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Description: Nisha Paliwal, Managing VP of Engineering at Capital One is bold and authentic, who believes in human centered leadership. She is an emerging leader in Technology, Nisha is a visionary technologist and passionate change agent. Nisha joined Capital One in 2015 in Finance Tech, moved on to Small Business Tech and is now the Vice President of Software Engineering in Card, where she is leading the transformation of Core Modernization.
At Capital One, she leads the enterprise Women in Tech Task Force, focusing on retention, development and leadership through empowerHER. She leads her team with heart in every interaction, from listening, supporting them to feel valued, engaged, and instilling psychological safety so they can bring their whole selves to work. Nisha’s passion is empowering others and, in that vein, is a mentor to many and volunteers her personal time with CodeVa, which focuses on STEM education for K -12.
On this podcast interview, Nisha and I speak about the importance of learning, leading with love, curiosity, how to stay connected to ourselves, to our teams, and our families in this time of uncertainty. We also explore the practices that keep us grounded so we can continue to shine our light in the greatest of ways at work and in the world.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Nisha LinkedIn
empowerHER
Conscious & Inclusive Leadership Retreat
Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching
Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources
Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck
Contact Carley Hauck
Shareables:
“There’s just so much uncertainty about everything these days. But it’s about making progress every step of the way, and making sure that we do that collectively.” — Nisha Paliwal
“If I’m not helping my people, if I’m not there for my people, then what am I doing?” — Nisha Paliwal
“As a leader, my job is to make sure I create that space where we can have the hardest conversations and not feel like we are being judged.” — Nisha Paliwal
“The coaches that have impacted me personally have been those who have connected from heart.” — Nisha Paliwal
The Imperfect Shownotes:
Carley Hauck 00:01
Hi, this is Carley Hauck, your host of the SHINE podcast. Welcome to another wonderful episode. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. I will be facilitating three powerful episodes a month. Before I tell you about our topic today. If you would be willing to go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button. And if you love this interview, please write a positive review. It helps so much. Thank you.
Our topic for today is the first step of human centered leadership with Nisha Paliwal. Nisha Paliwal is managing Vice President at Capital One. She and I connected because she found my book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World and shared it with her community on LinkedIn. This was a few months ago in April 2021. I felt touched by her acknowledgment and reached out and wanted to get to know her and hear more about how the book had positively impacted her and her leadership. After a few conversations with Nisha, it just felt like such an incredible opportunity to bring this conscious, inclusive and heart centered leader onto the podcast so that I could share her story with you all.
Let me tell you a little bit about Nisha and our interview.
Nisha is an emerging leader in technology, a visionary, technologist and passionate change agent. She joined Capital One in 2015 in finance tech, moved on to small business tech, and is now the managing Vice President at Capital One of software engineering in card where she is leading the transformation of core modernization. She leaves the enterprise women in tech tax force focusing on retention development and leadership through empowerHER. Nisha also has a big heart for her associates and desires for them to feel valued, engaged, and psychologically safe so they can bring their whole selves to work. Nisha’s passion is empowering others and in that vein, she is a mentor to many, and volunteers her personal time with code VA, which focuses on STEM education for K through 12. She is also a proud mom to Anya, 16 and Yoshi, 12.
In this interview, Nisha and I speak about her passion for learning, personal and professional development, how she manages a large team of 450 team members. And then her direct senior reports of six. She leads with authenticity, love, and weekly notes that really share her experience, vulnerability and support to everyone to feel connected, and that she’s always accessible and available to them.
We talk about what practices have supported her through the pandemic, and what continues to help her shine her light in the best of ways at work and at home, starting with strong mentorship, the circle of people she surrounds herself with and her daily meditation practice. There are so many gems in this interview you don’t want to miss.
Carley Hauck 03:55
Thank you for joining the SHINE Podcast. I am here with a courageous and authentic leader, Nisha Paliwal. Nisha, thank you so much for being with me today.
Carly, it’s such a pleasure to be with you this afternoon. Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you. Well, one of the first questions that I often ask leaders that join me is what does conscious and inclusive leadership mean to you?
