Latest / Something Extra / Trust, Technology, and Global Leadership w/ Suda Suvarna

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Trust, Technology, and Global Leadership w/ Suda Suvarna · Something Extra

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• 1:44
  Lisa Nichols: It is my pleasure to have Suda Suvarna on the show today.
• 1:47
  Lisa Nichols: Suda has been at Deloitte for the past nine and a half years and
• 1:50
  Lisa Nichols: is the global chief digital solutions officer.
• 1:54
  Lisa Nichols: Prior to that, he held the deputy CIO role in the US member firm.
• 1:58
  Lisa Nichols: Welcome, my friend, to the something extra podcast.
• 2:02
  Lisa Nichols: I have been looking so forward to this time with you, and I'm excited.
• 2:06
  Lisa Nichols: We've been trying to make this happen for a while, Suda.
• 2:09
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 2:10
  Lisa Nichols: But,
• 2:12
  Lisa Nichols: but finally, we're we're we're, making the time here, and I'm so
• 2:16
  Lisa Nichols: excited for our conversation today.
• 2:19
  Suda Suvarna: Absolutely.
• 2:19
  Suda Suvarna: First of all, thank you so much for,
• 2:23
  Suda Suvarna: allowing me to be a part of your show and whatnot.
• 2:25
  Suda Suvarna: And, I've listened to some of your podcast in the past.
• 2:29
  Suda Suvarna: I listen to that, whenever I exercise, when I'm on a treadmill and,
• 2:33
  Suda Suvarna: or or riding my bike.
• 2:35
  Suda Suvarna: It's available for anybody to listen to.
• 2:38
  Suda Suvarna: So I enjoy listening to different perspective, different experiences from,
• 2:42
  Suda Suvarna: all the professionals that you brought in before.
• 2:45
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 2:45
  Lisa Nichols: Well, it's gonna be fun.
• 2:47
  Lisa Nichols: It's gonna be fun, and you've got a lot of experiences and a lot
• 2:50
  Lisa Nichols: of wisdom and insight yourself, Sidus.
• 2:52
  Lisa Nichols: I cannot wait for our listeners that don't know you to get to know
• 2:56
  Lisa Nichols: you better.
• 2:58
  Lisa Nichols: Okay.
• 2:58
  Lisa Nichols: Let's just start with this.
• 2:59
  Lisa Nichols: I know you grew up in India, and you'd studied physics.
• 3:03
  Lisa Nichols: And before you moved into IT management, how
• 3:07
  Lisa Nichols: did your roots really shape your worldview growing up
• 3:11
  Lisa Nichols: in India?
• 3:14
  Suda Suvarna: Well, it's the completely different perspective where I grew
• 3:18
  Suda Suvarna: up and where I am now.
• 3:19
  Suda Suvarna: It's, it's the the chasm is too wide,
• 3:24
  Suda Suvarna: to be perfectly honest with you.
• 3:26
  Suda Suvarna: I grew up in a very a poor family.
• 3:30
  Suda Suvarna: We were eight of us, six kids and parents, we lived in a two
• 3:34
  Suda Suvarna: hundred square foot house, if you can imagine that.
• 3:37
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, we learned to live with, the the basics.
• 3:43
  Suda Suvarna: And you know what?
• 3:44
  Suda Suvarna: We were very happy,
• 3:46
  Suda Suvarna: because we got the best education,
• 3:50
  Suda Suvarna: caring and loving parents.
• 3:52
  Suda Suvarna: And,
• 3:53
  Suda Suvarna: we have a bunch of friends in the neighborhood, and, we grew up pretty
• 3:58
  Suda Suvarna: pretty happy.
• 3:59
  Suda Suvarna: Didn't have any concerns of the world and whatnot.
• 4:02
  Suda Suvarna: And, now in the US, after I came to the US
• 4:06
  Suda Suvarna: about, gosh, thirty five some years ago, my life
• 4:10
  Suda Suvarna: changed for good completely.
• 4:12
  Suda Suvarna: You know, it was a different experience, different perspective.
• 4:15
  Suda Suvarna: I had to learn the language.
• 4:18
  Suda Suvarna: Believe it or not, when I came to the US,
• 4:21
  Suda Suvarna: I couldn't speak in English.
