129: The Role of Organizational Culture in Women's Advancement: Lessons from Ashima Tyagi

Shownotes: As a podcast host one of my biggest joys is celebrating incredible people making a difference. People who I know through my work or because of my podcast or from my networks who have raised the bar either in their personal or professional life.My guest on the 129th episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast is Ashima Tyagi, our lives intersected briefly in the late 2000s when we worked in different divisions of one of India’s largest PR and PA agency. At the time Ashima was a rookie, getting to grips with operating in male dominated and patriarchal metals and mining industry in India. Fast forward to 2024 when I bumped into her on LinkedIn. I was chuffed to see Ashima Tyagi was Economics Associate Director, at S&P Global Market Intelligence unit in Singapore.I had a lot of questions for her – about the move from Delhi to Singapore, her experience of living and working in a new country and culture away from her family. I was curious to understand how she was navigating work-life balance and what it meant to her, especially considering that we have it drilled into us, that hard work (long hours) and sacrifice is the route to success. We also spoke about her leadership style has evolved over the years, the impact of imposter syndrome, how organizational culture can drag women down or enable them to thrive, her role in WINS S&P Global, networks and networking, her advice to young women joining the industry today, what motivates her and ambition……While Ashima’s may not recognize it her move to Singapore was a brave decision at many levels a) She had never moved cities before b) She was leaving behind her husband and one year old son c) Her motivation was personal growth. Not many young women in this part of the world are able to priorities their personal and professional ambitious and it continues to stymie and disadvantage them. So, kudos @Ashima Tyagi, every little step counts……To hear more about Ashima’s personal and professional growth head to the podcast (link in comments) 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾Episode Transcript:Sudha: Good morning, Ashima. Wonderful to have you finally as a guest on The Elephant in the Room podcast. We've been like talking about this for some time, but it wasn't quite working out until now.Ashima: Thanks Sudha. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I really appreciate it.Sudha: So, for the benefit of our listeners, I know you from our time together at Vaishnavi, where we interacted briefly. let's start with a quick introduction to who you are and what you do.Ashima: I've spent nearly, I think, 16 years plus in the commodities world and currently I share my expertise, insights as an economist, primarily in the metals and mining sector. In my current role, of course, we're helping clients navigate the volatility that we see in the supply chains. And we do this by embedding all of that in our pricing forecast and buying strategies and that helps our clients also achieve cost savings, on all the things that they source.Sudha:Not everybody understands the commodities market, so you've explained it very well in layperson terms. So Ashima, you moved a couple of years back to Singapore. What has been your experience of living and working in a new country and culture?And of course, Singapore has a huge expat community.Ashima: Yeah, I relocated to Singapore...