New book shines spotlight on Indian-American women leaders

New York, A new book by an Indian-American author and former Silicon Valley executive shines a spotlight on powerful women leaders and how they navigated challenges and lessons learned on their way to the top, forming a "playbook" for the next generation of young talents.

New book shines spotlight on Indian-American women leaders'Lotus Leadership: A Modern Playbook of Ancient Wisdom' by Kamini Ramani, a 40-year Silicon Valley veteran, is based on interviews with over 30 trailblazing Indian-American women and three non-Indian-origin leaders who have made their mark in corporate America.

The leaders highlighted in the book include former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Professor of Astronomy and Physics and Current Chair of Astronomy at Yale University Priyamvada Natarajan, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and People Officer at Intel and former Zoom COO Aparna Bawa, Chief Information Officer at Palo Alto Networks Meerah Rajavel, co-Founder of the American India Foundation Lata Krishnan among others.

The book, released last month, is already on USA Today's bestseller list.

Ramani says she got the idea for the book because she "wanted to spotlight the powerful and wise Indian-American women in the US".

"Because whenever we talk about Indian-American success, we rightfully celebrate the men," she said citing the examples of Microsoft chief Satya Nadella and Google head Sundar Pichai.

While Nooyi has always featured among the world's most powerful leaders, "we don't know about many of the other successful women, and there are so many of them", she said.

"That's the reason why I decided that I wanted to write a book that not only spotlighted some of the women but answered the question of how they got to the top," Ramani told PTI.

"I wrote the book for women who are figuring out their career path," she said, underscoring that they "can both have a meaningful career and build a meaningful life".

Ramani, who grew up in Bombay and now lives in San Francisco, is a veteran marketer who has had a stellar career in Silicon Valley, advising legendary founders like Apple's late chief Steve Jobs.

She is the former chief marketing officer of Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture capital firm Mayfield Fund and holds a Master's in English Literature from Yale University and a Master's in Communication Research from Stanford University.

Ramani's book is a culmination of a year spent interviewing the top Indian-American women leaders, many of whom have lived in the US for about three to four decades.

She said that when she asked them who their role models were, many of them mentioned the "Goddess stories we all grew up with".

"Shiva Shakti, Parvati, Saraswati and Lakshmi. And I thought, 'wow! Growing up with these powerful Devi stories almost gives you the permission to be one yourself'," she said.

On why she chose 'lotus' for the book's title, Ramani said the aquatic plant is a "symbol of duality", being a beautiful ornamental flower with roots that are edible and that it has to bloom out of mud.

It symbolises that "you can be more than one thing at once" and since it grows in muddy ponds, Ramani said that she used that analogy to ask the women leaders "to be really honest about the challenges they faced to get to the top".

"I want to show the next generation that there will be curveballs. Life throws you curveballs. You have to be resilient and get through them. That's the reason I chose lotus as the motif," she said.

The three non-Indian women in the book are China-born retail executive Jenny Ming, who is on the Board of Directors of Levi Strauss & Co, Qualcomm board director Sylvia Acevedo and co-CEO of autonomous driving technology company Waymo Tekedra Mawakana.

Just as the book's female protagonists underline, immigrants have contributed to the economic, cultural and social fabric of America. Amid the growing anti-immigrant sentiment across the US and other parts of the world, Ramani recalls her own story as an immigrant finding her footing in a new country and building a life here.

"I'm an immigrant. I came here with the proverbial suitcase without wheels, a scholarship to Yale University about 42 years ago. I've stayed and contributed as best as I can to this country," she said.

"There are so many contributions and impact immigrants have made, and I'm hoping that despite the kind of backlash right now, people can see the impact that immigrants have made," she said. "I hope that the value of the immigrant remains appreciated and eternal."

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