• 4:23
  Suda Suvarna: And I had to learn the hard way because, of course, when you're growing
• 4:26
  Suda Suvarna: up in India and you go to some of the colleges that I went
• 4:29
  Suda Suvarna: to,
• 4:31
  Suda Suvarna: most of the teachers and professors, they actually speak to you in the local
• 4:35
  Suda Suvarna: language of their preference.
• 4:36
  Suda Suvarna: And, and I it was like that for me.
• 4:39
  Suda Suvarna: But I never forced myself to speak in English even though I learned everything
• 4:42
  Suda Suvarna: in English and whatnot.
• 4:44
  Suda Suvarna: From growing up from that perspective with a completely different set
• 4:48
  Suda Suvarna: of of cultural nuances coming to the US
• 4:53
  Suda Suvarna: was a shocking experience.
• 4:55
  Suda Suvarna: But over a period of time, I got adjusted to that, and,
• 5:00
  Suda Suvarna: and I'll I have no regrets.
• 5:02
  Suda Suvarna: I enjoy, doing what I'm doing, and I enjoy,
• 5:06
  Suda Suvarna: my new,
• 5:09
  Suda Suvarna: chosen country of choice.
• 5:11
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, it's a it god has blessed me tremendously with that.
• 5:16
  Lisa Nichols: Well, our country is better because you're in it, Suda.
• 5:19
  Lisa Nichols: I can tell you that.
• 5:20
  Lisa Nichols: So but I love what you said about growing up
• 5:25
  Lisa Nichols: not having a lot, but you had a happy
• 5:29
  Lisa Nichols: life because you had love from your family and your mom and your dad
• 5:33
  Lisa Nichols: and your siblings.
• 5:34
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
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  Lisa Nichols: And so, you know, I think that sometimes there's a misnomer there that
• 5:40
  Lisa Nichols: you need more to be happy.
• 5:41
  Lisa Nichols: And we've seen the same thing in El Salvador and some of the countries
• 5:45
  Lisa Nichols: that we have, traveled to, like, for mission work.
• 5:49
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, they're happy.
• 5:50
  Lisa Nichols: And, yeah, sometimes the more you have, you and I have talked about that,
• 5:54
  Lisa Nichols: the more you have, the more headaches you have.
• 5:57
  Lisa Nichols: Exactly.
• 5:58
  Suda Suvarna: Exactly.
• 5:59
  Suda Suvarna: Right.
• 6:01
  Lisa Nichols: That is so I love that.
• 6:02
  Lisa Nichols: How old were you, Suda, when you came to the United States?
• 6:05
  Suda Suvarna: Twenty nine years old.
• 6:07
  Lisa Nichols: Twenty nine.
• 6:08
  Lisa Nichols: How hard was it for you to learn English?
• 6:12
  Suda Suvarna: It was difficult because I I've spoken broken English
• 6:16
  Suda Suvarna: for the most part.
• 6:17
  Suda Suvarna: And, some of the colleagues that I work with, they started correcting me,
• 6:21
  Suda Suvarna: and they were apologizing for correcting me.
• 6:25
  Suda Suvarna: In fact, I gave them the permission to correct me anytime, anywhere
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  Suda Suvarna: whenever I say something that didn't sound right.
• 6:33
  Suda Suvarna: You know?
• 6:33
  Suda Suvarna: Mhmm.
• 6:34
  Suda Suvarna: So that that was a big help.
• 6:37
  Suda Suvarna: And I I maintain that even today.
• 6:40
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 6:41
  Lisa Nichols: Well, that tells me something else about you, that you are open to
• 6:45
  Lisa Nichols: to feedback and you're humble enough to know, hey.
• 6:48
  Lisa Nichols: I need some help.
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  Lisa Nichols: I need help from my friends around me.
• 6:51
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
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  Lisa Nichols: So so okay.
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  Lisa Nichols: So, Suda, I wanna talk about what sparked your love
• 6:57
  Lisa Nichols: and your passion for technology.
• 6:59
  Lisa Nichols: Where did that come from?
• 7:02
  Suda Suvarna: I would say the most important thing for me was
• 7:06
  Suda Suvarna: the curiosity.
• 7:07
  Suda Suvarna: You know?