Nisha Paliwal 04:21
Yeah, great question. So three things. Being conscious means to me that I know myself. I know my feelings. I know how I’m reacting to things. So I’m aware of my surroundings. I’m aware of my inner self. And I’m aware of my behaviors because that subconsciousness is a lot about me, my surroundings and my behavior towards the surrounding. Inclusivity is more to me
is about how I’m making sure that in decision making that in bringing people along, how am I doing that? How am I making sure that they are all feeling that they are included in the decision making, that they are included in getting appreciation, that they are included in being part of the team. And the last one to wrap up both the consciousness and the inclusivity. What this has meant to me, is what you started with, which is literally ABC for me, authenticity, being bold, and being courageous.
Carley Hauck 05:44
Authenticity, being bold and being courageous. Lovely. Lovely. Yeah. And on your LinkedIn profile, you have a bold change agent. Tell me more about that. What does that mean to you, why’d you pick that?
Nisha Paliwal 06:01
Yeah, and before I answer the question, let me tell you a little bit about my background, which is where this all comes from. So my dad worked for a commercial bank in India for 40 years. And every three years he decided to take the deputation, meaning going from places to places for his work. And he did that. Probably based on his career aspirations, or what but he rose in that company from almost being an associate to a pretty senior, I think when I was CEO of the company, pretty large company, pretty large bank, same company, right. But what that did to me was like, I’m moving from place to place all my schooling, making new friends, learning new culture.
And the big aha moment was one time we actually moved from should compare. So we moved from Rock Hill, South Carolina, all the way to New York City to comparison wise, right in India.
And that was a big shock to me. Oh, my gosh, how can we move from, you know, Big City, New York to you know, South Carolina Rock Hill, right? I couldn’t anticipate me and my sister, my sister was one and a half years older than me. So we were very close. We plunged into that with him, we were still like, going into high school. We didn’t know the school, we didn’t know the people. But the aha moment was the culture that we learned of this new place, new small town, right? The friends we made, they are still my friends right, from that time to this time.
And I think from that time, the change agency is kind of beaten in me. I love the aspect of exploration. I love the aspect of meeting new people. I love the aspect of learning, which is a big payment. My life is constantly learning, learning people, learning their culture and learning what brings them together.
So yeah, I think change agency is a big part of who I am, I often say, if you did not know me by my first name, you know me as a change agent.
Carley Hauck 08:10
Hmm, thank you for sharing your background around the history with your father, and working in banking and moving from New York to South Carolina, and even your ability to stay connected with those people from childhood. And then your love of learning. And often I say leaders are learners. And I feel like if we’re not continually investing in our personal and professional growth, then we’re not going to be able to be the best leaders. And I know from having conversations with you, you have this voracious appetite for learning. And that’s actually how you and I first became connected because you read my book, and you really loved my book. And I feel so grateful that it has benefited you. That was the big reason that I wrote it was to really support leaders like yourself, to shine in the best of ways and to really support your team and your company through uncertainty through ambiguity, ambiguity through complexity. And we’ve been experiencing a lot of that.
We always have but even maybe more so in the last year since the pandemic, and so I’d love to talk a little bit more about your role a Capital One, the team members that you support, and actually how you feel like you’ve been able to be an authentic heartful courageous leader in the last year. That’s kind of a big question, but we’ll start there.
Nisha Paliwal 09:50
Yeah, no, definitely. And I think you’re right last year has tested, tested a lot of us in many, many ways and leadership is wonderful. Of course where the demand was high people were looking at us for many, many answers through the pandemic, to the global events that happened in the United States, in India. And like there was an endless list of things where we often look to our leaders like what are we supposed to do? What are we doing? Where are we going? Right? And how do we cope up to all this?
And, and one thing is very true about me, I often say I don’t have all the answers. But what I have is what I say tooling, right. And back to the learning that you said, all these tools that I use on a constant basis to keep informed to say how to pivot, right. So books are huge. You already mentioned, your book was one of the fantastic reads I had, and so did many other books that I read podcasts, there’s my favorite ways to connect to different cultures, different mentors, and hear what everybody is doing.
And with the team, I started some practice, which is really very fulfilling. What I do is every Monday morning, I write them a letter. And the letter consists of two things. One is my own learning, and how that has impacted. So when I read your book, I went and shared that Monday like to kind of read this book, and this is what it’s all about. And so I do for many other topics. So whatever I have learned in the week, I will share back, whatever I’m feeling I share back. So the connection of how I’m feeling, and I go down very deep, I be, I be very vulnerable, because there were days last year, I feel like I don’t have it together. And frankly, even now, right 16 months being in the basement.
