WOMEN LEADERS AND REAL ESTATE’S NEXT DECADE OF GROWTH

Q What challenges have shaped you most as a woman leader?

I am fortunate to come from a family that has built a strong and respected real estate business, and that naturally opened some doors for me. But it also came with its own expectations. There was often an assumption that, as a woman from a real estate family, I would naturally gravitate towards areas such as brand, design, culture or community, rather than the more traditional aspects of the business such as land, engineering or P&L responsibility. My experience in North India helped change that perception. Prestige has built more than four decades of trust in Bengaluru, but when we entered Delhi-NCR, we were new to the market and had to establish ourselves in a highly competitive environment. We could not rely only on our legacy. We had to earn the confidence of customers, partners and the market through our work, one interaction and one project at a time. That experience shaped me as a leader. It taught me to be prepared, understand the details and let the work speak for itself.

Q Do women still face challenges at the highest levels of leadership?The conversation has evolved. The reality, partially. What has changed is that the case no longer needs to be made in the abstract. There are women running serious mandates across real estate, finance, technology, healthcare and infrastructure, and you can simply point to them rather than argue a principle. But there still aren’t enough of them, and it would be dishonest to suggest otherwise. At the most senior levels the numbers remain small, and small enough that most of us can name each other. That said, it is changing, and changing faster than it was even five years ago. Where I think the conversation still falls short is on where we actually lose women. It isn’t at the entry point. Women join this industry in substantial numbers. They leave in the middle years, when site postings, constant travel and responsibilities at home tend to arrive together, and very few firms have built anything for that stage of a career. The result is that the top of the industry is drawing from a much smaller pool than it should be.

Q Have women leaders changed perspectives in boardrooms?

Absolutely. I believe greater representation of women in leadership has brought a broader range of perspectives to decision-making. At the same time, I would not attribute particular qualities to women alone, because leadership styles are shaped by individual experiences, exposure and circumstances. What I have observed is that women leaders often bring experiences and perspectives that may have been less represented in traditional decision-making environments. This can lead to more diverse discussions, more thoughtful questioning and a greater consideration of how decisions will ultimately impact people. I also believe diversity improves decision-making because it encourages teams to look at a situation from multiple angles before arriving at a conclusion. It does not necessarily mean that decisions become slower; rather, they can become more informed and balanced.