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  Suda Suvarna: I was always curious about how things work, and I was always
• 7:11
  Suda Suvarna: fascinated with the original spark, which led someone
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  Suda Suvarna: to invent something instead of just admiring the problem.
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  Suda Suvarna: I'm still the same way.
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  Suda Suvarna: I look at something and I start thinking about, you know, why does it
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  Suda Suvarna: work the way it does?
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  Suda Suvarna: Why isn't it, you know, operate this way or the other way and all
• 7:30
  Suda Suvarna: of that?
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  Suda Suvarna: I think that helps me to really go deeper to understand
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  Suda Suvarna: all aspects of what that is.
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  Suda Suvarna: So I would say the number one thing was curiosity and fascination,
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  Suda Suvarna: that led me to, this, this area of technology.
• 7:46
  Suda Suvarna: Ah, I love it.
• 7:48
  Suda Suvarna: You kinda mentioned that earlier.
• 7:51
  Suda Suvarna: When I got my nuclear and atomic physics and, you know, electronic
• 7:55
  Suda Suvarna: instrumentation degree,
• 7:58
  Suda Suvarna: my natural path was to go and work for,
• 8:02
  Suda Suvarna: nuclear, power plant in the nuclear research center.
• 8:07
  Suda Suvarna: But those opportunities are just
• 8:12
  Suda Suvarna: far and few and few and far between.
• 8:14
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 8:15
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 8:15
  Suda Suvarna: And in the at that time, the whole software development revolution
• 8:19
  Suda Suvarna: was happening right in front of me.
• 8:21
  Suda Suvarna: At that time, the demand was so high for programmers.
• 8:25
  Suda Suvarna: And that's when I decided to go back to, computer science and
• 8:29
  Suda Suvarna: start, started coding, and I fell in love with it.
• 8:33
  Lisa Nichols: I'm so glad.
• 8:34
  Lisa Nichols: I'm so glad because I was gonna ask you about where the pivot.
• 8:37
  Lisa Nichols: I wanted to understand because I knew that you had studied physics.
• 8:40
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 8:41
  Lisa Nichols: But, yeah, that was that was a a big time back
• 8:45
  Lisa Nichols: then.
• 8:46
  Suda Suvarna: It it was.
• 8:47
  Lisa Nichols: My husband, Greg, and you are the same age, and the same thing was
• 8:51
  Lisa Nichols: happening with him.
• 8:51
  Lisa Nichols: And he got a fascination, and then that led to, one thing after
• 8:56
  Lisa Nichols: the other and, programming and now with technology burners.
• 8:59
  Lisa Nichols: So,
• 9:01
  Lisa Nichols: you know, you you speak multiple languages.
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  Lisa Nichols: Tell me all the languages that you speak, you know, Suda
• 9:08
  Lisa Nichols: and, now English too.
• 9:10
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 9:11
  Lisa Nichols: So
• 9:13
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 9:13
  Suda Suvarna: I speak in my mother tongue, which is Kannada, which is part of,
• 9:17
  Suda Suvarna: a state called Karnataka in, in India.
• 9:21
  Suda Suvarna: Also speak in national language, Hindi, and national language of India
• 9:25
  Suda Suvarna: that is Hindi.
• 9:26
  Suda Suvarna: Then the local language called Marathi, which is, where I grew up in a
• 9:30
  Suda Suvarna: state called Maharashtra.
• 9:32
  Suda Suvarna: And, of course, English.
• 9:35
  Suda Suvarna: Then I also took,
• 9:37
  Suda Suvarna: Spanish and French classes a few years back.
• 9:40
  Suda Suvarna: So I kinda understand most of the,
• 9:44
  Suda Suvarna: most of the words and, you know, I can, you know, put two and
• 9:47
  Suda Suvarna: two together, and I can, I can get by?
• 9:50
  Suda Suvarna: So Yeah.
• 9:51
  Suda Suvarna: I would say about four plus two.
• 9:55
  Lisa Nichols: Well, you know and and we're gonna talk about this, but you've led global
• 9:59
  Lisa Nichols: teams.
• 9:59
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, how has that really influenced your leadership
• 10:04
  Lisa Nichols: style and the way that you, you know, have managed people over the years?
• 10:08
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, you probably understand a lot of different cultures and
• 10:13
  Suda Suvarna: I think that's a great question.
