Interview with Dr Kalpana Gopalan, IAS, Principal Secretary - Training, Govt of Karnataka, Jun 2016

“Change Will Come in Small Packets”

Dr. Kalpana Gopalan is a woman leader who is very much at home in the saddle, driving and leading change processes.. In this wide-ranging interview, she asserts that leadership in public service has little to do with gender. However, she goes on to identify what makes women leaders successful and what can be done to bridge the much-discussed gender gap in corporate leadership. The gender quota for Boards will help push change, she says.

Tell us something about yourself -- how long you have been in public service, in what roles, what drives you?

I have been in the IAS for28 years, in varied and cross-sectoral roles, in  Education, Rural Development, Land Management, Urban Development, Civil Supplies. I have not only worked in diverse sectors but also in different types of roles. I have been a development agent as CEO of a Zilla Panchayat and Director, Special Economic Programmes, I have played a regulatory role as a District Collector, a judicial role as Chairman of the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal, and now I play the role of a trainer. Some of my seminal experiences are setting up the new district of Udupi, way back in the L990s, and spearheading the literacy program all the way to winning the National Literacy Mission UNESCO Award 2000.

What drives me is the acceptance with which I am embraced by the people of India. I interact with people from different milieus, who speak different languages, but everywhere I have been more than accepted, I have received affection and encouragement.

What kinds of roles are women taking up in public service; and in which roles are they making a difference?

A woman in the working world is not a new phenomenon. What has  changed over the years is that the number of such women has grown; and you find more and more women at every level. To me this signifies that the working world is no longer an elitist preserve, or limited to what we call the "progressive" sections of society; instead this phenomenon has become truly democratised. Women's roles in public service are unrestricted, and there is no domain that is out of bounds for women.

In urban areas, the democratization of the workplace is driven by the lT sector, which has opened many technocratic positions to women. In the rural sector, it has taken place through the institutionalization of Panchayati Raj.

Generically, women bring the same or similar talents to the job, namely, domain knowledge and the ability to persuade, or team leadership. Public sector life is however, more chaotic, with a variety of unstructured situations and seemingly intractable problems. With patience and persuasion, though, everything is solvable. 'Change Management' is a buzzword in the MNC sector, but in the government sector, sudden changes are normal. In  government, our bags are always packed for sectoral or spatial moves. . The public sector can learn from the private sector how to focus on efficiency, performance measurement and adopt a structured approach to problem-solving

How do you think India is doing in terms of women's leadership? Do you see a good number of women in your peer group, working with freedom, authority and self-confidence? 

Authority, for me translates as accountability and responsibility. In the lAS, women have been leading from the front, whether it is bringing sanitation to the village or quelling a communal riot. The responsibility that an officer handles does not change with gender. Also, the duties, powers and accountability don't really change whether you are in the infrastructure sector or the housing sector. In certain positions you are more in the public eye, in others there is relative anonymity, that’s all.

Coming specifically to the contradictions in the life situations of women, let us first see the term Women in its plurality. Women are not a homogeneous group. In terms of ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc., we have multiplicity. Paradoxically, one  strain in our collective thinking is the 'good girl' vs. 'bad girl' stereotype. This begins at school, and the  mental images persist. Even today, a girl alone at night is subtly labelled. This amounts to a collective hypocrisy which we need to shed urgently.

Is women empowerment different from women leadership? Are Indian women empowered?

The term 'empower' should disappear from our vocabulary. Empowerment is not an 'injection' that can be administered! lt should be replaced with what is normal in a just and equitable society.

Can you suggest three key focus areas for public--private partnership, which will drive women's leadership, and at the same time make business sense?

Public-private partnerships should account for the immediate needs of the target group - in this case, women and the corporates. I would suggest the following: First, kick-start a Career Restart for women who take a break, by lowering or eliminating entry barriers to women who return to work after a hiatus. The government sector allows a break without loss of seniority, for example. Bridge courses or refreshers may be one way to help.

Secondly, for women entrepreneurs, their initial investment usually comes from family finance; but continuing access to finance for expansion,  or simply to keep operations going is a problem. Easy access to institutional finance from public sector banks can help women entrepreneurs flourish.

Thirdly, skill development with specific focus to facilitate women in the corporate sector, for example, via training that takes into account the requirement of prospective employers and is tied to placement in the corporate sector. The National Skill Development Corporation, (NSDC) is a one of its kind PPP in lndia, under the Ministry of Skill Development. lt aims to promote skill development by catalyzing the creation of large, high-quality, for-profit vocational institutions.

Many companies have not filled the mandatory requirement for women directors. How can we bridge this gap?

I would like to know how many of the woman directors trained by IOD and others have actually found their way into boardrooms. If we look at women directors only as a mandated requirement, there may even be a drop in demand because the diversity quota has been fulfilled and the company looks no further. You need quotas because it is dlfficult for board diversity to happen naturally; but this is only a short-term measure. A long-term and sustainable change requires a three-pronged approach: Companies need to focus on widening the talent pool of women in leadership roles and also  mentor women directors. Two: Currently, most board appointments happen through word of mouth. When positions get vacant, male directors are more likely to be appointed by a major shareholder. So, building up networks and getting known is something that women directors need to do. Three, IOD should go beyond training, into education and advocacy with corporations.

En-masse change may not happen; in India, incremental small changes, one at a time - is the way change happens. Invisible 'pocket revolutionaries' at the micro-level - such as small entrepreneurs with energy, domain expertise and engagement - are the ones who will drive the change. A similar thing may be said of Boards.

What specific initiatives are you leading for helping women succeed as leaders and transformational catalysts?

I led the adult and non-formal literacy programme for Karnataka, under the State Literacy Mission and its success is something I take pride in. Another programme is the Self-Help Groups in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, where literacy and micro-finance were combined. These SHGs tied up with Cooperative banks and had the largest savings in the country.  As CEO of a Zilla Panchayat, I was able to support many small innovations which made a big difference at the micro level. I am associated on a voluntary basis with Bangalore Women Federation which focuses on economic betterment, career-restarts and start-ups. I am also an empanelled speaker on HER initiative - which targets the young via role model speakers and promotes the acceptance of women leaders. I frequently speak, or rather “speak out" on women's issues, most recently at llM Ahmedabad, llM Bangalore, M.P.Birla Institute of Management and Xerox Business Services among others.