008 A Courageous Career Choice in STEM

Born in Delhi, in a traditional patriarchal Indian family, Kanchan broke the mould early on. Rare still today to find a 35 year old, single Indian female who has balked the “traditional system” by remaining unmarried and choosing a career in STEM. The only female in her class of male counterparts at Delhi College of Engineering, Kanchan’s journey has felt lonely (and often still does). She is determined to be a role model for other females to stand in their power and achieve their ambitions, breaking traditional norms and boundaries, even when it feels difficult. Empathetic, self aware, socially aware and undeniably strong and influential, Kanchan helps us to understand what it feels like to be a vibrant, bright and ambitious professional Indian woman with a career in engineering.

KEY TAKEAWAY

1. STEM FEMALE ROLE MODEL - IT TAKES COURAGE TO STAND AND BE A ROLE MODEL FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE.

“One day I told my mom that I don't want to continue in engineering, because it's something not meant for women and not meant for girls like me”. And she gave me an advice which actually turned my life around. She told me that "I disagree, because you are living the dreams of many, many people around you (because I got into one of the top 10 colleges in India. And it's very, very hard to accomplish and to be there). She told me that "this is not a choice or an option for you to drop out. Think how you can change things, how you can navigate this successfully. And that's where I would lead you to" and I think this is one of the most important (pieces of) advice I ever got in my life.

1. SETTING HIGH AMBITION GOALS

“One thing, which perhaps differentiated me with my other, let's say, cousins, relatives, friends, etc, is that I've always wanted to aim a bit higher than others. And setting a low ambition was somehow, not a choice I give to myself.”

1. THE LONELINESS OF BEING DIFFERENT

“...it's lonely even now, to be honest, because the choices, all the choices I made, I think was always one, or very few of many. But I think that's where I also get the energy and I get my inspiration and motivation or whatever you want to call it... The kind of opportunities, the kind of exposure, the kind of peers, I had access to the intellectual network I have now, that was the starting point. And that's when I differentiated myself, but to get in there, one has to aim high, and not just aim, but to get it... so I think that's one thing, which kind of differentiated or set me apart from others”

1. DON’T MISS BEING YOURSELF FOR 30% OF YOUR LIFE!

“If I take an average span of eighty years of a human, first 20 years, you get into learning and your education, 20 to 60s is when you do your work, and 60 to 80 is when you retire, and maybe you give back...I think 20 to 60 is your active work life. And if I take on an average per hour a human spends, let's say 10 hours a day at work, it's almost 30% of our lives when we invest our time at work, so I think it is very important topic... because otherwise, we will miss the chance of being ourselves 30% of our lives!”

ABOUT KANCHAN CHANANA

Kanchan is a self-driven, an all-time learner and a possibilist. She is passionate about unlocking human potential by building stronger leaders; in particular women and enabling them to rise. She is driven by impact creation in business and therefore she invested her last 10 years advising CEOs / CXO to help them solve some of their most complex business problems. Her interests are traveling, meditation and coaching passionate individuals

CONNECT WITH KANCHAN

linkedin.com/in/chananakanchan

[email protected]

ABOUT THE HOST – ALLI SPARGO

Alli is the mother of two daughters and a son, a wife, a daughter and a sister. She is also an executive leadership coach who passionately believes that every individual has the potential to be who they want to be, and do what they want to do (she is living proof of that!): to BE the BEST version of themselves. Alli specialises in behavioural performance as an executive leadership and systemic team coach. Her breadth of business experience, together with her coaching and facilitation expertise, enables her to enhance leadership capability and personal impact, whilst understanding the demands of the commercial and organisational environment.

WORK WITH ALLI

If you would like explore how working with Alli would support you to be the person you want to be, have the career (and life) you want to have and support your team to perform at their optimum, then please book a free 1 hour meeting with her: booking:-Exploring-Human-Behaviours-at-Wo...