• 10:15
  Suda Suvarna: In fact,
• 10:17
  Suda Suvarna: I would say the number one would be listen more.
• 10:21
  Suda Suvarna: When especially,
• 10:23
  Suda Suvarna: you know, I learned long time ago.
• 10:25
  Suda Suvarna: If someone speaks to you with an accent, that means they know one more
• 10:29
  Suda Suvarna: language than you do, most likely.
• 10:31
  Lisa Nichols: Oh, that's good.
• 10:32
  Suda Suvarna: So so I learned to respect that.
• 10:34
  Suda Suvarna: And, obviously, listening comes first.
• 10:37
  Suda Suvarna: And I would say that number two is, take the high road and be
• 10:41
  Suda Suvarna: more empathetic with people.
• 10:44
  Suda Suvarna: And, make sure you're also aware of the cultural
• 10:49
  Suda Suvarna: awareness and the nuances because every culture has a little different
• 10:53
  Suda Suvarna: nuances when you the the way you speak to them, the way you interact
• 10:56
  Suda Suvarna: with them.
• 10:58
  Suda Suvarna: In some culture, you know, being bold and direct
• 11:02
  Suda Suvarna: is the best way.
• 11:03
  Suda Suvarna: Like, point a to point b straight line is the best answer.
• 11:08
  Suda Suvarna: In some culture, it is a disaster, Yeah.
• 11:12
  Suda Suvarna: Because, when you start having those type of conversation, people back off.
• 11:16
  Suda Suvarna: Literally, physically, they back off, and they wanna have that space.
• 11:20
  Suda Suvarna: And they are wondering why in the world you're being so rude.
• 11:25
  Suda Suvarna: Well, the culture you're from, it is perfectly normal.
• 11:29
  Suda Suvarna: So I think you have to have that cultural awareness.
• 11:32
  Suda Suvarna: So when you learn the language, you're not just learning the language.
• 11:36
  Suda Suvarna: You're kind of learning the cultural aspect of that individual
• 11:41
  Suda Suvarna: or that group,
• 11:43
  Suda Suvarna: by default.
• 11:44
  Suda Suvarna: You know?
• 11:44
  Suda Suvarna: When I was in the Middle East while working in the Middle East, I
• 11:48
  Suda Suvarna: I I was I could understand Arabic,
• 11:52
  Suda Suvarna: because I was there for quite some time.
• 11:54
  Suda Suvarna: And, I kinda knew what to say, what not to do, and how I
• 11:57
  Suda Suvarna: sit in front of other people, how I cross my legs, and, you know,
• 12:01
  Suda Suvarna: where my feet is pointed and all of that.
• 12:03
  Suda Suvarna: Those things are really important, and you have to be cognizant
• 12:07
  Suda Suvarna: of that and make sure that, you know, you're looking at this world from
• 12:12
  Suda Suvarna: their perspective.
• 12:14
  Lisa Nichols: That is so good.
• 12:15
  Lisa Nichols: That is gold.
• 12:16
  Lisa Nichols: That is gold there.
• 12:17
  Lisa Nichols: And I'm thinking as you're you were talking about that, I'm
• 12:22
  Lisa Nichols: I'm gonna go back to the other trait that you talked about, the curiosity.
• 12:25
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 12:26
  Lisa Nichols: And you may say, how how do I do that?
• 12:28
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 12:29
  Lisa Nichols: Well, be more curious.
• 12:31
  Lisa Nichols: Be Yeah.
• 12:31
  Lisa Nichols: You know, try to ask questions of them.
• 12:34
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 12:34
  Lisa Nichols: And get to know seek to understand,
• 12:37
  Lisa Nichols: you know, is is kinda what I'm thinking.
• 12:39
  Lisa Nichols: So that's really that's really, really good
• 12:42
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 12:42
  Lisa Nichols: Good advice.
• 12:43
  Lisa Nichols: So let's kinda move into your career.
• 12:45
  Lisa Nichols: You've worked at a lot of iconic organizations,
• 12:49
  Lisa Nichols: Suda.
• 12:50
  Lisa Nichols: You worked at, I think you worked at enterprise for nine years.
• 12:54
  Lisa Nichols: Tell me just a little bit, what what one maybe foundational
• 12:59
  Lisa Nichols: leadership trait did you learn at enterprise that you've carried forward?
