Ep 47: Championing Transformations: Asha Kharga's Leadership Journey in a Changing Landscape

Asha Kharga is the Chief Customer and brand Officer and a Member of the Group Executive Board of the Mahindra Group. In her role, Asha leads Group Corporate Brand, Group Corporate Communications, and Mahindra Culture Festivals for the Group. She is responsible for building two big capabilities for the Group – one on Customer Experience and the other is the Customer Data Platform – the largest repository of the entire Group's customer data that drives business impact.

She is the Chairperson of the Mahindra Group's Diversity Council and is a Director on the Board of Mahindra Holdings Pvt. Ltd, as well as the publicly traded Mahindra Lifespaces Developers. She also served as Chairperson for Mahindra Racing UK for 2 years. Asha has 25+ years of rich experience that spans FMCG, financial services, and advertising. She joined the Mahindra Group from Axis Bank, where she was the Executive Vice-President and Group Chief Marketing Officer for the Bank and its subsidiaries. Before Axis Bank, she was with Unilever for almost a decade in a variety of brand and marketing roles in the homecare and refreshments category.

Asha also led the consumer & customer-centricity agenda at HUL and launched Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan in India. Her last role in Hindustan Unilever Ltd. was as Marketing Director of the tea business for South Asia, which includes brands like Brooke Bond, Taj Mahal, and Lipton. Asha spent the first decade of her career with leading advertising agencies that include Leo Burnett, J Walter Thompson, and TBWA and has worked on a variety of brands from Unilever, P&G, Beiersdorf, and Samsonite, amongst a host of others. Externally, she has been recognized as one of India's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Marketing & Advertising, by Business World.

She has also been recognized among the top 100 most Influential Marketing Leaders in India in 2023. Asha is a commerce graduate from Narsee Monjee and an MBA in Marketing from Mumbai University.

Key themes emerging out of our conversation:

• Being a team player
• Having a tribe of mentors
• Building inclusive organizations.
• Growth and comfort cannot coexist.
• Breaking barriers beyond designations.
• Leading through context and not control.
• How diversity helps in creating a real culture.
• Creating a culture where people can give feedback.
• Taking risks, taking up roles that are off the beaten path.
• Vulnerability is how women bring their full selves to work.
• Grit and resilience in a career is a marathon, not a sprint.
• Being comfortable about the consequences of choices one makes.
• Organizations supporting their people improve employee loyalty.
• Being a lifelong learner. Asking questions, not making assumptions.
• Making mistakes and getting grounded, things don't always go well.
• Supporting businesses versus coming from a place of knowing everything.

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