Ekta Acharya Mahajan

Who is a female inspiration/role model to you and why?

I am professionally inspired by Indra Nooyi for being one of the few successful women leaders by being adaptive and nimble. I admire the honesty with which she manages all her roles — as a mother, CEO, wife, daughter and her ability to find positive intent in every scenario is eye-opening. Finding meaning in what you do helps you do your job with a lot of passion and allows you to grow gradually. Personally, I am hugely inspired by my grandmother who has been ahead of her time in terms of thinking, having an open mind and providing a level playing field to all. This had a huge impact on building my character during my growing up years. 

Why does inclusion matter to you?

I was the first female and most junior employee in the Pune JLL office — had my team not given me the platform to prove myself and perform through an inclusive work culture, I may not have been able to reach this level of success within JLL. Hence, I try my level best to give the same opportunity to everyone around me by consciously making an effort to include everyone (team members, clients, colleagues, stakeholders) in any conversation, meeting, client pitch, brain storming session, etc.

How are you inspiring women to achieve their ambitions at JLL?

I believe very strongly that women can contribute a lot in growing our business at JLL. I take time out to mentor and coach women within my workplace by sharing my experiences and mistakes. I push aspiring women to walk into the room and take the center chair — I feel most of us have some brilliant inputs to give but most often we are just in the background giving inputs to someone else to speak for us — it’s important that we put our points out there. I would love to see more women employees excel and grow in our field.