Home-Grown Leadership

Here is a human resource journey that started at home. Vegunta vouches for the importance of lessons learnt at home, saying, "I have been fortunate to get a rounded view on life and leadership even as I was growing up. My father, being an acclaimed poet, would talk about leadership in a manner that was different from the narrative of many others. He would say that leadership is about contribution and sacrifice, and that leaders are not extraordinary but do extraordinary things if they could empower others. Similarly, in my married home, I have been fortunate enough to see my father-in-law ‘practicse’ leadership. He was as inclusive as one can be, and I learnt from him that generosity makes you the owner and not the giver. My mother and mom-in-law are phenomenal women with unique perspectives and strong voices. I continue to work with amazing leaders and teams. All these have shaped my perspectives."

The learning has continued all through the 25 years of career and Vegunta is candid in admitting, "The people and organisations I have worked with provided me opportunities and helped me find meaning and thrive." Over the last decade or so, she has been an active participant in industry forums working on several initiatives. One such initiative is an organisational framework for women’s safety and security, which she helped create though the Society for Cyberabad Security Council and Cyberabad Police.

Investment In People

The uniqueness of her perspective comes through in her understanding of how organisations and its people prosper. She explains the symbiotic relation between an organisation and its employees: "I do believe that the perfect tuning and organisational alignment happens when (a) people understand, share and support the company’s vision and goals , and (b) organisation knows the pulse of its people and supports them in their pursuit of finding a purpose at work.

"As a team, we have the drive to learn and grow together. We constantly work on people and organisational alignment, fostering a culture of excellence and client centricity, where our people feel empowered, have a promising future and know that they belong."

She elaborates, "Invesco is a learning organisation which intentionally invests in people. We have a culture of inclusion and excellence, where we empower our people to meet the needs of our clients, employees, and shareholders. We want the best for our people. We want to watch their growth through new skills, new experiences, new perspectives — and we want it to be meaningful both personally and professionally. Our culture thrives, because our people can be their best selves, doing their best work — for our clients and each other."

In this context, her advice to any leader is, "Recognising effort and contribution makes the leader a part of the team that succeeded; not recognising alienates the leader."

Leading in an inter-generational context has become even more important. My son talks about purpose and leadership in a very different manner than his father. It’s fascinating to hear them debate. As a referee, I get the impression that they are saying the same thing but speak different languages. It’s a good example because as leaders we face these challenges in our teams. Everyone means well; they communicate differently.

Making Sense of Change

Well-placed to process the tectonic shift during Covid-19, Vegunta says, "The pandemic changed our purpose. We are not the people we were before the pandemic. The world around us has changed. This may cause us some discomfort, but the essence of life is in the renewals and transformations."

She further says, "We should consciously embrace this transition and use it to craft an intentional, meaningful future. We are in a liminal moment for people and the world of work, and our responsibility as leaders is to reimagine work and people; and nudge and lead this change."

Her take on what constitutes work is also insightful: In a world where work provides identity, the pandemic has shifted the work-life perspective. Work is what you do; not a place you go to, every day. Life is no longer at the fringes of work. It is fused into work. Purpose doesn’t have to be outside what is considered work. As a leader in the people function, my priority is to ease these transformations."

While mentioning empathy, wellness and mental health and gender challenges, again adds a philosophical note, saying, "We want to work on things that have a purpose. We want to be excited by work. We

want happiness, but in our search for it on road trips and weekend getaways we are disappointed with what we find. Our growth and happiness happen slowly over time. In this age of instant gratifications, we try to bypass delays. But we need to embrace the ‘long game of life’ and invest in those days, months, and years in the slow but intentional growth that leads to lasting change."