• 13:05
  Suda Suvarna: Oh my gosh.
• 13:06
  Suda Suvarna: There's a lot.
• 13:08
  Suda Suvarna: Quite honestly, it changed everything because, I worked
• 13:12
  Suda Suvarna: for a guy named Bill Snyder.
• 13:13
  Suda Suvarna: He was the CIO.
• 13:15
  Suda Suvarna: And, actually, he believed in me.
• 13:17
  Suda Suvarna: And he gave me opportunities after opportunities.
• 13:20
  Suda Suvarna: I mean, I didn't think I had what it took to be successful.
• 13:24
  Suda Suvarna: I had no idea about certain things that he asked me to do.
• 13:28
  Suda Suvarna: How do you,
• 13:30
  Suda Suvarna: become an expert in that?
• 13:31
  Suda Suvarna: But I was thrown into that mix and thrown into the fire, so to
• 13:35
  Suda Suvarna: speak.
• 13:36
  Suda Suvarna: And, that's how he was.
• 13:38
  Suda Suvarna: And because he trusted me completely, and he knew I was going
• 13:42
  Suda Suvarna: to struggle through it and come out,
• 13:46
  Suda Suvarna: successful.
• 13:47
  Suda Suvarna: I'm I'm practically, I owe my entire success to Bill Snyder,
• 13:51
  Suda Suvarna: who actually gave me all the the challenging opportunities.
• 13:54
  Suda Suvarna: He moved me around seven seven times within the organization, gave me
• 13:58
  Suda Suvarna: all the guidance I needed, and, he mentored
• 14:02
  Suda Suvarna: me personally and provided all the deep insights and
• 14:06
  Suda Suvarna: how to get things done in a very complex global organization.
• 14:12
  Suda Suvarna: And, the the way he, you know, was thinking, the way his thought
• 14:16
  Suda Suvarna: process was was extremely valuable for me because I'm
• 14:20
  Suda Suvarna: I'm a point a to point b.
• 14:21
  Suda Suvarna: Stray line is the best dancer type of person when it comes to execution.
• 14:26
  Suda Suvarna: But, he taught me a lot of other things that actually goes hand in
• 14:30
  Suda Suvarna: hand with that, like relationship and being influential and,
• 14:34
  Suda Suvarna: you know, driving to results and carrying people, with you and all of that.
• 14:38
  Suda Suvarna: So I learned a lot from, from him through my enterprise days, and
• 14:42
  Suda Suvarna: I'm extremely thankful for him.
• 14:44
  Lisa Nichols: Oh, goodness.
• 14:45
  Lisa Nichols: I love that so much.
• 14:47
  Lisa Nichols: And I know you because we've we've talked on the sideline.
• 14:50
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 14:50
  Suda Suvarna: I
• 14:50
  Lisa Nichols: mean, you've mentored Notel in hundreds, and there's
• 14:54
  Lisa Nichols: people that still are saying, hey.
• 14:56
  Lisa Nichols: Can I continue to be mentored by you?
• 14:59
  Lisa Nichols: I'm sure, you know, Suda, you saw what he deposited
• 15:03
  Lisa Nichols: into you, and I'm sure that that is a big reason why you wanna
• 15:07
  Lisa Nichols: make sure that you're paying it forward for others.
• 15:10
  Lisa Nichols: That's really that's really beautiful.
• 15:12
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I know that you're at Extension Health too, and I think you
• 15:16
  Lisa Nichols: led one of the largest business transformations in health care.
• 15:21
  Lisa Nichols: What was that experience like?
• 15:24
  Suda Suvarna: I would you know, when it comes to Ascension Health, I think you can
• 15:31
  Suda Suvarna: forget their mission.
• 15:32
  Suda Suvarna: It's a mission focused organization based on, you know, saving
• 15:36
  Suda Suvarna: lives.
• 15:37
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 15:38
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 15:38
  Suda Suvarna: You know, when I say saving lives, it basically means, you know, through
• 15:42
  Suda Suvarna: an approach that considers patients' spiritual,
• 15:47
  Suda Suvarna: physical, mental needs.
• 15:50
  Suda Suvarna: We can pretty much call it as an holistic approach to wellness.
