Podcast#31: Lessons Learnt by Binod Shankar

Everyone loves a success story from unlikely beginnings and this is one such.

The podcast captures the remarkable saga of a young woman from naïve, timid young girl growing up in a highly conservative family in small town India all the way to CFA Institute’s pioneering program for young women before joining one of the largest asset managers on the planet. It’s about multiple constraints, limiting self-doubt, growing self-awareness, invaluable mentorship, supportive company culture and blooming confidence all leading to personal transformation.

This is essential listening for the many out there with potential who are in similar circumstances and who want to break free.

Podcast_29: Ten more career truths by Binod Shankar

It is a huge pleasure and privilege to interview Paul, former President & CEO of CFA Institute, and someone I’ve known for several years.

A global traveler, Paul comes with enormous experience, and he was extraordinarily generous with his time and advice. I took advantage of that to cover many hot topics (career planning, the criticality of patience and networking, grabbing opportunities, leading from the front, change management, the validity and future of sustainable finance, the future of asset management, scope for CFA charterholders, gender diversity in investing etc.). His trademark self-deprecating manner conceals a highly successful career and Paul was refreshingly down to earth and insightful.

I hope you enjoy listening to this scholar and gentleman as much as I did interviewing him.

Ayesha Tariq has always been exceptional.

From being one of the very few admitted into Standard Chartered’s graduate program to getting promoted AND relocated to a plum destination to never having had to apply for a job to leaving a big bank for entrepreneurship to raising a child as a single parent, she has had an interesting journey where she always stood out and hasn’t flinched from taking bold steps. Ayesha is also remarkably pragmatic, authentic and self-aware.

I talk to her about the challenges facing women in finance, the upsides of networking, navigating the CFA program, leadership lessons, dysfunctional work-places and career tips.

I deliberately select a variety of guests from different levels (junior, middle, senior), genders and nationalities all with the same focus of insight and inspiration for a finance career. So the moment I saw Ani Filipova's profile I wanted her to be a guest on RFM and you will want to listen to her for many good reasons.

Quite frankly, a woman from Eastern Europe rising through the ranks of a giant multinational bank to be the Chief Operating Officer without any of the usual qualifications ( MBA, CFA etc) while working around the world with diverse cultures AND raising a family at the same time and then quitting all that at the top of her career to pursue her passions was too good a story to resist.

And oh yes she's quite a nice person to interview- calm, open, flexible and diligent- and with many shared passions who knows one day we may do another project together! I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did making it happen.

• How do you stand out? I mean the number of CAs, CFA charter holders, MBAs etc. are rapidly increasing every day plus the jobs are not increasing commensurately. So, qualifications alone may not do the trick.

• With tough competition at work its often difficult to be visible.

• This is also true for the job market- unless your resume is exceptional (and having the below will help) it won’t be picked for an interview.

• Hence this episode is not just for people already in a job who want to get promoted or get a plum role or location in the same company. It’s also for anyone employed but who wants to remain employable even outside his current company.

I spent 17 years in corporate life going all the way from Audit Senior to Executive Director- Finance and I learnt a lot about staying visible.

Ketaki is quite the outlier- an economist by training who you really want to keep talking to! Plus, she’s a corporate warrior turned successful entrepreneur. Ms Sharma is not just an interesting person but has informed views on a range of topics relevant to young professionals and one question led to another. All of which explains why this podcast interview happened.

So, the interview covers a raft of insights on economics, using big data, the importance of coding, how to stand out, women and resilience, the entrepreneurship mindset (and why you don’t have to quit being an employee), work/life balance and mental wellness, the importance of reading etc, all important topics that I strongly believe in.

Practical, positive and persuasive.

Enjoy!

The only way to master your future is to invest in yourself by Binod Shankar

Episode22 Audio by Binod Shankar