Paying It Forward
CEO India|June 2019

Debarati Sen, the newly-appointed Global Vice President of 3M Abrasives Systems and non-Executive Director, 3M India, speaks with Priyanca Vaishnav about how she became a personal safety champion, the values that define her, and her collaboration- and diversity-led career trajectory.

Priyanca Vaishnav
Paying It Forward

As a woman out to seek women role models for herself and for other women alike, one stops defining success by mere turnover numbers and designations. However, as Debarati Sen, who took over as Global Vice President, 3M Abrasives Systems and non-Executive Director, 3M India this month (after her 3-year stint as MD of 3M India), puts it, “Talent at all levels needs to look up and recognize role models.” Passionate about the cause of single mothers making roaring successes of their careers and selves, in just short of an hour-long conversation over tea in a hotel conference room overlooking Mumbai’s most iconic landmark, Sen straightens things out on the equality front: as one of the two daughters who both grew up to be influential and aggressive successes in their career paths (Sen’s sister is a successful geriatrician in the United Kingdom), blending in yet not standing shortchanges seems to be her mantra.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

The second daughter (absolutely by design, Sen clarifies, “My parents wanted daughters and had daughters”) in an educated middle-class household, Sen recalls, “Back in the day, when parents had daughters and no sons, no matter where you went — and I remember this vividly from when I was four years old — people would say ‘you have two daughters but no son,’ and they would grab my mother’s hand and start performing a Sankalpa with mutterings of shata putra vati… and so on. The little me would understand that that was to have a boy child, and I would retrieve my mother’s hand back in a snap and tell the priest there’s no need in Bengali. That’s what I started my life with.”

This story is from the June 2019 edition of CEO India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the June 2019 edition of CEO India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CEO INDIAView All
CEO India

Five Ways To Win The Consumer Of 2030, Now

To win the data and technology-enabled “smart consumer” of tomorrow, discover the five things every consumer-facing business must do right now

time-read
7 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

TWENTY FOR ‘20

WILL THE NEW DECADE BE AS TRANSFORMATIVE AS THE LAST? EY EXAMINES THE QUESTIONS THAT WILL SHAPE THE NEXT DECADE

time-read
9 mins  |
February 2020
ROBOTS ON THE MOVE
CEO India

ROBOTS ON THE MOVE

THE MARKET FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE ROBOTS IS POISED TO TAKE OFF WITH A VENGEANCE, FUELED BY NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN 5G TELECOM SERVICES AND AI CHIPS

time-read
9 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

POST-DIGITAL CULTURE SHOCK

COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD ARE FOCUSING ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, BUT MANY ARE OVERLOOKING THE CULTURE CHANGE NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS

time-read
5 mins  |
February 2020
FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL
CEO India

FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL

Winning sales organisations excel at these five essential capabilities

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2020
Shooting for the Stars
CEO India

Shooting for the Stars

MANFRED BAUMANN SHARES HIS INSIGHTS INTO PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITURE

time-read
4 mins  |
February 2020
FLYING WHILE BLIND
CEO India

FLYING WHILE BLIND

I AM NOT ONLY AN EXPERIENCED TRAVELER; I AM AN EXPERIENCED BLIND PERSON…

time-read
5 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

THE ALCHEMIST OF HOSPITALITY

Puneet Chhatwal, the CEO and MD of Tata Group’s hospitality arm Indian Hotels Company, talks about how his company is reimagining and repositioning some of its most renowned brands, raising the hospitality bar, with an eye on the evolving customer and emerging concepts and trends

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

Robots Can Go All The Way To Mars, But They Can't Pick Up The Groceries?

In the popular imagination, robots have been portrayed alternatively as friendly companions or existential threat. But while robots are becoming commonplace in many industries, they are neither C-3PO nor the Terminator. Cambridge researchers are studying the interaction between robots and humans – and teaching them how to do the very difficult things that we find easy.

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2020
How To Create A Growth Mindset?
CEO India

How To Create A Growth Mindset?

A growth-oriented mindset must be cultivated among the employees for business growth and sustenance. It requires a good understanding of people and what drives them

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2020