So what I do for Capital One, is I run a very critical piece of infrastructure, which supports our card issuance. So meaning every time Carly, you’re swiping your credit card, you’re talking to me. So at the intensity, right, so we have about 6000 transactions per second that hit my infrastructure. So it’s very intense, right? It’s 24/7, the job is very intense. And on top of it, you have this pandemic that’s going on, right. So I would share my feelings in those letters, I would share how I am and I am about 450 people who work for me. And I would share, right like how I’m feeling and how I’m coping up with that. I felt like those. And then on a weekly basis, not everybody responds, but there will be a handful of them. Right?
Like you were mentioning, you wrote the book to impact and let us shine the light. And by the way, I love the title of the book. Thank you, I feel like that’s what our job as leaders is like sharing how you are doing, sharing how you are coping up, and still bring the lightness in the in the moment and being admitting where you might not be at the right spot somebody else might be and be open to receiving from others as well. It’s not just about leader as leaders, I feel like we sometimes feel our job is to only give good, good, right. And I think this is where again, my my learning mindset helps me is like, how do I receive from people on that? And there are a lot of people in those letters who will respond, right? And who will say, and then I will catch up with them on a different zoom call or however, the phone call.
So that’s been my cadence. And that has really helped me stay connected with the team. keep improving, keep learning and continuously make progress because I think so much unknown Carley these days, right? It’s just so much uncertainty about everything. But it’s about making progress every step of the way. And how do we make sure we do that collectively, right?
Carley Hauck 13:45
Well, thank you for sharing that. I love the idea that you were sending letters to your team of 450 every week, and just sharing authentically what you were learning and what you were experiencing. When you were talking about really sharing vulnerability about your feelings? No, this is one of the things that I write about in the book, but also that’s showcased in the research when leaders showcase their vulnerability, and especially when they’re really speaking to their emotions. They’re giving other people on their team permission to feel and permission to also be vulnerable and authentic. And it lets people know that you’re doing the best that you can as well. And I think that imparts a level of accessibility, and a level of just the ability that like I can go to this leader and I don’t have to have it all together. And I think it just makes you more human, so to speak. You know, you’re being a more human centered leader.
Nisha Paliwal 14:57
Yeah, I think that’s what, I think you talk about in your book. I think Amy Edmondson has talked about this quite a bit right? As humans, we feel like we are always judged. But when you can actually talk to a leader, and I get this comment often, I am at a very senior position at Capital One, I often get because of my title, like people like, oh, at your level, we can come still talk to you. And I’m talking to people at every level of the organization who can come talk to me.
To your point, right? The doors are always open, Slack is always there. I always find time for people, that busy card, I never play that busy card, right? If I’m not helping my people, if I’m not there for my people, then what am I doing? I’m busy, useless then, right? So my philosophy is my prioritization is all about people and going and clearly reaching out or when they reach out responding to them. Because that’s when they are able to put their guards down, that, hey, no judgment will be passed to us just because she’s a VP. And we can talk to her, right?
So I think that is becoming more and more critical. Why? Because during the pandemic, many things are being shut down from us, right, those human connections, the human touch, that we used to have, if you’re feeling sad, we can give a hug to each other, and feel better about it. But that’s all gone. Right. So what is left is these zoom calls and phone calls that are left and, and we need to be able to extend that warmth and love to the humans that we interact with.
And so I feel like at the end, of course, you know, at work, some of those, you know, being vulnerable with those feelings. Sometimes it’s, you know, it hurts, right? To be vulnerable, because it hurts to, you know, tell who you are truly, and be able to share it. So I try to Carley, I try, I try my best.
