Name: Fauzia Farooqui

Title: Director - Delivering Innovative Software Solutions

Organisation: LTIMindtree

I am a Director for Insurance Sales and Consulting at LTIMindtree, a leading global IT services and solutions provider. With 19 years of experience in tech delivery, consulting, and sales exposure, I have delivered innovative software solutions for major financial companies, investment banks, insurance companies, ed-tech, e-commerce, web portals, and healthcare giants.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Fauzia's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

As leaders, we know that change is inevitable and necessary for growth. However, managing change can be challenging. It requires not only understanding how to mobilize and lead change but also how to mitigate its consequences and overcome resistance. It's essential to be equipped with the skills to deal with team members' reactions to change.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

This was with one of my initial companies, my team completed a proposal that I led. I assigned presentations, set deadlines, and edited materials. While we faced two missed deadlines, we worked together to finish the job. It was all worth it when one of our clients said it was the best conference they had attended.

This gave me enough exposure and confidence to work on my skills in leading a team.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I structure my workdays with a focus on purpose-driven productivity. I start by waking up early, setting clear goals, and prioritizing tasks. Mornings are dedicated to for complex decision making, afternoons for executing initiatives and team meetings, and evenings for client meetings involving strategic goals and execution.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

It goes without saying that everyone has their own style of leadership, their own personal brand. Observing how others handle themselves – peers, management, and other external leaders – is a great way to learn. Whether you agree with how a situation is handled or not, the experience can teach you how to approach a similar issue in the future. Leadership is a constant assessment and reevaluation, so the more you can learn from the experiences of others – good or bad– the better off you’ll be when you’re positioned to make the decisions.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

The main message in "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is that life can and will be difficult. However, people must persevere by any means necessary. It helped with the most important lesson on Leadership - Being adaptive and having faith in yourself and a higher power can help a person achieve any obstacle in their path.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

As a leader, effective communication is key to success. And listening is an essential part of effective communication. Active listening involves paying attention to more than just the words being spoken. It's about understanding the facts, feelings, and values that may be hidden behind those words. So, let's start communicating effectively by listening to understand.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I have one story that always touches me to this day. We have Nalanda sessions within our practice where we try to help colleagues in areas of career counselling and mentoring. These sessions have really helped impersonate many colleagues and that’s what I like to do, change lives through my influence.