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7 Questions with Juthika Mehta
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Jonno White
7 Questions with Juthika Mehta
Name: Juthika Mehta
Current title: Board of Studies, Philosophy Department, Jai Hind College & Program Director, School of Sports Studies
Current organisation: TransStadia Education and Research Foundation
Juthika likes to define herself as an Intrapreneur. Over her varied experience in sports and education, she always had the opportunity to make things happen over waiting for things to happen. This encouraged her potential to learn and outshine in a not-so-gender-equal fraternity of sports in India. Today she sits in a position to change that for her future generations.
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1. What have you found most challenging as a board member?
Listening!!!!
While you're young and working you usually are the doer over time you forget that listening is equally important, and being a Board Member reminded and taught me that very well, because beyond a point if you listen well you will realize the solution is already with the doer your job is only to guide them to it.
2. How did you become a board member? Can you please briefly tell the story?
It was my interpersonal skills that strengthened me as an individual and enhanced my work, my role as a Board Member also was due to my continuous journey of great communication with my seniors, peers, and more who then recommended me to be a part of the Board but it was and still is my hungry nature to learn more from everything and everyone around more that strengthens me.
3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?
I start my day with some time for myself where I prepare for my day be it notes of things to do over a nice breakfast or so some mental checklists this allows me to plan my day better and efficiently allocate time. However, it is important to remember like any human being I have days when I don't have time to do anything at all, and that's ok you don't have to beat yourself up about a routine, sometimes you just have to learn to flow. But for the days that you do have a routine make sure you have 15 mins to an hour of time to do something that makes you happy it can anything from music in the car ride to a massage to cooking for your loved ones. That is the balance that keeps you going.
4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?
The Art of Delegation - some of my colleagues struggle with it and I see the repercussions of it on themselves and their teams. The need for control is not essentially a power tool it can stem from insecurities and much more if identified it is imperative to work on or can be a complete dampener to you and your team.
5. What are some of the keys to doing governance well in a organisation?
Education in school is about asking your teacher what you don't know and how to fix it, education as a professional is identifying the problem and finding a solution to fix it - this empowers the person dealing with the problem your role as a leader is only to support, hear him/her, drive him in the right direction and provide him/her the tools he/she needs. This helps makes everyone accountable and leads to a healthy structure of governance.
6. How do you differentiate between the role of board member and the roles of CEO or executive team member of a organisation?
CEO, Executive Team, and Other Members are essentially accountable for the work they do hence having the autonomy to run and reach the goalpost is their job, as a board, your job should be of showing them which goalposts you would as a company like to reach this empowers all in the organization and helps navigate better.
7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a board member so far?
This is a story I heard in one of the spiritual discourses I was attending and it's my new favorite - with Google at our fingertips and an array of classes seeking knowledge is not difficult and becoming a master is now a piece of cake but when you actually apply the knowledge and see the difference is what was called "True Learning". Because you then have not walked out of a class with a brain full of knowledge but the application has helped shift something in you which now has made you better by 1% and hence you have now walked out 1% more enlightened.