IN this week’s Success: The Insight Story column, Cisco Malaysia managing director Hana Raja (pix) tells SunBiz of some mantras that she stands by.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, where hard work and resilience are valued. These were values that were passed down across generations, from my grandparents to my parents.
From a young age, this was deeply ingrained in me as I watched and listened to the stories of how my grandfather started a successful company after retirement and how my father started his own business at a young age.
As I entered the workforce, I remember having doubts about whether I could progress up the career ladder. I saw few women in managerial roles and for as long as I could remember, most of my bosses were men.
All of these experiences eventually taught me how to rewire myself to be braver, bolder and to take on more challenges, even if it pushed me outside of my comfort zone.
Today, one of my mantras remains “Do your best, give your best, and let God do the rest.”
How do you think the industry you are in will evolve?
The technology industry is already undergoing unprecedented change. The way we work, learn, and live has changed drastically over the last two years and become very much intertwined with technology.
For Cisco, it is crucial for us to be at the forefront of innovation, as businesses and organisations increasingly embrace and integrate emerging, Industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. I am confident of Cisco’s purpose and strategy to capture this wave of change and enable our customers to transform, alongside us.
We are already delivering solutions that help make IT operations more seamless and automated. Moving forward, it will be critical for us to ensure our customers have real-time visibility and intelligence to monitor their network and business performance.
We can expect technology to continue to evolve and enable our lives. At the same time, security and privacy must be foundational as we evolve. As the pace of innovation continues to accelerate in today’s digital-first world, technology will play a critical role in powering an inclusive, sustainable future as businesses realise their sustainability goals.
Sustainable practices will make a strong case for business success – bringing enhanced brand reputation, improved risk management, greater efficiencies, and in turn, lower costs.
We all know about the industrial revolution, are we in for a technological revolution? Your thoughts?
In some ways, we are living the technological revolution. The Covid-19 pandemic has blurred the lines between our physical and virtual worlds, as we increasingly rely on digital channels to conduct our everyday activities.
In a digital paradigm, what can be delivered digitally must be delivered digitally. In order for us to thrive, we all need to equip ourselves with the technological know-hows and digital tools to do things better and faster and enable our customers more rapidly.
It is really an exciting time to be a part of the tech industry, which is at the forefront of change for society at large.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional life?
I believe that no leader can ever get to where they are without mentors.
Over the course of my career, I have had several mentors, from my time at Schlumberger, Bain & Company and now in Cisco. My mentors have pushed me beyond what I thought was possible and inspired me to challenge myself even when I had doubts.
They would always say “Hana, you should go for this,” or “You should try this opportunity,” even when I did not always feel ready. They uplifted and pushed me to be my best, even when I only saw challenges ahead.
I have learned that sometimes mentors can come from unexpected places. They can also see potential in you, that you do not yet see in yourself. I have been very fortunate to have such mentors over the course of my career.
What do you want to accomplish in the next five years?
I want to be able to grow Cisco Malaysia’s business and drive our transformation to software and services over the next five years. Cisco is at an inflection point and I believe this transformation will help us deliver innovations that can better serve our customers’ current and future business demands.
As the managing director of Cisco Malaysia, I want to make an impact in driving greater public and private partnerships within the country, especially in enabling organisations in the public sector to scale their digital transformation journey. I want our customers to succeed and be at the top of their game with our technology.
As a female leader in the technology sector, I am also focused on leveraging my platform to encourage more women and girls to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to take on leadership roles.
Best piece of advice you ever received on your career.
I live by the mantra of “Do only what you can do” in my personal and professional lives.
Prioritising my time and energy is the number one way I manage the balance between work and family. This means focusing on what is most important and impactful and learning how to delegate the rest.
Another one that has stuck with me is “The best teams are the ones that you don’t even know who the boss is.”
I vividly remember reading this in an earlier part of my career. This statement has made a great impact on my role as a team leader. I have realised that building a foundation of mutual trust and faith, where team members provide honest feedback yet feel supported and thrive, is important.
