Sonali Chatterjee - Deputy President & Head- People Performance and Culture | Aon India Insurance Brokers

Your Current Role: 

I currently head people, performance and culture (aka Human Resources) at Anviti Insurance Brokers, where I am spearheading the people strategy.

Advancing Your Journey Forward: 

I began my journey by joining Tata Chemicals in Mumbai as a Management Trainee after graduating from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. I would say that I was blessed with my first experience since I was exposed right at the beginning of my career to the philosophy and thinking of a people-oriented group like the Tata Group.

A lot of my early learning and exposure have shaped what I believe builds an organization which provides a truly enabling and empowering environment to its people. Following Tata Chemicals, I moved to Gurgaon to join the then Max New York Life Insurance, in the Corporate HR team.

Again I worked under the guidance of some exceptionally talented and forward thinking HR leaders who helped me understand the changing context from a steady state manufacturing organization to a fast growing new age services organization. The learning was exponential and helped me understand the importance of HR in truly being a business partner.

Overcoming Challenges: 

I would prefer not to term it as a "challenge". I think I have taken into cognizance, as a human being and as a professional, what defines me, what drives me and what satisfies me. Since, I have had clarity on that; I have consciously made choices in my career which have enabled me to achieve those aspects, at different points. Today, I can easily say that I am a satisfied career woman who is also a deeply connected mom, wife and a daughter.

Accomplishing success, creating relationships, adding value- are all inherent drivers for me, in all my roles in life, and I chose to accept challenges and find ways to work with them, rather than around them. Looking back, I think I have grown as a professional by virtue of both - my experiences with working with some of the smartest and most talented people, as well as because of my choices to experience each stage of my life to its fullest, and take the good out of that stage and learn something from it.

A Turning Point In Your Life And How Did It Impact You: 

I think professionally, a key turning point in my life was when I joined Hewitt Associates, which is now Aon. From working in the uni-dimensional environment of a single organization, to working in a multi-dimensional environment with multiple clients, solutions, internal and external stakeholders - the sheer complexity of work increased manifold and with it also the accelerated learning. I would like to credit my 11 years of working (6 with Aon and 5 with Salto Dee Fe Consulting) as an incredible foundation of learning, experiences and growth, which has impacted how I look at every business situation and context differently.

You Advice: 

I think the most important thing to remember as a leader is that in today's world, one has to lead by example and by role modeling. Even if your designation and title call you a leader, you may still not be considered one unless you have the respect, trust and belief in others and you are willing to walk that last mile to lead and support the endeavors of others.