'Roles should be awarded based on merit & talent, not gender'

Aarti Laxmanan, Head Of Corporate Communication, UFLEX Group was recently felicitated with the 'Emerging Leader in Corporate Communication' title at the e4m PR & Corp Comm Women Achievers Awards 2020. She is a corporate communicator and erstwhile business journalist. With close to two decades of experience, Laxmanan has multiple business wins and path-breaking campaigns to her credit. In today’s feature, we speak to her about her big win, thoughts on female leadership, the role of women in restructuring the organization, her future goals and more.

Edited Excerpts:-

How do you feel being the winner of the Women Achievers initiative?

While I have never focused on awards as the reason to do what I do, they always work as a great way to endorse one’s work and brand. Therefore, it definitely feels good to know that what I have worked on with passion has been noticed. These accolades spur me on to be just as exceptional going forward.

 What are the attributes of a leader in the communication industry?

The move from metrics to impact is one that I have seen and lived down the decades now. When I started my career, any form of communication was about the numbers - viewership, visibility and more. Today, however, any business process, whether it be customer, internal or sustainability communication, is all about business impact.

Therefore, ensuring that a leader understands what changes every time is imperative. Equally important is the ability to understand the changing media landscape, especially in this day and age, as a communication professional.

One's sights should be set on the stars, but it is important to hear movements through feet on the ground. And to ensure that one holds onto the earlier stated aspects, I personally feel that one should never shy away from learning, be that from your network, your mentors or your subordinates.

Others, I feel are age-old and clichéd but ones that can’t be ignored such as ‘lead by example’ because that has time and again proved to be the best influence one can have on others (and I too endorse that!)  and ‘focus on building a team of leaders’ there by creating a culture of outperformance. After all, as David Ogilvy said, “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs.” 

 What role have women played in the restructuring of the industry and how has the communications industry changed over the years for the women workforce?

What role have women played in the restructuring of the industry and how has the communications industry changed over the years for the women workforce?

To be in the privileged position of being a lady, in a male-dominated society is a great thing but that, fortunately, doesn’t apply to the communication industry, which has been predominantly driven by the female workforce. It is for this reason that I feel it is also much more progressive in the thought process.

When a society is primarily made up of decision-makers of one gender, an industry driven by the other is often able to look at things the way others might not be able to. This augurs well for India and Global Inc. at large, also because communication is an allied industry and a requirement across sectors, whether Manufacturing, BFSI, Auto or Consumer Technology.

Over the years, the parity of female to male corporate communicators has been in a great place, and with gender diversity being viewed as one of the major subset of an organisation’s cultural growth, it has only improved life for other women entering the space.

 Why do we need to have more women leaders at the helm of organizations in today's scenario and what value women bring to the table?

While I am all for fostering gender diversity, I feel that no role should be awarded based on gender but only on merit and talent and that applies to all levels across the organisation.

That being said, to answer, we need to have more women leaders at leadership level and make them a part of decision making process, let me give an example. The manufacturing sector in India is predominantly male-driven. Leadership & Board has more men than women. Problems being discussed involve more of our male peers than female however the consumer is not only men or only women. In such a situation, the perspective that a woman brings to the table is often the differentiating factor between success and failure, between going with a staid approach, and going with one that is more future-focused.

Being hard-wired to be multi-taskers, women have the knack to respond to situations at hand, effectively and simultaneously.  It is therefore important that decisions taken that may impact them also have a well-rounded thought process. 

 What are your future goals? What initiative would you like to take as a responsible woman leader for the industry/society?

I strongly believe that two of the pillars of our society, our children and our elderly, deserve more love, more attention, and more time, something we are not always able to afford. While I work extensively in this space, to be in a place where I can make a difference to their lives and give back to society a lot more is what drives me, personally!

 As a communication leader, I would like to see myself work on a larger purpose for my brand and make it easier for others - industry and society - to see that value. 

How do you see the PR and the Corporate Communication industry shaping up in the years to come and what's your message to the future women leaders?

The world of communication and public relations has evolved from being one driven by earned media to one working on integrated platforms. In the new world of digital ecosystems, organisations should adapt themselves to ensure a blend of digital integration and storytelling to make maximum impact on the target audience.

This is an exciting time in the history of the world, and my one bit of advice to all future communication practitioners is that I’d want to ask them to stay focussed on understanding how the holistic media space works, not just limit one to story pitching, or press releases, or quotes in industry stories.

And one tip for my tribe, to the women leaders of tomorrow, would be to live a guilt-free life as a working woman and not overthink about the expectations that the society and you have riding on you. Think and act instead on the goals you have set out for yourself!