To this end, I have focused on building a trusted environment where my team feels comfortable in voicing their thoughts, concerns, and challenges.
Most-admired business leader? Why?
It has to be Suneera Madhani, one of the founders of Fattmerchant, now more commonly known as Stax, the world’s leading management consulting firms.
As a woman in her early 30s in a male-dominated industry, her vision and tenacity led to the accelerated growth of her fintech startup Fattmerchant which is now a unicorn. She is not only a successful business owner but also an inspiration to women in tech as a mother of two who has had to beat the odds to succeed in Silicon Valley.
Another business owner I look up to is Payal Kadakia, the founder of fitness and wellness platform, ClassPass.
Payal has an incredible journey to share. She, a daughter of Indian immigrants, worked really hard to get into MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and then worked at Bain & Company as a management consultant. She had great entrepreneurial spirit and was courageous in starting something of her own. It took her three years from idea to inception to come up with ClassPass.
I love this quote from her “I think it’s especially important for women to hear that it’s OK and even good to pursue audacious goals unapologetically.”
How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry?
The best way to stay in touch with what is happening on-the-ground is by connecting and listening to local customers and partners. They are key in ensuring we stay abreast to all the new developments, challenges and opportunities within the industry.
I also particularly like reading through publications like The Economist to understand the broader economic and technological developments that are taking place on the global stage. Geopolitical events play a huge part in the progress of technology developments, so it is crucial to be kept up to speed on broader events.
A few podcasts that I enjoy listening to, especially to learn about “soft skills” on leadership and empathy include the Harvard Business Review and The Economist.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced, and what did you learn from it?
The biggest challenge in my career was choosing to leave consulting after a decade of being in the industry and pursuing a different career path.
It was a big decision at the time when I took the step to trust my instincts and join the technology industry.
The turning point for me was then having to complete a deck by midnight with my two-year old boy who was crying at my side.
That was when I realised the importance of acknowledging my boundaries and knowing when to say no. It has also been about realising that you can have a fulfilling career and still achieve success without sacrificing what you value. It is all about balance, sometimes you get it right, sometimes wrong. But what’s more important is that you have the courage to decide when something is not right for you.
A must-read for every business owner/manager is ....
The Harvard Business Review 90-Day Plan was a must-read for me as I entered this new role. It really helped me understand what to prioritise and how I could make an impact early on.
I also love reading autobiographies from inspiring leaders, especially inspiring female leaders, where they share their lessons from moving up the career leader, while juggling their responsibilities in their family and household.
Some other books I really liked are Becoming, authored by Michelle Obama, and Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.
How do you expect policies on climate change to impact businesses in the future?
The devastating effects of the climate disasters could not be a clearer sign of the urgent need to address climate change.
Almost all industries will be, if they are not already, threatened by the effects of climate change from disrupted supply chains to rising costs and labour challenges.
As a global technology leader, we have been trying to set the standard for sustainable business practices and support our customers, partners, and vendors in their efforts to reduce their impact on the environment.
We recently announced our commitment to reach net-zero across all scopes of emissions by 2040, including our product use, operations, and supply chain.
Since 2008, we have been setting and achieving goals to reduce our greenhouse emissions at our facilities and across our supply chains.
This announcement marks a major milestone in Cisco’s journey to power an inclusive future for all – which takes future generations into account.
What are the top three factors you would attribute your success to?
The first and the most important factor is consistency. I find that as long as you keep at what you’re doing, one day at a time, you will see results. Even when you hit a rough patch, you should not give up! After all, it is only a small part of a greater journey.
Second, confront your discomfort and fears. Always prioritise growth in every step of your career and it will take you further than your dreams. Sometimes, it can be easy to take the easier way out, to say “No, I don’t think I am ready’. But what you fear is where your best self lies. Go towards what scares you and you might just surprise yourself.
Lastly, dream big, take small steps towards your goal. Draw up a vision of who you want to be, even if you don’t know the destination quite yet because every step you take will help form the final picture. Just envision how you want to feel and what impact you want to make in your “goal” and figure out how you can work towards it.
Source: The Sun Daily
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