• 15:53
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 15:53
  Suda Suvarna: Yes.
• 15:54
  Suda Suvarna: Not a lot of, health care organizations do that.
• 15:56
  Suda Suvarna: And, obviously, it is a Christ centered ministry.
• 16:01
  Suda Suvarna: And, it was easy for me to latch on to that, mission and the
• 16:05
  Suda Suvarna: purpose, what they do, why they do it, and how they do it.
• 16:09
  Suda Suvarna: I would say the second thing was serving those who are
• 16:13
  Suda Suvarna: poor and the vulnerable in the in the community where they serve.
• 16:16
  Suda Suvarna: This is the that that really meant a lot to me because I had,
• 16:21
  Suda Suvarna: people within my family that they went through a lot of, health care struggles
• 16:25
  Suda Suvarna: and all of that for years.
• 16:28
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, I learned a lot about, you know,
• 16:32
  Suda Suvarna: the the organization, Ascension Health, and why they do that.
• 16:36
  Suda Suvarna: You know, it is based on a fundamental principle that started, gosh,
• 16:40
  Suda Suvarna: you know, for six hundred some years ago when a couple of nuns in
• 16:45
  Suda Suvarna: Paris and and and, in the in Europe started this organization serving
• 16:49
  Suda Suvarna: those in the community who did not have any other means for getting,
• 16:53
  Suda Suvarna: health care or any kind of, help.
• 16:57
  Suda Suvarna: From from a overall perspective on the the program that I was,
• 17:02
  Suda Suvarna: privileged to lead along with some of my colleagues,
• 17:06
  Suda Suvarna: it was a four year long business transmission program.
• 17:10
  Suda Suvarna: And,
• 17:12
  Suda Suvarna: ironically, it was, we are two years behind when we all arrived, and
• 17:16
  Suda Suvarna: we had to catch up on delivering over twenty,
• 17:21
  Suda Suvarna: I would say, twenty twenty two different highly integrated, set of products,
• 17:26
  Suda Suvarna: within the remaining two years.
• 17:28
  Suda Suvarna: So that was probably,
• 17:31
  Suda Suvarna: one of the the the most, complex undertaking of my career.
• 17:35
  Suda Suvarna: My peers and our collective teams not only caught up
• 17:39
  Suda Suvarna: and delivered the entire program in less than two years, but we did that
• 17:44
  Suda Suvarna: about, I would say at least four months, before that
• 17:48
  Suda Suvarna: two year deadline came in.
• 17:49
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 17:49
  Suda Suvarna: It was probably one of the greatest career making projects for all of us
• 17:53
  Suda Suvarna: who were involved in that transformation journey.
• 17:56
  Suda Suvarna: But, ultimately, we were able to accomplish this mission impossible, we call
• 18:00
  Suda Suvarna: it.
• 18:01
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 18:02
  Lisa Nichols: Mission impossible.
• 18:02
  Lisa Nichols: On the
• 18:03
  Suda Suvarna: the future of Ascension Health.
• 18:04
  Suda Suvarna: In fact, some of my colleagues, they had this mission impossible,
• 18:09
  Suda Suvarna: theme on the phone.
• 18:10
  Suda Suvarna: When the phone rang, it had that, you know, the background music coming from,
• 18:14
  Suda Suvarna: you know, Mission Impossible movie.
• 18:16
  Suda Suvarna: It was kinda funny, but, you know, we actually delivered and it was, entirely
• 18:22
  Suda Suvarna: a, and a team effort across, multiple domains,
• 18:26
  Suda Suvarna: and we all came through.
• 18:29
  Lisa Nichols: That's remarkable.
• 18:31
  Lisa Nichols: That is remarkable, Suda.
• 18:32
  Lisa Nichols: What do you think what were the major through lines
• 18:36
  Lisa Nichols: there?
• 18:37
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, what was it about that team that you were on
• 18:41
  Lisa Nichols: that allowed you guys to do that?
• 18:43
  Lisa Nichols: Because, I mean, it could have been another team and not
• 18:47
  Lisa Nichols: you know, they could still be two years behind.
• 18:49
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 18:49
  Suda Suvarna: In fact, we did something different.