Carley Hauck 16:50
It’s interesting how you use the word ‘hurts’, because I actually feel a little differently in that when I am able to express my feelings, and I’m able to create space, to allow others to express, there’s actually usually more healing that happens. And I know you and I were using that word before we started the recording. You know, often I’ve thought of myself in the roles that I’ve come into when I worked as a leadership and organizational development consultant. And I’ve worked with a lot of HR business partners and supported manager and leadership development programs that I feel like I’m often coming in because they is suffering happening. And I’m coming in as a healer, so to speak, to apply different interventions, different trainings, whether that’s increasing psychological safety or supporting more inclusion in the way that we are, you know, choosing our stories in our narratives, or even in the way that we’re communicating. And so, going back to the word of hurt, do you really think it’s been hurt? Or has it been healing for you to share and for you to also hear other people share their feelings?
Nisha Paliwal 18:08
Yeah, no, give you a perfect story of why I use that word and my own example. So yeah, I was at Capital One. And I lost my eldest sister, five, five years ago now in a mobile accident, and it was very sudden. I was calling from India that she’s gone, I must take the next flight and go back home. I left everything as is at work and went home to support my parents and of course, review her last rites. When I came back, I just couldn’t speak to anybody. I was in shell shock. She was only a year and a half older to me, even today, I can probably cry telling you the story, but she was very close to me, right? So being able to share about her would hurt a lot.
This is the beauty of your leaders and the ecosystem if they are in the right place, what they can do for you. And actually, at that time, I had a director, unfortunately, he also lost his sister who was also very close to him. Now he is in New York and I’m coming back from India. Right and one fine day we just talked to each other. We just opened up. We both probably cried for hours and we opened up right and that’s when that’s when you are using the word heal. Healing happened when we were able to open up and be heard, and all that while because you are at work. Can you actually do that? Not really, because it’s a you know, corporate America it’s a work environment. Can you actually cry at work? Or how are you going to people be taking you right? And that’s the day today’s day is very good friend is still at Capital One and and then it was it became easier for a period of time and I’m able to now more open share her story and talk about it.
But I’ll tell you first few months coming back with that kind of loss and tragedy, it was hurtful. And I did not know. Can I tell? And I just joined Capital One, right? So it was not like I can Can I can I not right. And I’ve not made friendships, I didn’t know.
Carley Hauck 20:25
You didn’t know if it was safe, right would people hold it against you? What’s their psychological safety to be able to be that, that brave and authentic?
Nisha Paliwal 20:30
Exactly. That is the point, right is up is the whole point about relationship building and being able to trust each other and say, Hey, can I and that’s why, as a leader, my job is to make sure I create that space, but we can have hardest of conversation and not feel like we are being judged. Right. And this place actually offers many, many training and materials. And I think we are trying to bring you as well, like, this is a theme here, right? Still people being able to share being vulnerable, and to not worry about boundaries. Right?
Carley Hauck 21:05
Right. And having the leaders like yourself, that again, are leaving from that place are showing, I’m available to really talk to you, I’m available to connect, you know, even in the midst of this very difficult, challenging time. And that creates more safety where people really, they test it, they test Well, can I really share this with her or with my team? And then they wait to see, what’s the impact? What’s the reaction? Oh, that was safe. And then they try again. And then they lean a little bit further, right. And so it evolves over time.
But first, I just want to say thank you so much for sharing, about the context of why you use the word hurt. And also I just feel really touched, hearing this beautiful bond that you made with this other team member because of your willingness to share. And then he was able to join you in a very shared lived experience. And it sounds like that has created a relationship that has really lasted over years.
Nisha Paliwal 22:30
Yeah, and I think it lasts for life. I think I don’t give off I guess. So you’re in trouble. You’re with me for the rest of the life.
Carley Hauck 22:34
Well, I would say he’s lucky. He’s got some very good company. Wonderful. Well, let’s, let’s shift a little bit. Back to this letter. I feel so curious. When you’re sharing these feelings and being more vulnerable. If you’re willing to share without breaking any safety yet, we don’t need to say any names. But what were some of the responses that you received from team members that stood out to you?
Nisha Paliwal 22:59
Yeah, so I think what time I must have, for this week, actually, this week I shared. I talked to my boss, my first boss in India. I’m still friends with him as my agency friends. He’s my mentor. And he is a compulsive, optimist and voracious reader. That’s where I get my reading from actually. So optimist and what is what is his name, by the way, if we’re going to give him a little light,
Mr. Kadisha, we should definitely give him light, he was my first boss, and a lot of credit really goes to him. So I was sharing about him in my letter, and actually, I have 1996, he used to write these handwritten letters to us at that time when I used to look for him.
