At BrilliantRead Media, it is our constant endeavour to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this, we invited Deepa Mahesh for an exclusive interview with us. She is a Leadership Development Facilitator and Coach (ICF-PCC), TEDx Speaker and an Influencer. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, background and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Deepa:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
Passionate about communicating with people was the start point of my journey in the Human Resources (HR) function. Little did I know that communication would take a deeper meaning and turn into deep listening both as an HR Leader and thereafter as a Leadership Development Facilitator and Coach.
As an HR Leader, I was fortunate to be the “opening batsman”, having the opportunity to set up multiple functions, namely, recruitment, employee engagement, training and development, talent development young talent management and finally organization development. This also led me to discover my core purpose in everything I do, which is, “Enabling deep transformation in individuals, teams and organization”
To deepen my purpose, the HR leader in me turned into a Leadership Consultant offering art-based leadership and team workshops to organizations and offering Expressive Arts therapy to individuals. Thus began my second innings. They say when the purpose is clear, multiple paths open up, and one of the paths that opened up was Leadership Coaching. I deepened my expertise in this craft to be credentialed as an ICF(PCC) coach.
My certifications have always come to me as a result of my inquiry into a life question that I have held, only later realizing that what I was searching is others search too. So now, I am in a position to service their needs, be it the individual, team, or organization needs.
How did you discover your passion?
My role in Young talent management gave me a peak into my passion for the first time. when I interviewed students for a position in my organization, I used to give every single student feedback on what they could have done differently. This came naturally and joyously to me.
This sowed the seeds of self-awareness, discovery for many (which they told me much later). Thereafter, I realized that whichever roles offered me the opportunity to connect with employees – to understand their thoughts and emotions and do something to shift their current state, I felt fulfilled. Today, I do this 100 percent of my time.
Despite the challenges, what keeps you going when things get tough?
Self-awareness is the single and all-encompassing tool that keeps me going at all times.
Every time I feel challenged or stuck, I use this principle to unstuck myself:
I – Inquire what is currently happening
A – Acknowledge my current state – emotions, thoughts, body sensations, feelings
C – Challenge myself compassionately and ask myself “What is my intention for myself?”
A – Act courageously to manifest that intention and shift my current state
This is an inside-out process and almost always works for me because I am in control of my thoughts and feelings and not dependent on anyone else to make the changes.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned in your life?
Authenticity – being genuine and authentic is a journey but once reached, it makes me closer to my ideal self, makes me sleep well and enables me to build authentic relationships.
Confusions bring clarity – Confusions in life are a doorway to clarity if one is conscious. So welcome confusions and consciously seek clarity.
Live rhythmic – To achieve success, you can do it without any discipline or rhythms but to sustain the success and balance it, you need to have certain principles and live holistically and focus on slowing down to speeding up.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Success is when your potential equals to performance. I see a lot of successful leaders (in the eyes of others) express that they feel their potential is not utilized, they don’t feel successful.
This happens because they experience many interferences, which are invisible and which leak their energy. These invisible interferences are in the form of irrational and limiting thoughts and beliefs, unregulated emotions, not feeling energetic in their body, unclear on their purpose or values and lack of discipline in living life.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
– Firstly, bring consciousness to your vocational choices. At the age of 16 or 17 years, pause and see what subjects do I enjoy, what makes me want to study? If required, take help from a career counsellor. You will be successful if those subjects form part of your career. Stop doing anything because others told you to do.
– Align your career with your core values and interests.
– Look at your work not as a job but as a career that you are committing to pursue because you want to be a master at it. A master will always have a flourishing life, it’s a pull strategy, not a push one.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
My whole life, including the struggles and triumphs, is satisfying. It taught me lessons which no course could have taught because I cared to listen to the underlying truth behind the struggles.
I realized that what I need for myself in my journey is a “Transformation of limitations and self-doubt” and in that journey, I began enabling so many other leaders. I hated structure but realized that living rhythmically is the way I can master my life and that is also something I share with my clients and others.
Living a life of meaning and purpose is all I care about and enabling transformation in individuals, team and organizations is my purpose, passion and commitment. I love this clarity and focused pursuit.
Work and life are not separate, I had to bring changes in the way I relate in my relationships and especially with my kids and that has been a transformational journey in itself.
“Lived to make a difference to humankind” is what my tombstone would read and I am creating that every moment now and I feel fulfilled about that. I live joyously, fulfilled and purposeful because I live conscious, by choice and holistic.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
