Driven by Empathy and Clarity

Aparna Batra, Director, 32nd, has had the opportunity of working with some of the best brands in the world and interacting with inspirational leaders who have all infused her with the art of management. The art that takes into account both inclusivity and diversity while taking decisions that not only take her brands forward but also do so in a way that creates space for young talent, irrespective of gender, to exhibit their brilliance.

Working with some of the finest brands in the world, stellar leaders and the brightest young minds in business has certainly been a big boon for Aparna Batra. She has over two decades of value-driving business leadership for leading global brands across the APAC region, including Amazon, Swarovski, William Grant and Sons, Weber Shandwick and Star TV. And this helped her refine a leadership model that combines sharp process intelligence with adaptive bottoms-up market validation.

During all her tenures, she has remained committed to driving inclusivity across organisations in order to herald a new era of transformational leadership. These experiences have fuelled her, all of which have contributed towards her growth, both personal and professional. In fact, Aparna has won the President of India Award instituted by the Gandhian Society Asia for social narratives on India.

Currently, a student of Art Appreciation with the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, she is also a collector of Indian art and literature. Her professional experience has helped foster long-term passion and dedication towards creating sustainable business models.

This has included such sectors as premium retail, fashion and good living as well as food and beverage. “I remain keenly interested in developing marketing and commercial concepts for the future with one eye on the Metaverse and the other on the more classic, human interaction to build engagement and foster brand love,” is how she defines her work. As a woman leader in a host of male-dominated industries, she has only embraced goodwill and growth, learning from dissent and disagreements. Inspired by her leaders, she now mentors young leaders with empathy being her greatest learning.

In Pursuit of Values

Asked to define what individualism means to her, Aparna says that when individuals are autonomous, their behaviour is self-organised and self- endorsed, making all their actions authentic and voluntary. “This is the fundamental definition of individualist autonomy,” she states. The opposite of autonomy, she adds, is feeling pressured, coerced or compelled to act by forces or pressures perceived as external to the self.

Increased workplace autonomy embraces the concept that not everyone is the same and this becomes the bedrock for the overall management framework, she adds. In the same breath, she further states that despite some early good intent steps, we are still very far away from a democratic, autonomous model at most workplaces all over the world today.

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