This is the question we posed to the women leaders: Can you share a defining moment in your early life that significantly boosted your confidence and motivated you to dream big?
Confidence is not something that most people are born with. A new born baby is pretty much helpless. One sees the first expression of confidence on the baby’s face when he/she takes the first walking step. And as the baby tries and accomplishes more things, confidence starts building up.
Is confidence building in professional life also a continuation of the same? Are there many defining moments in a person’s life where there is a confidence boost? Let us learn from some varied examples.
Difficulties Abroad
Paulomi Desai is Chief People Officer at Niwas Housing Finance. She went abroad to pursue a Master’s program, and she suddenly found herself overwhelmed by responsibilities. But she slowly gained some confidence with the help of friends. Surprisingly, she found herself exceling in spaces she never imagined, and this changed her whole perspective towards life. She began feeling that living alone outside her comfort zone gave her an addictive kind of confidence and energy. Paulomi exults: “This experience sparked a belief in myself that pushed me to dream bigger and set more ambitious professional goals, breaking barriers along the way.”
Going overseas was the turning point for Megha Garg too. She is Deputy Head L&H Global Valuation Team, Director/ SVP at Swiss Re. When she was 16, her family moved to London. Back in India, she had completed 11th grade, and was one year away from university. However, as per the British education system, she was 2 years away from university.
She narrates her story: “Within a week, I realized I could handle the entire 2-year A-level curriculum in one go for my chosen subjects. However, as no student had attempted this at the school before me, I had to convince the teachers and the Heads of Departments. I spoke to each teacher individually, shared my plans, and asked them to evaluate me on my own merits. It took some time, but eventually, they agreed. This experience was a turning point in my life. I realized the power of convincing others through logical reasoning, and it instilled a deep sense of confidence in me. The ability to make bold decisions and trust my capabilities has had a lasting impact on how I approach challenges, and it motivated me to believe in myself.”
Succeeding in convincing seniors gave a big boost of confidence to the 16-year old Megha.
Academic Struggles
Academics was where Abhishikta Chadda Munjal, CRO at IIFL Home Finance found her defining moment. She was struggling with commerce in Grade 11, and her confidence was at an all-time low. She narrates: “That’s when my father stepped in, becoming my rock and guiding light. He not only helped me understand the subject but also ensured that I regained my confidence and started liking the subject. With his guidance, I began to see the subject in a new light. My father’s influence went beyond academics. He instilled in me a growth mindset, encouraging me to take risks and chase my dreams. He gave me the freedom to spread my wings and fly, and I will forever be grateful for that. His unwavering support and motivation have been instrumental in shaping me into the person I am today.”
For Gita Daya, CIO at Bank Zero, the opportunity for confidence knocked on her door. When she was in standard 6 (or grade 8) in South Africa, her mom could not afford to keep her at school. She narrates: “I was devastated, but luckily for me, the school was offering an opportunity to write a few exams to win a scholarship for 1 single student. I lacked confidence at the time but I wrote the exams and won! I was so grateful to have the opportunity to continue studying at the school and my motivation skyrocketed from then onwards. I realized that I could create the future that I wanted and just continued to keep trying from then onwards.”
Academics offered Priya Prasad a confidence boosting opportunity. She is CHRO at Indostar Capital Finance. She did decently well at school with quite a few accolades coming her way. However, she hit a stumbling block in Class 8th Maths. She narrates: “Failing to clear this paper was a major setback for me and left me as a 13-years-old with a difficult question, how do I inform my parents? This didn’t deter me though; I pulled up my socks and in the next term I scored a perfect 100 in the same subject.
Subsequently I ranked first in school in class X. This reaffirmed that self-belief and confidence paired with hard-work and determination are the key to success. This taught me an important lesson that I can achieve whatever I aim for if I put my heart and mind to it.”
