At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the start-up ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur Shweta Shalini for an exclusive interview with us. Shweta is a Business Leader, Politician (BJP), Spokesperson, Keynote Speaker, Advisor, Mentor, Seasoned Entrepreneur and Change Enabler. She is the Founder of Fortune Cookie UX Design. Let’s learn more about her inspirational journey and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Shweta:
We are aware of your contribution to the startup ecosystem; talk us through your background and your journey, please.
I am an army officer’s daughter who was born in Bihar and completed my education in 9 different schools in 7 different states of India. The early exposure I think enabled me in having a broader horizon and world view.
Combined with a discipline and risk-taking ability typical of an Army background, I took up Mechanical Engineering which was an unusual choice for a female after which I completed by MBA from Symbiosis, Pune. My first jobs were at a Swedish MNC where I was the first female employee. I was the first in my family to start a business.
As a first-generation entrepreneur, I succeeded beyond imagination before entering the political arena. Am the first one in my family to enter politics. In short, my journey has been unique and a lot of firsts in a number of arenas made me unique in every endeavour and stands out from the crowd.”
How did you discover your passion?
I am passionate about everything I do. However, I believe that purpose and not passion alone has been the driving force in my political forays. I realised that in India a lot of people want change. However, seeking change without acting on it won’t take us anywhere.
I figured out my purpose was to bring change and chose to be part of the political system as a participant than as a distant spectator. I observe that many Indians literally don’t even move a finger and choose to stay home even during election days yet blame the system.”
In my case, it’s about the passion for the country translated into political and social activism. I am sure the same passion of patriotism lies latent in every Indian. In my case as an Army officers daughter, it’s just that I choose to do something about it.
With so much going on, how do you start the day to keep your passion alive?
I keep a journal of my to-do list and it’s usually growing at a pace difficult to keep pace with on. It’s my way of keeping myself on my toes and reminding me that I have a lot of potential still waiting to be executed.
I have found that energy levels for the task at hand is directly proportional to the importance and interest levels one ascribes to it. I ensure to take up the most interesting tasks and the nature of my work as a leader automatically brings important tasks on my table.
How leadership qualities can help with your career or business growth?
Leadership is essential for career and business growth. A leader can create a disproportionate positive impact or inflict a lot of damage to the organisation if he goofs up. Leadership is about being competent to lead towards the common goal and not everyone has the combination of vision, skillsets, communication abilities and drive to take the team towards desired outcomes.
A vision is useless unless backed by ability or talent. Ability or Talent can be hired but leadership to back the talent still needs to be cultivated. Interpersonal skills can be cultivated but managing conflicting viewpoints require maturity of mind. Prioritising tasks can be done but prioritising people for preferred roles is a harder decision.”
Leadership is about getting the best for the organisation. Career growth is closely correlated with leadership abilities as leaders bring more value to the organisation than individuals. In larger organizations, even being a leader isn’t good enough. Being able to create fellow leaders is the true test. An MNC functioning in hundreds of countries can’t do with just a single leader. It needs leaders who can create and lead other leaders.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
I believe there are 5 keys to success:
Firstly, understanding our purpose and goals is a major step towards being on the path of success.
Secondly, it’s important to yearn to be the best version of yourself and give your best in everything you do.
The third is to stick to your core competencies.
The fourth key is putting in the hard work required to get the work done.
Lastly, success is about working smarter and placing yourself uniquely in the marketplace of ideas and actions.
We know that you are continuously engaged in helping others achieve their goals. Why do you do that?
Helping others achieve their goals is an important step in achieving one’s own goals.
Unless your goal is to go hide in a cave and write a stunning philosophical treatise to change the world, your goals are connected to everyone else. Even then, the philosopher has to be privy to what others before him have stated on the subject.”
Same for even scientific breakthroughs in a solitary lab. The scientist may seem alone in his discovery but he owes it to hundreds and millions of scientists in history who discovered things which enabled him to come up with new breakthroughs. In Business or Politics, the best way to help oneself is to help others. Of course, selective help is required just like a Scientist may rely upon a particular theory of earlier scientists and not all the theories of all scientists.
What about your journey? What makes it satisfying/exciting?
A special privilege of being a leader is the freedom which comes with it. My journey is exciting because I have the freedom to choose and exercise it for things which make me happy.
A leader can choose what seems best and a good leader is one with the right judgement. Whether it’s a CEO launching a new product in the market or a leader coming up with a new policy, choices are what leaders make all the time. My journey has been exciting because my freedom as a politician in choosing what is best for my country applies to all facets of my life.
Having said that, I feel I have just started out and the journey is still a long way to go. I hope to make an impact for my State of Maharashtra and my country by exercising the privilege which political leadership brings to me.”
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.
