Shanggari Balakrishnan is very busy these days. As the CEO of MORS Group—a bespoke consultancy business founded in 2014 to champion leadership and sustainability in Asia, Shanggari also became a first-time mum just four and a half months ago. Blessed with a baby boy whom the loving parents have named Emilio, she now juggles her waking hours looking after him while running her busy evolving firm and studying for her PhD as well!
While Shanggari was probably one of the youngest women ever to make CEO when she did, she already had her Masters degree in management information systems and 15 years of experience in the Asian business market before embarking on helming her own company.
Through her leadership—and many regard her as a thought leader and one of the most promising assets in the industry—MORS is today, a high brand value organisation dedicated in delivering premier services to stakeholders. It runs a series of programs organised across Asia to assist companies, corporate leaders and eminent industrialists learn from market experts across the world and at its core, it bestows one of Asia’s most prestigious accolades—the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES)—to companies and individuals that have shown excellence in leadership and corporate social responsibility.
In celebrating motherhood and women’s leadership at the corporate forefront, Motherhood takes a moment to talk to Shanggari about the shift in her current life view.
Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy! How is he doing and how are you adapting to your new role as mother?
Shanggari: Thank you for the wishes. It is a learning journey for the both of us, and we are faring very well. Emilio, meaning kind and compassionate, tends to exercise those values in our journey together. There are days I am bogged down with many things at hand. I am mentally and physically exhausted, and whispering to him that I need that space and time to magically work. It is as if he reads matters of the heart and I am truly blessed to have this easy-going track to motherhood. When he cries, they seem purpose driven and I pick up on the meaning of each one. That certainly helps to tend to his needs.
I lean on my friends for emotional support and to take a little break and me time now and then. My husband is also supportive in complementing my to-do list, from laundry to bathing the child, and stocking up the home with the necessities. Although it is said that it takes a village to raise a child, just the both of us on a day-to-day basis playing village is quite alright so far. Maybe it has to do with expectations—I never expect it to be easy, but is has not been too tough that I cannot manage.
Outside of the crib and inside the workplace, what is your biggest challenge from being a woman running a company?
Shanggari: Fortunately, being a woman has never meant added challenges in running my company and in the successful management of external stakeholders, particularly clients. In the consulting industry, quality of work speaks for itself—clients seek valuable engagements, and building values for our clients has always been our primary goal.
On the other hand, internal stakeholder management can at times be trickier. Employees tend to interpret commanding tones as being hard or bossy, whereas the same coming from a man is simply deemed authoritative. These are ingrained societal expectations. It then becomes imperative to understand how these things play a role in the way our messages, as female leaders, are received by our team mates. Some skills and behaviours are essential for effective use of authority, and in finding the balance when leading our people.
What’s your management style like?
Shanggari: For the lack of no one-size-fits-all approach, I am a ‘reciprocal’ kind of manager. Just like a fish should not be tested for its ability to climb a tree, I tend to take an adaptive management style to bring out the best in people.
With skilled and accountable colleagues, I adopt a laissez-faire approach and allow team mates to figure out solutions together in hopes fostering creative thinking; they feel more satisfied with the autonomy given. For those who need regular guidance, I take on more of a transformational management style where I carve time to push each one out of comfort zone, motivate and inspire them to push their boundaries. And to some, I play coach—building strong bonds beyond just at the workplace, and help them develop to their best potential.
Everyone has weaknesses. I focus on harnessing their strengths instead and allow for colleagues to cover for each other’s weaknesses. Regardless of what type of employee they are, one thing in common for all is that I make it a point to share the company’s vision from time to time, and include them in the journey, showing them where they can contribute as I truly believe each one is an integral part of materialising that vision.
“Everyone has weaknesses. I focus on harnessing their strengths instead and allow for colleagues to cover for each other’s weaknesses. I make it a point to share the company’s vision from time to time, and include them in the journey, showing them where they can contribute as I truly believe each one is an integral part of materialising that vision.”
What are some changes you may have implemented to accommodate your new normal these days?
