Sweet Sixteen in Twenty Twenty Four

Sixteen - That's the number of workshops on Networking I was invited to conduct in 2024! People call me Networking queen and I do say that "Networking" is my signature workshop, but I was pleasantly surprised with the number of invites and requests to conduct this session. HerKey , Microsoft Azure , Yamaha Motor Solutions India , Polaris India Pvt. Ltd , Greening of Finance by Women (GroW) , AstraZeneca India , 亿滋食品 , Dun & Bradstreet India , ServiceNow , AnitaB.org India - Thank you for the opportunity to break some myths about Networking and get the participants to make this part of their everyday life!

Networking helps build one's Personal brand. A well-established personal brand increases credibility and trust. I am glad that I got to discuss this aspect also along with Networking with some of the cohorts.

One of the most important leadership traits is "Influencing Without Authority". Quoting Lalit Ahuja at the 3AI GCC X summit - "Influencing without authority is the key leadership attribute that I would look for in a potential leader who would lead future GCCs being established in our country"! And one builds influence only with networks! I enjoyed the interactive sessions that I conducted for Multiples Alternate Asset Management and PwC Acceleration Centres on this topic.

A few other workshops that I conducted last year were on Managing Impostor Syndrome, Navigating Change, Mindsets of Women and Male Allyship, A winning Mindset. These workshops provided a safe space for the attendees to reflect, discuss, network and learn. Thank you Jan Sahas , Confederation of Indian Industry #IWN, Myntra , STL - Sterlite Technologies Limited for the opportunities to interact with the cohorts!

Panel discussions are an engaging and dynamic way to explore different perspectives and dig deeper into new ideas. This year, I had the opportunity to moderate a few interesting panels

1. Book launch of "Delicate Darlings" authored by Dr Lakshmipradha
2. Launch of SmartEES Club - "How to gain employment and stay employable during the AI Era”
3. nasscom Global Inclusion Summit's panel on Generational Diversity
4. Trane Technologies and Society of Women Engineers in India 's Sustainability Summit - "Sustainable practices in Engineering Industry"

I also enjoyed the fireside chats organised by Aspire For Her - a Powertalk about Mentorship and AnitaB.org India 's "Penalties and Offsetting Motherhood-Based Biases" at the Grace Hopper Celebration India 2024.

As a Keynote Speaker, I hold the responsibility to set a vision, create awareness, build motivation, enable transformation, and facilitate change. This year, started with a Keynote address at Burns & McDonnell India where they relaunched the Mumbai chapter of Society of Women Engineers in India ! "Building a BRAND that's YOU" was the topic - another topic that I am often asked to speak about. I spoke about the same topic at the Women in Product Summit organised by Institute of Product Leadership and Product Leaders Forum !

International Women's Day brought opportunities to deliver talks at 霍尼韦尔 , Saviynt , Lam Research , LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) , H&M on the theme of "Inspire Inclusion". MSME & Startups Forum - Bharat invited me to their Women's day celebration and Business Summit as the Guest of Honour. Duke Corporate Education invited me to deliver a Keynote address at their Women In Leadership program organised for their cohort of Top Women Executive Leaders from South Africa. I was also honoured to be invited for Google's WiNS Summit to talk about "Breaking Barriers - Changing Mindsets"! Tech Write Pro invited me to deliver a Keynote address at their Spicy Docs Conference!

Here is one testimonial from the innumerable testimonials that I have received from the participants of these sessions -

Thank you for your time and sharing your experience.This touched many hearts, not just the women. Infact a few came directly to me saying they were able to relate to many things and asked about you. Thank you once again for all your efforts and making the session audience focused. We all loved the talk.

