From being the “errand” person at her first job as analyst to heading global investment bank Moelis & Company in India and securing her place on almost all global business power women lists, Manisha Girotra has climbed the success ladder steadily. In the city to speak at a panel discussion on “Redefining Success As A Woman of Today”, organised by the Ladies Study Group on June 29 at The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat, Manisha spoke about aiming for the sky in the male bastion of investment banking with t2. Excerpts:
Banking is one area where women are fast moving up the career ladder. What do you think has changed for women in this field?
What’s changed in banking is that it’s a services business and a lot of it exists in the big cities, especially the international banks that are in Mumbai, Delhi and the bigger towns and cities, where the safety quotient is higher. Manufacturing takes you to smaller towns where people hesitate to send their daughters and women themselves hesitate to go. Financial services also want to attract women because the business caters to women too. Therefore they made a conscious effort to attract women and then to retain them — whether it were creches or stay at home after maternity leave of six months or flexible hours, work out of home, digitising the work, five-day weeks.... All these have now come in.
How was it when you started out?
I think I was born to a generation of non-working mums who were very aspirational for their daughters, so we were very different, tried to be very conformist, tried to say that we belonged to the boys’ club. But I think that doesn’t have to be the case anymore. Girls can be very proud of the fact that they are girls and they’re different and organisations want to attract female talent.
What kind of hurdles did you face?
When I started off, there was poor acceptance and people wouldn’t even shake my hand or make eye contact — it was 25-26 years ago in an all-male boardroom. So even if I spoke, they would look at the man in the team. I think they were just uncomfortable as it was threatening their paradigm. At that point, there were still women in journalism and government, but you weren’t used to seeing women in banking, discussing mergers, acquisitions, balance sheets and cash flows. When I used to go back home feeling bad, my father would say, ‘Don’t forget that it’s a paradigm shift for them too and they don’t know how to handle you either.’ So it just needed tenacity to keep going and keep proving yourself, and over time people started accepting me.
It must’ve been a huge challenge?
Yeah. People would keep asking me when I was getting married and having a kid. A lot of trivialisation, not being taken seriously, not being heard, not being seen and not being noticed. When I started off as an analyst, I was the errand person, fetching coffee and pizza because people thought why waste energy training a girl because she will leave at some point. Many times when clients needed a mandate, people would tell me that I shouldn’t go to a smaller town and I would be like, ‘Why? I’ll be careful and I know how to look after myself.’ You just have to grab the opportunities and show that you can do it. The onus, I think, was on myself. When I started there wasn’t a lot of desire to attract and retain female talent. It was your hunger and passion that took you through.
What is your advice for women aiming for the top job in a company?
First is passion — you must like what you do and if you don’t like it, chuck it because it’s not worth it. Be resilient and have a I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude. Don’t have to get bogged down every time someone makes a judgemental comment or trivialises or objectifies you. I am not saying condone it but do also realise that at some level, the individual is also going through a paradigm shift. So hang in there, show tenacity.
Today, organisations are very alert about gender discrimination or harassment happening, so alert your employers. Hang in there and be the agent of change. All of your generation must be the agents of change and lead the way because ours did what they could and ours didn’t have this nice canvas that you, hopefully, have. So just do what you love and show resilience and passion and then the world will be yours. You’re much smarter than the guys anyway!
How has the banking industry changed in terms of gender sensitisation?
Gender diversity has increased and so has the awarenss and understanding that you don’t just make “cool” or sexist comments about women. You’re not just increasing the awareness of women, gender diversity groups also have men in it because it’s important to educate men. Most of our men come with patriarchal and feudal mindsets and are treated as superiors and so they don’t even know when they’re doing something wrong. They need to be made aware that a female colleague is not an object but a colleague and she will stay and she needs to be heard and given an equal seat at the table.
How do you juggle work and home?
That’s a challenge always. My daughter (Tara, 15) is older now but when she was younger, it was hard. My parents and in-laws live in Delhi and I work out of Mumbai. But you just have to solicit help and show that you can’t do everything. You are not a multi-juggler and have to reach out for help. I think a supportive spouse is the most important thing; your spouse has to understand and respect your career. Outsource help from neighbours and friends and at some point, your child will also develop a passion for your job. My daughter has a lot of pride in what I do. In fact, she’s in the US right now and I just told her, ‘I lost three big pieces of business.’ And she was like, ‘What is wrong with you? I left you there to get it right!’ And I was like, ‘Ugh! Okay! You left me here?’ So yes, kids build their own sense of pride and ownership on your career because they feel that that makes you more complete.
Your word of advice for women prepping to get into banking?
There will be very little flexibility initially because when you start off as an analyst and an associate, you have to prove yourself. But if you like it, just stay with the grind because it gets remarkably better. The good thing about the job is that after four-five years, it gets easier.
Where do you think working women stand in society now?
A long way to go as there’s no point in painting a rosy picture. It’s a challenge. The onus is on us to push harder. In India, it’s a feudal mindset and I think families need to change that. It’s okay if you want to bring up your girls like boys but you need to bring up your boys like girls too. It’s okay for men to change diapers and cook and clean. That mindset is needed.
Look at the girls today! They are out today, pushing for change and to be the change. But they are getting pulled down by who? Classically, there is always a male — a father-in-law or husband. I think what needs to change and is not changing fast enough is the mindset at home. I really want that to change.
Text: Anannya Sarkar