So I have that in a picture. So I shared that picture and the letter with everybody. And I was talking about coaching in general and how we all can be coaches, we just have to find one in ourselves. And the coaches that have impacted me personally have been those who have connected from heart. And he is one of them. That’s why I still talk to him. It was his birthday. So I gave him a call. And we had a long chat over many topics. So I was sharing and many employees actually many of my teammates, I should say responded back saying things like, you know, thank you for sharing how wonderful this mentor of yours or coach or manager was and how they find me doing a lot of those things for them that I don’t realize sometimes that I do coach in the moment right and it’s it’s through the through the letter.
So I received some of those, you know, assurances sort of trial, that hey, how this can positively impact and back to your book title, right? I always remember that shine is to code this shine through some other contexts, but it’s really about how we can pass that light to each other, and how we can make this brighter place, you know, through through that connections, having, I didn’t even have to go through I mean, if you talk to, I call him Sir, if you talk to some of my Sir, you will hear how much how much he went through his life right from life threatening disease to many things, right. But how he has been able to coach me and many others probably right? to spread this light back to your book shine, right?
That’s what it is like being a leader about is like being able to spread the light amidst how much darkness or uncertainty or what might be around. So I got several of the my ones shared on Mother’s Day I shared about my mom, she has been a stay at home mom, there was a picture of one time she wore pants and shirt, she never wear pants and shirt. That was a one time she will whenever I wasn’t born, there was a picture of her. So I said that picture with everybody. And I told them how selflessly she has served entire life. And even today she does, right. And in India, it’s pretty common for mothers not to work and be at home and so I was sharing about her and how. And they were like reflecting how I have some of those qualities of selflessness. Like you got to stop thinking like mothers, right? Mothers don’t think about them. Many times they think about the kids and it’s all about kids, right?
I say the workplace needs to be more of a family. Right? So I reflect back on some of that and say, Can workplace be we say it is like family? But can it be family? Right? We do so much for our family. If you think about it, mothers do so much for the kids and right is parenting slash so many things mixed into leadership, right.
Carley Hauck 26:54
And we spend so much of our time at work. And now in the midst of the pandemic and the future of work, which is going to be remote and hybrid. We are spending so much time at home and at work, right? We bring our whole selves to work at home and we’re in each other’s living rooms and basements. And there’s really not any separation. And so I love the idea of how do we create family and treat each other like family, you know, with love, with care. And I think those are the teams and the companies that are going to be most successful. Why would we want to work for a team that we didn’t feel like had our backs or where we couldn’t bring our whole selves? Or we weren’t feeling empowered to bring our light, right because we can all you know do it on our own. We have to be sharing their load, their responsibilities. And, and the wonderful, you know, delights of work together.
Nisha Paliwal 28:00
Yeah, yeah, truly, I mean, one of my colleagues here, her name is Maureen. She often uses the word I love you. Right. And my entire, you know, body sparkles when she says that, like that is so much affection for teammates. And you know, how much do you hear that in corporate America? I love you. Right. There’s not a common theme here. But yeah, that I’m talking about, I think Simon Simon Sinek also talks in many of his podcasts about how there’s a difference between military life and the corporate america lifeline.
But yeah, my effort is my hope is every day I leave work, people feel that they are more attached. And just this morning, one of my directors, Rakesh Dyer, was telling me how this place feels like a family. I’m like, why does it just feel like a family. Why is it not a family? Because he’s feeling that he’s feeling the love is feeling the connection is feeling the right. So it’s fascinating for me that we have a lot of work to do to create that work environment, but work in progress.
Carley Hauck 29:08
So I hear that one of your direct reports Rakesh was sharing that it feels like family, that the team that he’s on with you. That’s lovely.
Nisha Paliwal 29:25
Yeah, I think the word how he shared with me this morning is like earlier, it used to feel like project and delivery and you know, we are doing it. And we would I mean, all the people who are smart will probably get the word done. work is never really problem for smart people. Right? It’s taking time to build the relationship, taking time to share about each other’s values, the culture and the rules that they live by. Right. So he was telling me the last whole year has been feeling more connection and more association with each other knowing not just Hey, the world can be architects or whatever.
