the Public Relations and Corporate Communications fraternity. Today’s series features Nikky Gupta Co-Founder & CEO of Teamwork Communications Group. She wears many hats, including those of an entrepreneur, a communications strategist, a health advocate and a mother.

After completing her higher education in mass communication, she worked as a journalist before shifting her interest to public relations. She then worked in a handful of communications firms before deciding to turn an entrepreneur and co-founded Teamwork Communications Group along with her husband, Kamal Narayan, who is also a journalist.

Excerpts from the interview:

Now that the industry is opening up workplaces and resuming operations from the office, what are the initiatives, measures and precautions that should be adapted/ taken to ensure a smooth transition?

As a healthcare responsible organization right from the emergence of COVID, we are taking this threat very seriously and now when the cases have gone down, we will continue to do so. We will be undertaking proactive measures to ensure all of us are well-prepared and resume office. We will be implementing all the COVID guidelines, including social distancing measures, wearing masks and washing hands. The office premises and workstations will be regularly cleaned and disinfected every day. Hand sanitisers and air purifiers will be placed inside the office. The HR department will roll out effective communication about the 'Dos' and 'Don’ts', ensuring employees are well aware. We are also planning to initiate carpool service so that many employees could avoid public transport.

The last 20 months have been trying for every professional, especially with the hybrid working model. How did you strike a balance between office work and household duties?

Hybrid working model, when you have kids, is definitely a challenge. However, you need to devise some interesting strategies to make things work in this scenario. Being an entrepreneur, people management is one of my primary roles and I have learnt innovative management skills quite well. So, managing work from home along with kids and other family members is no longer such an arduous task for me. It just requires some diligent time management, scheduling and an ecosystem of supportive family and team members.

I have prepared daily schedules for kids that include activities and tasks to keep them engaged without giving them too much screen time. Basically, the intent is to keep them occupied and organised with interesting activities that they enjoy as I am working. When I have to sit for a conference call or a video-call meeting, I strategically give them those creative tasks to keep them occupied.

Women have been carving a niche for themselves and paving the way in the communications industry for the next generation of women leaders to follow. Tell us about your achievements and your contribution to the fraternity.

When we founded the organisation in 2009, I envisaged a company that would understand the pulse of the media and communications industry and deliver tailor-made solutions for different clients. In a crowded PR market, differentiating yourself requires offering something unique. Our observation that PR industry in India lacked healthcare communications specialists led us to focus our energies on building an organisation that had special expertise in healthcare communication.

In 2012, I took another entrepreneurial leap when I co-founded IHW Council, a health and wellness advocacy organisation that is working relentlessly towards the goal of raising awareness on key health-related issues and advocating policy formulations in collaboration with healthcare practitioners and organisations.

Apart from leading the daily operations, I have a knack of spotting talent early and many young professionals groomed by me are doing excessively well in the industry today. I take particular interest in grooming and enabling young talented women to find a foothold and make their way up the management profile.

What are the roadblocks that you have had to overcome to reach where you are today? What, according to you, are the makings of a leader?

Coming from a small town and a traditional family, which valued conventionally lucrative professions like medical, engineering and law, venturing into mass communications was a challenging choice. But I took the step since I trusted my aptitude and ability. Moreover, the decision to turn an entrepreneur at the tender age of 26 was another challenge. Making a mark in the healthcare industry by providing them 360-degree-solutions was a game-changing decision. We bootstrapped the new communications company with very limited resources and decided to build a new organisation from scratch. The rest, as they say, is history.

For me, leadership is more than production. It extends beyond a corner office to building meaningful relationships and inspiring others. A leader is someone who ensures their team has support and the tools to achieve their goals. An effective leader has a shared vision aligned with core values and understands what it will take to reach their team goals. A leader empowers their team members to embrace their own unique leadership qualities and act with independently accountable passion.

What would be your advice to the young generation?

In this highly dynamic field, you cannot survive unless you constantly improvise and evolve with the times. When you set about establishing your own business, challenges are bound to come. One thing to keep in mind when it comes to entrepreneurship is that failure is not the end of the world but rather the opportunity for a fresh start. You can’t expect to go down this road without failing once or twice. You will be better off if you begin with the understanding that you will fail along the way. Failure is simply another lesson that will help you get back on track to success. The past will teach you valuable lessons but you must constantly keep your eyes on the future.