Mahalakshmi Ramesh Kumar, Additional General Manager & Deputy Head – Customer Service Division, Yokogawa India Limited.

Can you share about your journey in the business world and how you got started in your current role?

I started my career as a scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. It was a great learning experience, and it helped me build a strong foundation in instrumentation and process automation. I then got married, moved to Bangalore, and joined Yokogawa, a leader in process automation. I started as a trainer, quickly progressed to heading the training division and expanded into Repair services and Service sales functions. Yokogawa believed in me and gave me challenging roles and avenues to create impact, helping me grow into my current role as Deputy Head of Yokogawa services business in India.

What leadership qualities have been crucial to your success?

I have tried to set my own benchmarks and constantly challenge myself, striving to foster growth and continued development in business models, processes, and people. Open communication and clarity on individual and team goals has helped the team to cultivate a strong positive attitude, thus converting challenges to growth opportunities.

I believe courage plays a big role in charting our course in life and business, and a well aligned courageous team can take on the challenges of life as well as business. I have all along been striving to build such a team and I can say today, with confidence, that my team can navigate through this VUCA world and bring prosperity.

Can you share a pivotal moment or decision that significantly impacted your journey so far?

The decision to move to a new city and pivot my career from science to industry had a profound impact on my journey. It taught me how to look for opportunities and deal with change, both in my personal and professional life.

My education and experiences had equipped me with valuable critical thinking skills and a versatile set of tools that I could deploy towards any avenue of my choice. Then, and now, I strive to put my best foot forward, and more importantly, enjoy the journey towards the destination.

What strategies do you employ in building and leading a successful team?

The focus has been to create team synergy, as the combined effort of a team is more effective than the sum of its parts. I try to instill the mindset that every individual’s contribution is equally important for the company’s success. Every individual in the team has unique potential, ability, personality, and skill sets. If we tap that potential correctly, together, we can create a winning team. We use tools like skill-matching and a 360-degree feedback system to provide development programs for everyone. I encourage my team to take ownership and communicate without fear, and to take pride in our professionalism. I encourage them to build on their success and to manage setbacks with a positive attitude and renewed enthusiasm. I also believe in celebrating our successes and learning from our failures as a team.

Can you discuss a failure or setback and the lessons it taught you?

In 2008, our team introduced Internet based training globally. In India, we ran into a lot of problems as this was still a very new concept. Connectivity was a huge issue, and many companies did not grant access to our modules for security reasons. We were forced to re-evaluate our strategy and develop an innovative solution to successfully deploy our modules in CD version for the local market. Later, with the advent of appropriate technology, we could address these concerns and implement virtual training programs across the globe, resulting in a successful and versatile model. Through this experience, I realised that setbacks pose challenges, but they push us to think outside the box and look for better solutions. Adversities help us to innovate and realise our potential. As I said before, we turn the challenges to growth opportunities with flexibility, determination, and co-innovation.

How important is workplace culture to you, and how have you contributed to shaping it?

A workplace is not just a venue for people to come together to perform a task. They must be motivated to initiate innovative ideas and establish a great career for themselves. I believe that an organisation’s DNA is built by the values, beliefs, and attitudes of its people. Rewarding an individual or a team’s success while helping them navigate failures builds trust and inculcates transparency, creating a solid foundation for a healthy workplace atmosphere. At Yokogawa, we make persistent efforts towards fostering meaningful relationships and encouraging the team to participate in professional team building and social cultural activities. This brings the team together, improving morale and helping keep spirits high.

How do you stay updated on industry trends and continuously develop your skills?

I am deeply passionate about learning, and my role allows me to interact with domain experts and stay connected to industry trends. I attend workshops and seminars, and this has helped me to continuously develop my skills and tune our services to match evolving customer needs.

How do you define success in your professional life?

Success for me is to be a better person than I was yesterday. I define success as creating a positive impact for the company as well as for our customers. I wish to leave behind a strong legacy with a balanced, highly functioning team with deep respect for customer relationships. In this pursuit, if I can retain my positivity and maintain a healthy work-life balance, I think that qualifies as success. 

How do you balance professional responsibilities with your personal life?

Professional and personal skills are not mutually exclusive in many areas. Multitasking and people management are natural requirements on both fronts and interestingly, this helps in balancing both our lives. Effective time management and prioritising key activities help us to strike a balance.

I like keeping my personal and professional life separate and make conscious efforts to prevent workplace stress from trickling over. I believe that a healthy personal life aids in professional success and vice versa. I enjoy spending time on my interests like reading, cooking, and spending time with loved ones, and I bring along the same commitment and passion to my work. My sense of purpose and a strong support system gives me the confidence to balance both worlds with ease.

What advice would you give to women aspiring to enter the business world or become entrepreneurs?

It is important for women to be financially independent and realise the full extent of their potential. Pursuing a good education and choosing a profession they are passionate about is the first step. Women need to step out of their comfort zone, believe in themselves and adapt to changes quickly. No favors are dealt out in the professional world and there is no easy path to success. We need to overcome cultural and psychological barriers, be open to new ideas, and face challenges with grace and courage.

How would you describe your life in 3 words?

A Beautiful Canvas.

What would you write on your own fortune cookie?

Trust yourself, soar high and free

Mrs Mahalakshmi Ramesh Kumar is an Additional General Manager and Deputy Head- Customer Service Division, Yokogawa India Limited. Mrs Kumar started her career at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) as a nuclear scientist and subsequently joined Yokogawa India in its Customer Services Division. She rose from being an individual trainer in the Industrial Automation and Safety domain to heading the Training, Bench Repair and Southern Regional Services business in Yokogawa.

As a Deputy Head-Customer Services at Yokogawa India, Mrs Kumar is responsible for the overall services business of the company. She has transformed the Training centre from a cost centre to a profit centre and ensured Training Business Growth Year after Year. Under her leadership, Yokogawa Training Centre has delivered more than 55,000 man-weeks of Industrial Automation training programs for Energy & Sustainability, Materials and Life Industry Professionals and engineering students across the Globe.

Mrs Kumar has been the recipient of the Yokogawa Electric International Pte Limited, Japan Performance Award towards the Development of Net-Based Online Training Modules of Yokogawa. Under her Leadership, Yokogawa India Training Team received ACE Performance Excellence Award for their success in Virtual Trainings Globally.

Mrs Kumar has also championed various campaigns in Yokogawa India including the Global Employee Engagement Program; Diversity and Inclusion Initiative; Industrial Automation to Industrial Autonomy (IA2IA); Change Champion for Yoda (Yokogawa Digital Assistant -CRM); ARIBA Cloud Based Procurement Solution for Service.

As Training Head, Mrs Kumar mentored, motivated and developed a consistent high-performance team which has received accolades globally. As Bench Repair Head, she mentored and created a highly professional and collaborative result-focused team which could deliver quality results consistently. As Yokogawa strongly believes in Diversity and Inclusion, Mrs Kumar has groomed a second line of women trainers and women leaders to handle multifunctional cross-domain roles to carry the legacy forward.

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