Session Title
The Future Belongs to the Inclusive Leader: Learn how to be One
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront that organizations have to constantly innovate to maintain their business edge. For Leaders, this puts them firmly in the driving seat, steering organizations with teams that are faced with unpredictability. The Inclusive Leader is the answer to much of the ambiguity that is hitting the world and their approach will be more sustainable and strategic rather than compliance driven. The Great Resignation is just the tip of the iceberg of shifting demographics, the inclusive leader can create loyalists and stem attrition. Future-ready inclusive leaders will have heightened self-awareness, be approachable and seek innovation, simplicity, and speed in what they do.
Bio
Geetha Kannan is a versatile entrepreneurial leader and a pioneer for the Women in IT movement in India. With over 30 years of global experience spanning business, technology and people, her focus has always been to raise the bar, build teamwork and drive far-reaching impact. Geetha credits much of her progress to learning, opportunities and a supportive environment, and is compelled to make this a norm for all women in tech. Geetha's vision is to holistically provide high quality, integrated and accessible resources to expand equality of outcomes for women and their network supporters in technology.
Through her career Geetha has taken on growth and change roles in the corporate and non-profit sector – covering business strategy, operations, sales, marketing, HR, sustainability, diversity and inclusion. She held senior leadership positions with Infosys and ANZ where she powered these companies with technology interventions, innovative practices and leadership development. With her entrepreneurship gene fuelled, in 2013 Geetha moved to head AnitaB.org in India and grew the enterprise manifold in 6 years from 500 to 5500+ coverage of WIT, 10 to 400+ tech organizations participating, and single city to pan India impact for the women's movement in the country. She also elevated women entrepreneurs by developing the WEQ program and built partnership with the Govt. of India (Department of Science & Technology) to provide experiential learning in Silicon Valley.
Geetha's work on equity for women started back in 2006, where she envisioned and implemented the early stage women-enabling policies and the first ever Women in Tech conference with the sponsorship of Infosys. She then helped move these initiatives to NASSCOM for broader reach, and continued to be actively involved extending her associations to SHRM and CII to further the cause of gender inclusion in the tech industry. Geetha's thought leadership can be experienced through her insightful articles and engaging talks, plus she has been on the judging panel for multiple business awards (GLOMO, Community Business).
As a B.Com and MBA graduate (gold medallist) from Bharathiar University, and subsequently a trained so She is a big believer in the power of technology and community-led efforts. Being ambitious and decisive yet balanced and nurturing, aids her innate mentoring style that many strata of leaders have benefitted from over the years. Geetha is committed to using all of her knowledge and capability at every opportunity possible, to promote women and equality for all.