Health Challenges
For Aditi Mukherjee, Chief People Officer at NCDEX, it was the baby’s first step moment once again. She had a spinal injury which left her bedridden for a year as she watched her batchmates advancing toward their dreams. It was an incredibly test of her mental and physical endurance, and yet she refused to give up. She narrates: “My condition, took away almost 1.5 years of my youth, but after the tumultuous time, I slowly tried to get back to normalcy by initially taking up a flexible HR role, determined to cover up for the lost time, stay committed and to keep learning. When I look back, the real turning point came the day I stood up without any support – something that once seemed impossible. That moment was more than just a physical achievement; it was a signal that no challenge is insurmountable. This experience instilled an unshakable drive and a deep belief in resilience. It taught me that setbacks are not roadblocks but opportunities to rise stronger.”
Her early struggles became the foundation of her leadership journey where she pushed the boundaries.
Blessed by Fortune
For Kirti Gulaati, EVP – Branch & Affluent Banking at Yes Bank, the unexpected opportunity for a confidence boost came from outside. A pivotal point in her career occurred during the stint with Doordarshan, where her superiors recognized her potential and placed her in a 15-day internal training course. She narrates: “This experience greatly enhanced my communication abilities and provided me with the confidence to assume greater responsibilities. It was a pivotal period that influenced my career perspective and personal development, strengthening my conviction that chances arise for those ready to rise and face challenges.”
Fortune gave Kripa Krishnamoorthy SVP, Talent Strategy – Asia at Synchrony, a dose of confidence building. To her surprise, just 2 months out of being a post-graduate, she found herself as the HR Head for the startup arm of a leading Indian MNC. She took charge – designing policies, setting compensation by benchmarking against competitors, writing job descriptions, hiring regional heads, and even transforming our Delhi office from an empty shell into a fully functional workspace.
She narrates: “I owned it fully, simply because the CEO believed in me, and I had the guidance of his leadership team who supported me every step of the way. Since then, I have approached every role with a mindset that extended beyond its defined mandate – making it more strategic than originally envisioned, because I knew I could.” Anyone can grab a opportunity that comes their way. But to make it even bigger is something to learn from Kripa, and what she did became the source of her confidence.
Similar is the story for Lakshmi Prasanna Susarla, Executive Director at Wells Fargo. She managed an IPO of her first company, even though she never believed she was capable of handling such a big project. Success in that massive project gave her a significant boost to
her confidence.
A Journey, not a Step
Not everyone has a defining moment that give a shot of confidence. It builds up gradually for some. For Smitha Sudheendra, ED, Chief Operating Officer – Wealth Business, JM Financial, confidence started in school, continued in college and then, in a natural progression, at work. She says that confidence and courage has been an integral part of her life since her early days. She was always nominated as the class monitor in primary school, which continued through high school and college. She was leading in sports as well. At work, she quickly moved from individual sales to building and managing teams. This natural progression in leadership roles really shaped her confidence.
Likewise too for Poonam Tandon, Chief Investment Officer at IndiaFirst Life. In the 80s, she was more inclined for a career in the civil services, but then the government announced liberalization, which opened up new avenues in the corporate sector and that changed her career path. She narrates: “I decided to pursue an MBA. I graduated from one of the top business schools in India and worked in various prestigious organizations in the BFSI sector. The business school training and the seniors at work shaped my career and helped build confidence, apart from the support from my husband and rest of the family.”
The Bottom Line
What is clear is that confidence boost does not come in prepackaged ways. It can come from recovering from setback (health, exams) and its opposite (a big win – scholarship). It can be given as a big opportunity (Head HR 2 months after graduation, managing IPO) or a training course (that boosts communications skills). It can result from convincing superiors (logical reasoning) or moving abroad and living alone outside your comfort zone.
It is also clear that the type of response matters a lot, and here too there is a lot of variety. Some people work on it internally, some get external help. In either case, when success is achieved, it not only boosts confidence but also provides insights on how to succeed.
Confidence comes in so many ways that everyone has an opportunity to grab it and benefit from it. As seen from the stories of these women, confidence is not something that is learnt academically, it is learnt from the experiences of life.
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