Shanggari: I work on planning ahead and being efficient with how things are done. A to-do list before bedtime is indispensable, and I take on the serious tasks first. To save on my travel time, I mostly work from home. However, sometimes brainstorming sessions work better face-to-face. Every now and then I request my senior managers to drop by my home instead, and that ensures a productive session. I also try not to be too hard on myself, and give myself something to look forward to at the end of some accomplishments. It could be as simple as a glass of wine, or a weekend staycation to recuperate, but having something to look forward to, at short and long intervals gives me the drive to take the first steps towards a bigger goal amidst a busier day-to-day.
“In spite of motherhood in times of COVID, the company continues to achieve the set growth objectives, and amidst economic recession we not only managed to retain employees without a pay cut. Bonuses were also awarded for their performances. Providing the sense of job security and a rewarding career to my people feels satisfying.”
What’s the biggest challenge and your most fulfilling achievement running the company and being a mum at the same time?
Shanggari: I think scarcity of time is the hardest part of managing motherhood and company at the same time. Sometimes just going through the day wears you down. However, it also builds you up in terms of resilience, and you go on to pull a better day.
In spite of motherhood in times of COVID, the company continues to achieve the set growth objectives, and amidst economic recession we not only managed to retain employees without a pay cut. Bonuses were also awarded for their performances. Providing the sense of job security and a rewarding career to my people feels satisfying.
What’s a typical day in your life like right now?
Shanggari: As a life practice, I pen down my to-do list every day before bedtime. I don’t have a home helper, it is just me and my husband in handling the boy on a day-to-day basis. I wake up at 6 a.m. to get a solid hour to myself and attend to the most pressing work emails and tasks on my list. The little one tends to be up by about 7 a.m., and there till about 10 in the morning is a time to be hands-on with him. While the father runs him a bath, I quickly prepare lunch ingredients, to cook at about 12 p.m.
After lunch, we’d have a little playtime and let him nap. In all the in-between time, I check off the rest of the list as and when time permits. Emilio tends to call it a night at about 9:30 p.m., and after putting him to sleep, I make progress on my PhD research. I don’t have a fixed schedule for myself, neither for the baby. We just fit in based on his time demands, and not having a pattern is useful so he doesn’t go cranky when there are days I need to manage my time differently. Twice in a week I have my mother come over to look after the baby so I could sneak in a decent workout routine.
“I think scarcity of time is the hardest part of managing motherhood and company at the same time. Sometimes just going through the day wears you down. However it also builds you up in terms of resilience, and you go on to pull a better day.”
What is the PhD you are studying? And why?
Shanggari: I am currently under a scholarship at Monash University for PhD in workplace sustainability. The research focuses on empirically identifying the determinants of workplace sustainability for healthcare professionals in the public sector.
I grew up hearing what an arduous task it is to complete a PhD. Being a fan of challenges, it has always been in my mind to attempt. The push to really get started however was my circumstances, in which being a young CEO for an organisation such as MORS Group meant seniority, to a large extent, play a role in adjudging excellence. I figured it would help my company if I had strong formal qualifications on the subject matter.
Albeit delivering excellent work for our clients, sometimes we lose out on opportunities as many are still in the view that seniority by age equals more experience, ergo quality work. This is far from true, as it is possible that someone with 20 years of experience may not necessarily be better at something compared to a newcomer, especially if they have done nothing differently to better themselves throughout those years. The point here is to keep making something, anything, one thing at a time, better, be it people management or process optimisation.
What began as a pursuit to qualification however has unlocked more opportunities, as the wealth of knowledge I have gained thus far has been a tool to strengthen the theoretical foundations of the services we offer.
“It is possible that someone with 20 years of experience may not necessarily be better at something compared to a newcomer, especially if they have done nothing differently to better themselves throughout those years.”
Does being a mother make you a better CEO? What lessons have you learnt so far?
