Not all superwomen wear capes. Some are often spotted behind the scenes of high-profile and classified projects, working unceasingly whilst serving the country. For them, the nation always comes first! And Savita Pote considers herself fortunate to have served all the three branches of the Armed Forces. Currently working as the Senior DGM – Guns Systems Business, L&T Defense, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Savita was recently felicitated at the Indian Business Women Conference and Awards, Mumbai. Corporate Citizen was intrigued by the insight that Savita had to offer about her journey so far! Read on…
"When you get into a new role, you also learn by interacting with others. Sometimes, you get to learn more from juniors. So, keeping an open mind is important"
Give us a brief background about yourself. I consider myself quite fortunate to be have born and raised in the humble Pote family. Although I belong to a small town of Jamakhandi, Karnataka, I had the privilege of travelling the whole of our nation, courtesy of my father, who served the armed forces.
In this sense, I have always felt that I belong to India rather than a particular city or state. I have studied in various Kendriya Vidyalayas till 12th. Further, I pursued mechanical engineering from the government college at Davangere, Karnataka. When you have a role model — a great source of inspiration in the family itself, I had to look nowhere else while choosing my career path. In fact, my elder sister is an officer with the Karnataka Administrative Services and I work as Senior DGM – Guns Systems Business, L&T Defense, Larsen & Toubro Limited.
I am quite proud to say to that whatever qualities one requires to serve the Nation - honesty, integrity and patriotism, was engraved in my DNA since the very beginning. And the credit goes to my parents who provided us with a bed of good core values and relentlessly guided us through the right path. The fact that they have left us free to follow our own vision in life has helped me grow leaps and bounds.
I have had a typical simple middle-class upbringing without any dramatic departures to single out. My mother was particular that we study well, but beyond high school, it was left to us to do what we wanted to pursue. If we wished to study further, my mom told us, they would spare no personal hardship to get us educated as much as we wished. But if we did not, that was okay as well. There was no pressure and perhaps that is one of the reasons why both my sister and I did well in our education and career. We knew we were the only ones accountable for what happened in our lives.
Yes, certainly. The mix of cultures that you get in Kendriya Vidyalayas is unique as the students belong to all parts of the country and hail from various strata of society. We never knew while growing up that language, religion and caste can be differentiators. It was natural to say good bye to friends and welcome newcomers every year. It teaches you about accepting change and adapting to new environments constantly.
I have been blessed to have found great teachers who mentored me and motivated me to unearth and further explore my potential. Every school I studied has contributed to what I am today. But I must mention Kendriya Vidyalaya, High Grounds, Chandigarh as the alma mater, where I realized that even the sky is not the limit, and all you need is courage, determination and perseverance to achieve your goals.
I realized early on that I wanted to understand machines and work with them. When I opted for mechanical engineering in the second year of engineering college, even the professors of the department told me it would be difficult for a girl student. Through the four years of college, we were only two girl students in the whole department. I have never regretted my choice though. I continue to have the same interest in the subject today. The achievements on the way reinforced having an adaptable and open mind to carve and pursue my own path whether or not it was a well-trodden one.
Working in diverse fields like operations, Hr, project management and Organizational excellence taught me The importance of continuous learning
I have been fortunate to have a career which is varied and has charted uncommon paths. Starting with Grasim Industries, where we were the first batch of women engineers to be recruited at their Polyfibres plant, to joining Air-Force, to my current role in L&T Defense, the journey has been enriching in experience and learning.
At my first job, I learnt that while it is good to have seniors who are protective of their female colleagues, over-protectiveness can become a hindrance to growth. The tough training and demanding schedules at the Air Force Technical College taught me that there are no boundaries to what you can make your mind and body do if you train them right. Small challenges on the way are just reminders to commit to the Goals, once again, and find energy and motivation to pursue the same.
Leading large teams of 100+ people at an early stage, as an officer of the armed forces, taught me that knowledge and capability are universally respected, and revered irrespective of gender, caste and creed. Working with a leading engineering conglomerate like L&T revealed to me that size is no hindrance to innovation, adaptability and values.
Working in diverse fields like operations, HR, project management and organizational excellence taught me the importance of continuous learning. The complexity of any job is only as much as its parts. If you can handle all the parts individually and the connect between them, you can handle the most complex programmes with ease.
I was trained on the maintenance and testing of missiles and this was my job with the various units that I was posted to. I also handled the ground equipment associated with the maintenance and testing and the specialized vehicles associated with the missile squadron.