Delivering, we have, by the way, very high performing teams, it’s not like they cannot deliver. But what can go above and beyond the delivery here and now, right, and being able to build those long lasting relationships, as I call them. So my childhood friend is still my friend, my first boss is still Mike coach, like they cannot dismiss their role in my life. Right. And they probably continue for a long time. So yeah, that I was excited to hear that he’s, he’s feeling different. And he was able to share that with me.
Carley Hauck 30:35
Well, I feel so curious. You know, I know that in the book, there is a focus on the inner game, which is really these qualities on the inside, that we’re growing so that we can be a conscious and inclusive leader on the outside. And you and I have spoken about this, you know, offline. But some of those qualities that I really highlight in the book are self awareness, and emotional intelligence, and empathy and resilience, and well being, love and authenticity.
And when you think about the qualities that you have developed on the inside, that support you to lead in this way. I mean, I, I know you have a lot on your plate, you know, you, you’ve got two children, you’ve got this team of 450, you have a mentor in India and a childhood friend in South Carolina and all these people that you’re staying connected to. And I just wonder how do you make time for yourself for your learning? For all these people? Like what are those qualities that enable you to show up in this way?
Nisha Paliwal 31:46
Yeah, so. So I’ll share a few things. My dad is my life coach. Of course, mom is mom. But that has taught me so many things. And one of the wonderful things he taught me, which I was sharing with you, I think if we have common, I probably did started younger than you. But he started coaching us into yoga and meditation, probably from 10 or 12. So we were both of us, we also used to play badminton. So we were very big into sports as well. So at that time, it was like, of course, you have to force us to do any yoga and meditation, but he kept us teaching. So he’s himself a teacher of art of living, which is a breathing? Oh, yes, yes, I’m very familiar.
He’s a teacher, he started teaching us from a very early age, I’ll tell you, I did not get the sense and what it can do for me for years, because practice is what takes. Meditation, as you know, is what it takes.
And as you said, my job is pretty high profile, I’m always on very, very high energy. And sometimes that’s a negative but that energy largely comes from my practice of yoga meditation, I get up very early in the morning. So I’m up at 4 or 4:30am, I spend a lot of time on my physical health. So that’s cardio first thing in the morning, and, you know, running whatever I do, I do mostly running outside, but many exercises inside the house, then I spent a lot of time in this spiritual thinking and making sure I calm down my focus. You know, that’s why I think in studies also, when I used to get up early morning, it really helped me focus and really bring that and you started, right, you started this podcast with the mindfulness, right? That’s what we do that here. And I’m so proud that you’re practicing that from a young age as well.
Then I spend time on reading, because that’s my learning time as well. So that four to seven in the morning is so described, like prescribed time for me, and it has been for many, many years, that I’m not ready to give up, right, that self care that I need. And in some cases where I have a sorrow or a heart, then in that morning time, I also reflect I also think about how truly am I feeling?
Because I don’t want to go to work at 7, 7:30 whenever my work starts with the heart that is sinking and it’s not like many people you talk to my all hands mostly starts with the jumping jacks, for example, right? Like I do things which is high energy, and I want them to feel that energy, right? Because if you go to meetings with a sunken heart or us I’m not saying I’m not a human, I always have that. But that time in the morning Carley helps me really balanced myself on from all angles.
And many of they of course my life coach My dad is a phone call away so many days during the pandemic last year. I called him every day and of course, we had the unfortunate news that he suffered from third stage lymphoma. During this time, unfortunately, I couldn’t be physically with him, but he used to get on phone and so much positivity again, right like the healing part that you said that you will do the treatment of course, he went through the treatment, chemo and everything. But he’s so much believer in this positive strokes and, and you get that first thing in the morning from your life coach, guess what, how your day goes? a supersonic jet, right. So
Those are very fortunate between, you know, books like yours pod pay positive podcast, and some of the coaches and who I have in my life has been really, really instrumental in making who I am today.
Carley Hauck 35:48
Wonderful. So what I’m hearing is that you’ve really prioritized this time for your own learning for your own spiritual development, this 4:30 to seven time, most people would not want to get up that early. But I hear that that’s really been your commitment to you. And is one of the reasons that you’re able to show up so bright, and in your life as a leader, but also as a human being. And I also hear that the circle of people that you surround yourself with, empower you, they encourage you maybe to push yourself harder, but harder, and maybe harder is not the right word, I would say, challenge you to be better, challenge you to be more positive.