Shanggari: It may be too soon to note the correlation of this dual role; however my bet is that motherhood does positively affect leadership abilities. We often hear about achieving work-life balance, but my view is that the two are not separable, and it is even more true for mothers as primary caretakers of a child. We need the pause button for just about everything to tend to the little one at unexpected times. While preparing to go in for a meeting, he suddenly throws a crying fit. I am deep in thought of a work problem and the baby demands attention and playtime. It is theoretically impossible to balance these.
I have always been an advocate of making work go around your life, and not the other way around. Being a mother further strengthened these worldviews. I appreciate the time freedom of tending to my team while managing the presented situations from mothering. Allowing for flexibility in the way work is done is essential, and I trust extending the same flexibility to colleagues to prioritise personal matters when needed is important so they are not overwhelmed by either component (work and personal life).
Mothers naturally see through it that the typical 9 to 5 clock system is obsolete. What is important, however, is to embed the culture of accountability towards responsibilities undertaken. This way, one can deliver at workplace without compromising on living a fulfilling day-to-day.
Now that the economy is beginning to return to normal since the start of the pandemic two years ago, what are the plans for yourself and the company moving forward?
Shanggari: The recent pandemic was only but a reminder that we must do better in terms of preparedness, otherwise we will not have learnt anything from it. Almost every sector had to transform to achieve short-term survival and long-term resilience in response to the economic recession triggered by the pandemic. We had major plans lined up just before the pandemic; moving to a bigger office to support our talent pool growth, and expand our line of business.
That said, the pandemic itself did not change the dynamics of how I envisioned the future of my company; it only accelerated the things I intended to introduce. Since the very inception, it has always been in my mind to introduce four working days (Monday to Thursday), and allow for one of it to be elective working from home. I believe people generally tend to complete a given task in a given timeframe so long as it is reasonable, but push it to the nick of timeline just because there is time. A four day work and three day rest allows one to better recuperate from the busy week and tend to family and personal needs. In the long run, I also intend to allow multi-site working, meaning one can work from anywhere, around a serene beach, top of the mountains, as long as they have the tools to function and keep in line with deliverables promised.
This is a key year to observe accountability amongst my colleagues. With freedom comes great responsibilities, and I hope as I strive to look out for the livelihood of my colleagues, that they too in return pay serious attention to the needs of the company. Somewhat a symbiosis. Again, it is about successfully instilling the culture of accountability, and with that, it won’t matter where or how one works, but instead getting things done when it needs to be done. No excuses, no game here.
I hope by the time we celebrate our 10th anniversary (2024), all the planned business verticals are in motion, self-sustaining, and that we have the best and happiest of people working with MORS Group. Personally, I hope to manage and complete my PhD studies in the coming year or so (started in 2018).
“The pandemic itself did not change the dynamics of how I envisioned the future of my company; it only accelerated the things I intended to introduce. Since the very inception, it has always been in my mind to introduce four working days.”
What advice do you have for mumpreneurs and working mums as we begin to turn the corner?
Shanggari: I have observed a natural inner strength and grit in many mumpreneurs and working women. However there is often a guilt that pulls them back in getting started—fear of neglecting family duties, being judged for putting career first, and naturally not enough time to invest in perfecting an idea.
It is important to give yourself the permission to not be superwoman all the time. Life for you should not stop just because there are ‘dependents’. Easing the guilt is easier said than done, but if blessed, it is going to be a long journey ahead, and so learning to take ‘me’ time is not only okay, but should be made a point. With a tightened working window, being laser focused on tasks is key. Block out time on your calendar for everything, from work stuff, to grocery, and self-care.
It is also not quintessential to spend a lot of time perfecting an idea before hitting the market. Perfect is only a state relevant to a given time, and in my experience, perfect is always the next thing we do (what we thought was a perfect product last year, turns out with a little tweak looks even better now). I urge mumpreneurs to make good use of the natural gut feeling, go to market with a minimum viable product upon fair risk analysis. Launch that next big thing, manage the investments, cut loses quickly if it is not yielding returns, and never stop improving on your product or service, no matter how good you think it is. With the many responsibilities shouldered on day-to-day, learning how to effectively delegate and empowering people is an important skill to hone as a leader.
Note: All Images Courtesy of Shanggari Balakrishnan
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