Women tackle challenges better: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the ‘Queen of Biotech’ reveals how being a woman has actually helped her remain on top.

She regularly features in world’s top power lists and then makes it to the best philanthropists’ lists as well. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw takes that lightly- she has after all, a USD1 billion dollar company to take care of, apart from collecting exclusive art works, addressing global entrepreneurs, researching for newer drugs and at the same time going out for dinner with husband John Shaw, her partner in Biocon International- India`s first biotechnology company.

In an exclusive conversation with Smita Mishra of Spicezee.com Shaw, the ‘Queen on Biotech’ reveals that being a woman has actually helped her remain on top and that women just need to be themselves to succeed in life. Excerpts: Yours has been an exciting journey filled with ups and downs. Are you satisfied with what you have achieved? My journey has been challenging. But I am satisfied that I have achieved a lot of objectives. There are many more milestones to cross before I can truly say that I feel completely satisfied, though. I faced the challenge of incredibility when I began- I was a young woman when I started out. People did not even know what Biotechnology was, let alone realize its potential. I faced problems of financing as no institution was ready to back my venture in 1970s. I had to start from my garage with only Rs 10,000 as investment. You are India’s Biotech pioneer, but you could also have been India’s first brew master… (Smiles) Indeed, I wanted to be a coffee brew master, but I was rejected as I was a woman and women had not entered the field yet. That led me to think of my own business. But I couldn’t even recruit people as I was a risky proposition because of my gender and age. There were just so many challenges, but it is the spirit of winning over them that kept me going. I rejected the idea that women couldn’t do tough business. And today you are the richest woman in India and this Friday you were included in Forbes top philanthropist list, which is only one among the many power lists that you figure in… But to me power is not personal. It is about being able to speak your mind and bring about a change. When you have that opportunity, then you should interact with stakeholders like policy makers, policy beneficiaries, academics, scientists (as in my field) etc. and encourage them to bring about new ideas. Power is about empowering others. You are on top but women are still largely under-represented in the corporate sector. Why? This comes from the fact that in India it is the society which plays a crucial role in deciding a woman’s career. Whether she will work after marriage or not, whether she will be encourage to utilize her education fully or not. But this is a global problem- women face glass ceilings everywhere. Family support, determination and a confidence in abilities will help remove this inequity. Look at me! Does being a woman CEO help better manage things- are all those theories true? I don’t think so. The problems that we face in any business are gender neutral. Same goes for business leadership. I think a lot depends on the individual entrepreneur. Both men and women face equally daunting tasks and each person deals with them in their own way. You are an extremely busy woman- how do you manage your home and office? Whether it is women or men, balancing work-life is a challenge that all of us in business face. It is difficult no doubt for me to spare enough time for my family because there are just so many things to do related to my work. My husband and family give me a lot of support and it couldn’t have been possible without that. It is tougher for women no doubt as they have a particular role in the Indian family- they are the home makers. But women have this natural ability to balance and manage things deftly. What is your message to fellow career women? It is very important to remember that you have it in you to do it! Do not think too much about work-life balance; just go with the flow. You need also to accept a few things in life for mental peace as that will help you focus on that which matters. Don’t be preferential in your approach. Acknowledge that you are smarter and good at managing things and just do exactly that.