Nisha Paliwal 36:47
Yeah, they are the fuel. They’re the goal in my life. So they definitely fuel my life in many, many positive ways. So unfortunate.
Carley Hauck 36:52
Well, before we go, cuz I know we could talk for a very long time, and I hope we will be able to have more conversations offline, I would, I would love to stay connected and see how I can best support you. And I know that you feel really passionate about women and tech. Could you tell me a little bit more about that?
Nisha Paliwal 37:15
Yeah, because when I came to this country, frankly, I found myself very lonely in the field of technology. But again, being as fortunate as I am, your draft, who was my first manager here in the United States, I still talk to him again, relationship. So I’m in touch with him. He taught me a lot of things. Of course, I’m very in depth with what whatever he has taught me. But I found as I grew in my career, lesser and lesser women, were in the collective.
And then of course, I learned that not a lot of school kids want to even go to technology, because that’s a geeky route, why do I want to go in technology. So I took upon this audacious goal, that delay, I’m going to survive, I’m going to really spend a lot of time in developing retaining that talent for all of us. So that one, I can stop the pipeline that is leaking, meaning bringing the school aged kids to be interested, including my own daughter, who is very, very interested in technology, the younger one is or two is already a technologist. and many others will look upon me as a role model and bringing them to the workforce, and try to help them with whether by like, what worked for me what didn’t work for me and being, you know, in the coach and a mentor capacity, and in some cases, being responsible for them, because at my level, that’s expected that I can actually bring them along in the journey, right?
So yeah, I’m very passionate. So that’s a whole, like you said, hold a conversation. I’m right now spearheading a part time workforce at Capital One, I’m really hoping that gets kicked off. And a couple places in the globe. There’s an Indian bank, and there’s a UK company that I’m talking to. So I’m really hoping that we can retain and bring this much needed diversity in technology field.
Carley Hauck 39:12
Wonderful, wonderful. I look forward to seeing how that continues to go. I really appreciate your time today and you sharing your story and your light. I know it’s going to empower and influence many people. Is there anything else you’d like to leave people with our ways to get in touch with you?
Nisha Paliwal 39:35
Yeah, one, of course. So don’t touch like we had touched in LinkedIn. Like you said, One, I would say definitely read your book. So for all the audience, it’s such a practical and a complete book. It has all the chapters that I would want for holistic care wholesome, right. I think to me, the book came across as all the topics we are dealing with and how to really get yourself together. So one I would say definitely read your book. I’m also trying to get you to speak to some of the Capital One teams, I’m really hoping they can benefit. And second, I think the way I’ve heard your podcast and I’m gonna end like that, because I really like it, which is let’s shine our light together.
Carley Hauck 40:22
Ah, yes, let’s do that. Let’s shine it in the ways that business can really be a force for good in the world. Yes. Thank you so much. Carley. What a beautiful interview. Thank you Nisha, for being the conscious, inclusive leader you are, if you want to connect with Nisha, her LinkedIn handle will be in the show notes.
As you heard, Nisha, and I first connected because she had read my new book SHINE. And I would love for you to add this to your summer reading list. It’s available in hardcover and audio book, it will support you to be the kind of leader our world needs now. So that you can bring new tools and inspiration to this remote, hybrid future of work. And the links are in the show notes for SHINE.
Additionally, if you’re interested in learning how to cultivate conscious, inclusive leaders at your organization, you want to build psychological safety, have high performing teams and a flourishing, inclusive culture, for this future of work. As we are all navigating the uncertainty, please reach out to me this is what I specialize in. I offer trainings, assessments and larger scale programs to support you and your business to align your values with your mission. So the business can truly be a healing organization and a force for good in the world.
If you’re seeking someone to support you in a more full time capacity in these topics, please feel free to contact me. I would be happy to book a free consultation with you or put you in touch with someone who can help because I have a big network and I love to help people. Thank you again for listening to this episode and the SHINE podcast. It’s wonderful to have you as part of my community. And if you have questions, or suggestions for other topics, feel free to reach out support at Carley Hauck dot come and until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.