Leadership expertise differs at every stage of one's career. It's well known that aspects that helped one grow in the early stages of their career may not necessarily help them grow in later stages of the career. Hence, it's important to reflect, refresh and relearn. These interventions, also called Leadership Journeys help leaders move forward and faster. I had the opportunity to conduct this for 2 cohorts of women leaders. Through self-reflections, and workshops that enabled group discussions, case studies, role plays, games, presentations and coaching, it was heartening to hear the participants speak about the mindset shifts that they were having and the commitment to the actions they wished to take. How does one know whether there is a transformational shift? Here is one of the participants' sharing

I wanted to express my gratitude for the remarkable impact I have experienced after participating in the leadership program. I am already actively incorporating the great learnings and genuinely feel it is empowering me in so many ways at work and home

People always ask me how I decided to take the leap from the gorgeous corporate career that I had for 25 years to do the variety of activities that I now do! And I have to attribute it to that moment at the conference organised for Women who had taken a Career Break and were looking to restart their careers. It was then that I decided that even if I could help one woman restart her career, I would be happy. I am glad that this year, I had the opportunity to conduct a series of workshops for a cohort of women who had restarted their career in this organisation. Work Life Integration, Networking and Building Emotional Resilience were the topics that I conducted sessions on over a 3 month period when they were also integrating back into their corporate life! Will I do these sessions again? Of course! When this is the kind of feedback that comes my way from one of the participants -

I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for the incredible sessions on networking, work-life integration, and building emotional resilience. Your unique approach to navigating different facets of life, along with the insights and lessons you’ve shared, has had a profound impact on how I tackle life’s challenges. I’m truly grateful for that. I’ve been excited and eager to attend each of your sessions, largely because of your engaging methods and the thoughtful, practical examples you provide. The way you communicate is truly admirable. The way you aim to shift women’s perspectives on certain issues through the use of personal stories is truly remarkable. Thank you so much for leading these sessions. I’m very much looking forward to attending more of your sessions, as your guidance continues to ignite my curiosity and drive for personal & professional growth.

Mentoring has been a part and parcel of my life! Be it informal conversations with people over coffee, over a WhatsApp chat, or more formal Mentoring engagements. Glad that I got the opportunity to anchor the Speed Mentoring Track at BAGGGEL Foundation- Creating Balanced World 's "Being CEO Ready" conference.

This year, I had the joy of having coaching conversations with many people. Coaching conversations are not one off conversations. For any transformation to be achieved, there has to be continous interaction with the coachee implementing the actions that they commit to. The topics for these conversations were varied - be it feeling stagnant in their careers, wanting to move to other roles outside their organisation, or enhancing their executive communication skills - these coaching conversations enabled the coachees to self-reflect, find capabilities within themselves and reach their objectives.

A year of collaborations with Aspire For Her , Physis , SalesWomentoring , 1HR.market , Diversity Simplified , Kavitha Garla , Samridhi Dhar (She/Her) , Sama, Growth Collective - Collaboration is the way to maximise opportunities and impact! Thank you all!

The best collaboration till date has been what people call the Mother-Daughter Duo. Sneha Ganesh and I had the opportunity to have a Coffee Chat on the occasion of National Parents Day hosted by EldersIndia . We also had a great time delivering the talk on "Entrepreneurship and Innovation" at Mody University ! It was also a great privilege for both of us to deliver a talk on "Unconscious Bias" for the Hope Citizens from HopeWorks Foundation .

This year I was also featured by Education View India and She Business Time magazines. Titled "From IT Powerhouse to Gender Diversity Champion: The Transformative Journey of Neeraja Ganesh", this feature shared my views about Equality and Equity. It was a privilege to be featured as one of the Most Iconic Leaders Inspiring the Youth in 2024 by Education View India.

Every year, I get invited to share my thoughts and experiences on a variety of Podcasts. This year was no different and the variety of platforms and themes that I spoke on, was really interesting.

2024 was also a year of Awards. I was recognised with the WEFT Woman Leadership Award on the occasion of National Girl Child Day organised by Brahma Kumaris ! I also received The Top 10 Global Corporate Mentoring Excellence AWARD hosted by HR SUCCESS TALK? !

And signing off the year with my tagline "Passionate to bring about a positive mindset shift among women and students with every interaction that I have with them". The Thinkers360 Top Voice 2024 recognition is a prestigious recognition that celebrates the outstanding contributions of thought leaders within the Thinkers360 community. This award honors academics, advisors, analysts, authors, consultants, executives, influencers, and speakers who have made remarkable strides in shaping the collective knowledge and fostering meaningful connections. Glad that I have been able to do this in 2024 too like the previous years and looking forward to creating more impact in 2025!