While the training taught me to know my own limits or the lack thereof, leading others, once posted to a unit, was a different ball game altogether. In most of the units I was posted to, I was the first female officer to join the unit. So here were these men who had never worked with a woman officer before. Some of them had more years of experience than the years I existed on God’s earth!
Working with them, overcoming their initial resistance, gaining their trust while learning from them, and yet easing their hardship through the application of mind was one of the most rewarding challenges of my Air Force years.
"Leading large teams of 100+ people at an early stage, as an officer of the armed forces, taught me that knowledge and capability are universally respected, and revered irrespective of gender, caste and creed"
As a part of missiles unit, you are a part of an air defense system meant to protect the sovereignty of Indian air space. As an engineer, it is engaging to work with a system where explosives, aerodynamics, electronics, sensors and flight trajectories work in a delicate balance to precisely target and destroy high-speed, highly maneuverable enemy aircraft.
In the armed forces, you are reposted to a new unit every 2-3 years and while a lot of things change, some things remain the same wherever you go. Like the taste of tea and food in the mess or the protocols to be followed in everyday life. Once you are inside the guardroom gate, it feels like home even if you are completely new to the unit and the city.
People are equally interesting. I remember that when I was posted to a unit in the desert, there were snakes and scorpions galore. One day, we spotted a viper slithering out of an old water camper. The men killed it instantaneously to prevent it from getting into the store room and later biting anyone unaware.
However, one young Air Craftsman on my team was distraught. I asked him if he knew how poisonous the viper could be. His reply left me speechless – “I am the one who caught it and put it in the camper madam. I was planning to take it far and set it free, but these people have killed the poor thing”, he lamented. I still wonder about the two sides of the heart beating inside - the avid animal lover and yet the tough soldier.
The life on-board a submarine is quite unique and only an active submariner with experience can explain it. The facilities on-board our submarines do not provide for women crew members as of present. That said, I do know that there are a few countries in the world who have women posted on active duty aboard submarines. The US Navy in the year 2010 and the Royal Navy in the year 2014 have started posting women on submarines. The Scandinavian countries started way back in 1985 given the demographics. So, the outlook is positive for Indian women too.
It was great to be a part of the team that worked on the development of technology and then the system, from scratch. All of us were enthused by the unique challenge presented and everyone contributed their best. We ended up creating some unique facilities and systems in the process. As a project manager, my job was to ensure coordination between various functions within the organization, customer agencies, supplier partners and internal and external quality agencies to deliver a functional system meeting time, cost and quality.
The growing up, the dream was always to do something off the beaten track. Entry of women in the armed forces began when I was in engineering college and immediately struck me as something I would like to measure up to.
My challenge was that I was a literal ‘bookworm’, with sports and other physical activities always having taken a back seat. In fact, my father, who was aware of the obstacle courses which are a part of SSB, was sure that I would not be able to complete the course, let alone qualify. However, since I had decided to join the Indian Air Force, it was a question of mind over matter. I dedicated the better part of two months prior to SSB, in training for the obstacle course and in molding myself into a leader I thought the armed forces were looking for. I must have done something right, for not only did I clear SSB but also I became the course leader.
Honestly speaking, I have been fortunate to come across opportunities to work on things I enjoy and loved to do. The only credit I can take is that I didn’t flinch from taking them when they presented themselves. In that sense, I can say that you find what you are looking for or the work finds the apt operative.
After I left the armed forces, I took a break to prepare for civil services exams. I realized after some time that I would have to utilize a big part of my energies in fighting the system. For a person of my impatient and no-nonsensical nature, this choice would lead to frustration in the long run. So, I decided to join the private sector. I had no idea how to prepare a resume or apply for a job or who in the private sector would want to hire a person with experience in missiles!
After a few months of not getting any response to my mailed applications, I decided to move to Mumbai and take the first job that was offered. Thus, began my stint of more than a year with ‘non-technical’ jobs. I never gave up looking to get back to the technical field though and eventually landed up with L&T. The stint with operations and HR, though frustrating at the time, has turned out to be a valuable learning experience for me and has truly enriched my resume.
I would not say there have been no hardships or struggles, but since they have only strengthened me further, in hindsight, they don’t seem hardships but enriching experiences.
Most of the times when I have to work on a new project or function, I start by reading about it. I am obsessed with reading and learning new things. So, this is the most enjoyable part for me. Once you have grasped the basics and honed it through debate and discussion with thought partners, it is fun to implement the new knowledge and see things taking shape.
