Connecting with Sana Kapadia

How have relationships influenced your professional development and leadership style?

Over my career, cultivating and nurturing strong relationships with managers, peers, colleagues and mentors has played an important tole in my development and learning pathway. Earlier in my career this took the form of mentorship, being supported on deepening my understanding of key topics and application in the workplace as well as broader coaching. Some of my strongest work relationships are also built on deep friendships and I am lucky to have circles of friends and a broad network of partners from different workplaces over the years. Particularly for those of us working in social impact, impact investing, gender equality and broader social justice- relationships lie at the core of our work, so being multi-lingual in one’s leadership and being able to work across cultures and styles is an important skill to keep working on.

Do you have any tips for maintaining and building strong relationships?

A key value I live by is authenticity. This alongside empathy, has meant that I am able to connect and build deep relationships with colleagues, managers and across organizational levels. I also believe when we ground ourselves in our innate humanity and kindness, it enables us to relate to one another with more ease and openness. This authentic, kind approach as well as clear communication and staying in touch regularly, are tips to build and maintain strong relationships.

How have you intentionally built inclusiveness into your circles?

Inclusiveness is really important to me- in both my personal and professional lives. We are all multi-faceted beings and beautiful ideas, opportunities and connections emerge when we bring diverse actors together, particularly under a shared mission and impact. It’s also important to me circles feel safe, inclusive and welcoming for all- even when we don’t all agree, so we need to be able to hold space, create room for discussion and provide the right and fertile container.?

What community or communities are you proud to be a part of?

Grateful to be part of this amazing group of women all working in impact- across politics, investing, gender justice where we have a collective community of amazing Changemakers- we are feminists, doers, and collective impact amplifiers. Other groups I have been a part of are smaller ones across fellow impact entrepreneurs, female leadership circles and ones focused on gender finance. I love all these incredible communities as they are centered on building human connection, supporting each other in thriving, being there for the hard bit and to celebrate the good bits and more.

Who’s a Connector that's made a difference in your life?

Suzanne Biegel - our gender finance field’s Catalyst at Large. Suzanne is one of a kind and her leadership and spirit helped catalyse and advance the gender finance field - through her work at GenderSmart, the gender finance collaborative, as an investor herself and her endowment Heading for Change. Suzanne had an innate ability to convene people, help advance ideas and actions and I feel so lucky and privileged to have worked with her to advance the field of gender lens investing. Through Suzanne, I also met incredible women leaders like Lisa Witter (another super connector) and Susan McPherson (a beautiful soul and changemaker), who have been instrumental in my leadership and personal journey. Very grateful to be in this orbit and advance the mission of creating a more just and inclusive world for all.?

It's an honor to feature inspiring change-makers across industries who share their stories and words of wisdom about how to build meaningful relationships. Catch up on #CONNECTED with our previous guests, including Patrice Martin, Jen Fisher, Amy Nelson, and more!

Susan McPherson is a serial connector, seasoned communicator and founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy focused on the intersection of brands and social impact. She is the author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships.

Follow Susan on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram and order her new book, The Lost Art of Connecting, also available on Kindle and Audiobook.