My journey from fitting in to standing out…

I have lived in the UK for over 17 years but only recently became a British citizen. India doesn’t allow dual citizenship and while it made practical sense for me to become British, I felt that in doing so I was losing my Indian identity and I wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible.

My diversity is my superpower

When I first moved from India to the UK, I observed how others looked, talked, and dressed, and I mirrored them. I love colours, today I am wearing a bright yellow jumper, but I would have never worn this at the start of my career. I would have worried that people would notice me and see that I was different. Instead, I wore black suits. I was always trying to tone everything down so that I could blend in. This is something I really regret. I wish I had been braver to embrace who I was.

Over the years, as I have gotten more senior in my career and as the world has become more open, I’ve developed the confidence to be myself. Now I am focused on bringing my true self to work and using my diversity as my superpower. As part of a leadership team, largely made up of white men, I see things differently, and I feel that I need to use my voice for the greater good of the company. I know that if I don’t voice it, nobody will.

Be kind, be curious, be great at work

If I hired my younger self, someone from a minority background who seemed a little reluctant to stand out, I would remind them of Baringa’s tagline be kind, be curious, be great at work. This is something I try to instil in my team. If someone comes to work who has an unusual accent or a different sounding name, I encourage my team to be curious about it, and be kind about understanding their unique perspective.

I would direct this person to the many networks Baringa has set up where they can meet other people like them and feel a sense of safety and comfort. I would encourage them to explore series like Rewriting the Code, where they could read my story, and those of other minorities, and see that Baringa really values inclusivity. I would want them to know that they’ve been hired for their unique strengths, and that doesn’t just mean their skills or consulting experience, it means their point of view. There’s no point in hiring for diversity if we then all try to act the same, we must embrace our differences to do great work.

The importance of being a good ally

One of my favourite programmes at Baringa is our Allyship programme. It’s great to go to networks and have the safety of being with people who come from the same background as you, but what I love about the Allyship programme is that it brings together people from all different backgrounds who want to learn what it is to be a good ally to their colleagues, and how they can support them in bringing their best selves to work. One of the trainings in the programme is how to be an active bystander, it teaches people how to use their voice and step in when they observe a racial micro-aggression or something of that nature. These types of trainings don’t just help people from minority groups, they help the whole organisation.

Reverse mentorship

Reverse mentorship is when junior talent mentor senior talent. At Baringa, we have more diversity in our younger employees and reverse mentorship gives them the chance to teach leaders what it is to walk in their shoes. I was asked to be reverse mentored, and I agreed because I supported the programme, but thought, ‘I’m an Indian woman, I’m switched on, what can someone possibly teach me about diversity and inclusion?’ But then I was paired with a Muslim man who came from a very different socio-economic background to me, and I learned so much. It made me realise how much privilege I have as a Christian and even as a woman.

You can’t put a number on inclusivity

We still have a long way to go before the topic of diversity and inclusion becomes redundant at Baringa, but we’re making good strides. You may be able to put a number on diversity, but you can’t put a number on inclusivity, and our culture and values are aligned with being an open and accepting organisation where people want to come and want to stay on.