When you get into a new role, you also learn by interacting with others. Sometimes, you get to learn more from juniors. So, keeping an open mind is important. One also needs to take care not to get caught up in how things have always been done. This can take away your ability to look at new ways of improvement. So, while you try to decipher why things are done the way they are done, you also need to think about why and how they can be done differently and more efficiently.
"I believe the source of happiness is inside a person. It depends on how you view your circumstances and more importantly if you are happy being the person you are. At the same time, if you don’t have a certain restlessness to do more or face more challenges or learn more, you are bound to stagnate"
I can’t say I have reached the top level. However, I have grown because L&T has offered me different roles and functions over the years. It has helped me test my adaptability to tasks needing varied strengths – Technical, HR, Operations, Strategy, Policy, Executive Assistant to Business Vertical Head, etc. I would find it extremely tedious to do jobs of the same nature repeatedly.
At L&T, I have found seniors I can look up to and colleagues with whom it is a joy to work. The job culture provides you with the freedom to do things your way. There are no restrictions on how you can expand your horizons and learn. For example, as a project manager, I am not discouraged from getting into the details of design or quality or production. Seniors encourage everyone to speak their mind and people are listened to.
In my response to this question, I would like to stress that though dressing is very important, it can only be treated as icing on the cake. Without the substance of the cake, icing has no importance. Your knowledge, confidence, capability, body language and fitness are the bed-rock that simple yet elegant dressing can enhance. That said, the smart dressing does help you make a good first impression on which it is easier to build professional relationships.
Today, corporate dressing has changed to include Indian and Western outfits. No matter what you wear, it should carry your personality and make you feel comfortable. Like for everything else, it is important to know oneself before choosing the style of dressing.
Norms of the industry where you work are important too. In the software industry, it is usual for the CEOs to dress casually and others follow the trend, while in sectors like manufacturing and finance, formal dressing sets the atmosphere at work.
Although I left the armed forces when I left the Indian Air Force, the armed forces haven’t left me. It has been a privilege to work with all three branches. There is a great deal of friendly rivalry between the three forces, but it is true that beneath it, they are all just soldiers. As they say once a soldier, always a soldier. I have found a great deal of camaraderie and acceptance when I work with people in uniform. You are always a part of the family in uniform.
Such situations are bound to happen to everyone. Negativity and frustration are also bound to manifest when things take a downward trend. The trick lies in taking a step back and seeing the whole picture from a larger perspective. How important is the set-back when you consider the bigger picture? There is no point in life from which you cannot make a new beginning.
AltHouGH I left tHe ARmed foRceS WHen I left tHe IndIAn AIR foRce, tHe ARmed foRceS HAven’t left me. It HAS been A pRIvIleGe to WoRk WItH All tHRee bRAncHeS
I have had the good fortune to meet many people whom one can genuinely aspire to emulate. My Commanding Officer at Jaisalmer unit, Group Captain AC Kalita, is one such person. I still maintain contact with him and seek his guidance from time to time.
At L&T I look up to Mr JD Patil. He is the head of defense Business for L&T and is also a member of the L&T board of directors. He is a role model in every sense of the word – knowledge, capability, leadership, humility and integrity. I would like to imbibe his qualities of patience and tolerance too. I am lucky to have directly worked with him and be mentored and guided by him.
In my personal life, my mom has been a great inspiration. I remember once when I was in the Air Force, my unit had been asked to move to the border during activation. I told my mother not to worry as I would be safe. She replied, “I know you are excited about going. Do what you have to do. I am a mother and my job is to worry. I will do my job.” Even today my mother can kick me out of the house if she sees me slacking on my fitness routine.
Reading is an obsession more than a passion. I read all sorts of books ranging from comics to philosophy to science and technology. Learning new things is a continuous process. I am not happy if I am not learning something new – German language, python programming, hypnotism, dancing, martial arts, on and on. I sporadically do pencil sketching and write some poetry too.
I believe the source of happiness is inside a person. It depends on how you view your circumstances and more importantly if you are happy being the person you are. At the same time, if you don’t have a certain restlessness to do more or face more challenges or learn more, you are bound to stagnate. For me, happiness is facing life without regrets and looking forward to what is yet to come.
Philosophy in life changes as a person gets increased exposure and gains a better understanding of the world. When I was younger, reaching goals was very important. But now, I value the journey much more. If I can do my work with enthusiasm and joy on a daily basis and while doing so, make a difference, then reaching somewhere is just an added bonus. A job well done or a skill well learnt is a reward on its own, it does not need material gains to validate it.
By Ekta katti
