A true leader is willing to unlearn and relearn along the journey: Elisha Saigal

Celebrating the contributions of women in the PR sector, 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 as well as emerging women leaders of the industry.

Today’s 'Emerging Leaders' series features Elisha Saigal, Founder and CEO, El Sol Strategic Consultants. Her journey as a creative entrepreneur commenced almost two decades ago as a mass media student, and she has come a long way to establish what is now a highly reputed, full-service brand consultancy and digital marketing company.

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?

After two years, it will require a little effort to settle back into a pre-pandemic routine. We propose to have a three-day work week for the first two months and plan to have WFH attire every Friday. All mandated safety precautions will be maintained. But more importantly, it is refreshing to note that 90 per cent of the teams have missed working from the office - the upskilling from peers, the company culture of open-door policies, the camaraderie and brainstorming sessions, the bring-your-pets-to-office days, the quarterly head massages in the office.

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?

The key was to maintain a routine. Over the due course, things start to fall in place. I am an early riser, so I utilised the morning hours for household chores, yoga and to-do lists. With a little planning and some virtual meetings, one was able to balance it all. The hours between 9.30am and 7pm were dedicated to working and only crisis calls were attended to. There have been some difficult days where one had to attend to calls while caring for family members who need medical attention. It takes a village to do what we do and none of this would be possible without the teams that make it all happen.

At ESSC, we encourage work-life balance. And everyone steps in to ensure the other gets a personal time when needed.

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.

As early as 2008, we pioneered PR as not restricted to just press articles; our efforts for clients were modelled on integrated communications, strategic brand collaborations, sampling (which is now influencer gifting), online hype (influencer marketing and digital campaigns) and modern marketing alliances. Since the start, 90 per cent of our El Souls over the years are women, 5 per cent diversity hiring and 5 per cent men.

It is also very satisfying to be a leader to a tribe of women, who work and have worked with us, learnt, unlearnt and taught one another new skills and life lessons. It is rewarding for me to see a host of my ex El Souls, becoming women business owners across industries and passing the baton of women empowerment and growing our tribe.

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?

I started at the age of 17. I interned at Bathfit, a sanitaryware showroom in Mumbai, for visual merchandising and sales. Next, I interned with a design house, where I worked on a design project by creating a moodboard from magazine clippings since I did not know how to operate the design softwares, making this my roadblock. This moodboard was translated by the visual merchandiser, and my assignment for an NGO fighting Aids Awareness, won the best booth design in Australia. The founder, Divya Thakur, asked me to work part time with her post this. I did this for a year and then moved onto part time at a Press Relations agency, where I stayed on for five years, before starting out on my own.

The focus for my agency was to give Public Relations its due and not be restricted to press articles. We offered strategic brand alliances, marketing concept creation, hype and sampling, celebrity outreach and digital campaigns along with press. The hardest part of the business has thus been to get brands to see that Public Relations is not press releases alone, it is the image of the brand viewed by the public across the board. But this major roadblock is finally changing and more and more people are signing up with us for strategy, concept and execution of brand campaigns, sometimes with third party execution where we may not have the strength in house.

A leader is willing to dream, believe and achieve, and pave the path for the teams to follow, thus leading by example. A true leader trusts their teams and gives them the space that is needed to deliver on the combined vision. A true leader is honest and is willing to unlearn and relearn along the journey, sometimes even from the team members.

What would be your advice to the young generation?

Be brave and do good and heaven's aids will come to you. Be consistent and transparent with your leadership on your personal goals because you never know how a candid chat can change the course of life for you and those in your universe. And more importantly, sow the seed and nurture its growth. Growth is nothing like ordering from a 10-minute delivery app, it requires time and dedication. So, just do it.