Secret of Success is Sweat....

Sathya Sikdar: CEO Allied Market Research

“The key to success is passion and I grew up as a strong believer in this.” 

Now with 10 years of specialized experience in business research and consulting, Sathya is
heading the Allied Analytics; U.S. based global business research and consulting group. The company has about 50+ employees and freelancers working across the globe. Prior to this, she has been actively involved in process set-up, heading production teams and has provided rigorous training to fresh graduates in various start-ups.
Speaking about women in corporate Sathya states - To be honest, many corporates even today directly or indirectly do not encourage women either at entry or at board. I had my share too. However, what it needs to be successful in corporate world is dedication, stretch and un-compromised attitude towards work.

Speaking about what made her different from others she shares - My parents never grew me up with “the-girl” rules. I completed my MBA with MOP Vaishnav collage in Chennai, which thought me in real how to groom myself for the corporate. My husband is extremely co-operative and is always happy with every single achievement of mine. However, this is not the situation for many struggling women. It needs a lot of persistence among women to convince their families to work effectively. There were days when I used to land up at my house at 3 A.M. just to brush and get ready and be back to work by 4.30 A.M. My parents did have concerns over my work hours, schedule and immense travelling. However, all that it took me is to re-assure them that I have to take this up if I need to be successful in this competitive world. If I have one big boss it’s my son who is 3 years old, who never fails to keep me on toes.

How does she balance work and family? Sathya agrees that it is definitely a big challenge.
However, the art of balancing depends on prioritizing. Compromises definitelytake a big seat – yet I often wait for an occasion where I can make it up, if I missed on something. This way I would not be letting both down. As far as work goes, many women I met do not believe in delegation, unlike many men.

However, biggest achievement is to allow effective delegation. It is about setting a system in place, training and offering real time experience to your employees to deal with situations and trusting them. Infact, it is tougher than doing job
by yourself because you are responsible for other’s work. However, if you donot delegate your employees remain handicapped. Then the system depends on you. This could be threatening to the company in the long term.

How does she see the future: I see today that I am in right direction, I have definitely a long journey ahead. I would promise myself to carry the passion that I always did. I strongly believe that you can never be successful until you contribute - so I see myself contributing to women and society. I have lot of plans. All I have to do now is a systematic implementation.