Alumni Spotlight: How Thejaswini Kodavur has built the leadership skills to scale high-performing software development teams

Thejaswini Kodavur is a software development executive with a strong commitment to personal growth and innovation in her career.

She chose the INSEAD Leadership Programme for Senior Executives (ILPSE) – India to build her management skills and create a road map for the future. “While I knew that the programme was transformational, I did not expect the magnitude of it to be this significant,” she says. “The programme is very different from other conventional classroom training experiences.”

Kodavur recently transitioned from Oracle to a new position at Delphix, where she is applying the leadership skills and data analytics capabilities she acquired in ILPSE to recruit and build a high-performing team. “Learning the art of storytelling and the importance of leadership, communications and branding were all instrumental in scaling the team,” she says. “Knowledge of business analytics helped me course-correct our processes based on data.”

We got in touch with Kodavur to explore her career journey and the programme’s impact on it.

Tell us a bit about your educational background and career journey.

By education, I am an electronics and communications engineer who graduated from Visvesvaraya Technological University’s NMAMIT in 2008. At the time when I enrolled in ILPSE, I was a software development manager at Oracle. I was handling a team that developed complex core system-level technologies.

Growing up, I had a wonderful childhood. I would constantly keep myself busy with many different things that I am passionate about. Apart from being a technologist, I am a choreographer, a trained dancer, a fitness enthusiast, a traveller, a creative artist and a volleyball player. I have always loved coding and technology. With my determination to give the best at whatever I pursue, I was the highest scorer in all major milestones of my education. Currently, I am now also one of the finalists of Haute Monde Mrs. India Worldwide 2022, an international beauty pageant.

This passion has continued in my career, where I have worked to implement innovative tech solutions and have taken on many challenges that were not expected of me. When I was looking at enhancing my leadership skills through formal education, my career at Oracle was on the fast track and I was one of the youngest women in a leadership role.

Could you tell us about your current role and how your ILPSE experience is shaping your work?

After spending more than eight years at Oracle, I moved to Delphix in 2020, where I am a senior software engineering manager.

The amount of exposure that I got from the initial modules of the programme and the interaction with my cohort ignited a spark in me to take up more challenging roles and get hands-on experience with various aspects of the business. Coincidently, at the same time, Delphix was setting up its R&D center in India and it was just the right opportunity for me to experience the journey of organic growth in a start-up environment.

The initial modules of ILPSE held at INSEAD helped me gain clarity on my ultimate goal and how I can reach it through the right decisions. The information shared by the best professors in the world on storytelling, leadership, negotiation, corporate entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, the science behind networking and building high-performing teams have immensely helped me achieve my workplace goals.

Unlike the challenges in a large organisation, challenges in a start-up are very different. The initial step was to set up a solid foundation, recruit the best people and mentor them. Professor Allan Filipowicz’s classes on the five tools to build high-performing teams have helped me immensely here. From providing psychological safety to the importance of having a devil's advocate while building a team, all of it helped me in successfully structuring my team.

Understanding the organisational structure and the science of networking helped me manage my stakeholders within the organisation and adapt to the organisation's culture. The next step was to scale the team. Delphix was well established in the United States, but in India it was very new.

Influencing people to join Delphix was an interesting challenge. Again, the art of storytelling and the importance of leadership, communications and branding were all instrumental in scaling the team. Knowledge of business analytics helped me course-correct our processes based on data. The programme included a session on organisational design and the concepts discussed here were useful for managing the team remotely during the pandemic.

Overall, the programme has transformed my perspective and personality in such a way that I am able to thoughtfully handle every challenge that comes my way and provide positive results.

How has the programme met your expectations and requirements so far?

The programme has far exceeded my expectations. While I knew that the programme was transformational, I did not expect this level of transformation. It is very different from other conventional classroom training experiences. It transforms an individual at three levels.

The first level is one's inner self. Here, each executive gets to understand his or her subconscious mind, which is a huge revelation. You find answers to questions like: How have your decisions shaped your life? What is your ultimate goal? What needs to change to reach your goals? Exploring these themes involves deep introspection.

Once this leadership agenda was set, the next level was focused on how to influence people around you – your team, family or stakeholders. And, in the last level, we explored the different engines of business, such as strategy, marketing and finance. ILPSE is a beautifully designed programme for the development of a well-rounded executive.

Which modules of the programme were the most beneficial for you? What aspects of the programme have contributed the most to your career and why?

The most beneficial modules were Beneath the Surface, Emotions and Emotional Intelligence, Strategic Thinking with Game Theory and Business Model Innovation.

Beneath the Surface helped me understand my behaviours, become aware of the belief system that guided my decisions and how these decisions have shaped my life. This was very valuable because I could figure out the gaps in my thinking and redefine my thought process.

As we grow up the ladder with increased responsibilities and expectations, there comes immense stress. The classes on Emotions and Emotional Intelligence gave an understanding of how emotions can trigger results and how one needs to be accurate with emotions for mental well-being. Game Theory was the most interesting class. It gave powerful insights into when and how to make beneficial moves in critical conditions. The game is built on trust and it explores what happens when that breaks and the resulting impact.

Finally, Business Model Innovation provided eye-opening insights on how implementing existing ideas in new ways can capture an uncontested marketplace.

The different perspectives shared by the peer group during these sessions was extraordinary. You benefit from understanding solutions from people coming from many different industries. The peer group is selected with the highest standards in mind and it was intellectually refreshing to interact with such high achievers.

How has your interaction been with peers and guest speakers?

Interaction with my peer group and the faculty has been very deep. We have built a lifelong bond and have become each other's ‘3:00 am friends’. This is a concept from INSEAD. These are friends who will be available to help you in a crisis even at 3:00 am in the morning.

Guest speakers such as Sanjay Prabhakaran and KV Rao shared their learnings from their immense experiences. Rao inspired us with his leadership story on how he took up challenges in remote locations where hope for transforming business was minimal and how he turned it around. Prabhakaran’s insights on how to achieve financial independence, how to manage cross-cultural teams and how sometimes it's good to take a slingshot in one's career were very valuable.

The personal coaching was a great experience. The coaches are at the CXO level and they work closely with you to figure out the steps you need to take to have an amazing career.

What advice would you give others considering ILPSE?

I would suggest that if you are looking for a powerhouse of transformational knowledge and a programme that would guide you for a lifetime, wherever you are and in whatever profession you are, ILPSE is the best. With an amazing alumni network and comprehensive content, the programme will open your mind.

ILPSE combines the creativity of entrepreneurship with the functional strength of business management. This comprehensive one-year, part-time general management and leadership programme features experiential learning, world-class faculty and peers, immersions across INSEAD’s global campuses and tailored career support.

Find out more information about ILPSE by visiting our programme home page.