• 18:53
  Suda Suvarna: Now every person that we hired, we told them about what
• 18:57
  Suda Suvarna: are we trying to do, that this is a mission mission oriented organization,
• 19:01
  Suda Suvarna: and we have a finite timeline to get this thing done.
• 19:05
  Suda Suvarna: And we also very we were very transparent with them saying, you know, this
• 19:09
  Suda Suvarna: is not gonna be a business as usual type of project.
• 19:12
  Suda Suvarna: It's gonna be long hours working on weekends and all of that.
• 19:16
  Suda Suvarna: And, of course, you know, we compensated everybody for that.
• 19:20
  Suda Suvarna: And I think the the the the the organization was smart enough to recognize
• 19:24
  Suda Suvarna: that there's gonna be a lot of sacrifices people are gonna make.
• 19:28
  Suda Suvarna: And the question is, how do you actually, you know, compensate for that?
• 19:33
  Suda Suvarna: Once we actually addressed all of that, everybody that came
• 19:37
  Suda Suvarna: to work, we had one purpose and mission in in our in our
• 19:41
  Suda Suvarna: mind, and that is to save lives.
• 19:43
  Suda Suvarna: Every dollar we, save, that goes towards
• 19:48
  Suda Suvarna: the the charitable part of the organization.
• 19:50
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 19:51
  Suda Suvarna: That's serving the poor and the vulnerable in the community.
• 19:54
  Suda Suvarna: And I don't know, how else to explain other than the fact
• 19:58
  Suda Suvarna: that we were just focused towards a mission that
• 20:02
  Lisa Nichols: One mission.
• 20:03
  Suda Suvarna: Personal sense to us, all of us.
• 20:05
  Suda Suvarna: Yes.
• 20:05
  Suda Suvarna: One mission.
• 20:07
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 20:08
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 20:08
  Lisa Nichols: A purpose much bigger than yourself.
• 20:11
  Suda Suvarna: Exactly.
• 20:11
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 20:12
  Lisa Nichols: It's easier to buy into that, right, when you have a mission like
• 20:16
  Lisa Nichols: that.
• 20:16
  Lisa Nichols: That is that's amazing.
• 20:19
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I I wanna spend some time on Deloitte Yeah.
• 20:22
  Lisa Nichols: Because, you moved into global leadership at Deloitte.
• 20:25
  Lisa Nichols: How many associates were you overseeing at one time?
• 20:28
  Lisa Nichols: I know it was, like, in the thousands.
• 20:29
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 20:30
  Suda Suvarna: I know.
• 20:31
  Suda Suvarna: At one point in time, I had a dual role of, leading,
• 20:35
  Suda Suvarna: the product development team for both US and global.
• 20:38
  Suda Suvarna: At that time, we were close to ten thousand some people.
• 20:42
  Suda Suvarna: So most half of that was probably just the eco partners
• 20:46
  Suda Suvarna: and, you know, our vendors.
• 20:50
  Suda Suvarna: So that's how large the that organization was.
• 20:55
  Lisa Nichols: That is a lot of people.
• 20:57
  Lisa Nichols: That's a lot of people.
• 20:58
  Lisa Nichols: I I just I I wanna just ask you this.
• 21:02
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, it was global.
• 21:03
  Lisa Nichols: You've got that many people.
• 21:05
  Suda Suvarna: Mhmm.
• 21:05
  Lisa Nichols: What were some of the major tenants,
• 21:09
  Lisa Nichols: Suda, that you put in place to help you be successful with the because
• 21:13
  Lisa Nichols: that that is an organization at scale.
• 21:16
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 21:16
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 21:17
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 21:17
  Suda Suvarna: You know, you have to understand the overall context for us.
• 21:20
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 21:21
  Suda Suvarna: And given the sheer size of the organization,
• 21:27
  Suda Suvarna: I would say we we were probably operating at at least hundred and fifty
• 21:31
  Suda Suvarna: countries.
• 21:31
  Suda Suvarna: And and finding common solutions to solve problems
• 21:35
  Suda Suvarna: was not always easy.
• 21:38
  Suda Suvarna: Because every country, every geography has a different need, different
• 21:42
  Suda Suvarna: composition, different tax and regulatory needs and whatnot.
• 21:46
  Suda Suvarna: So finding a common solution that works for everybody was
• 21:50
  Suda Suvarna: a big deal.
• 21:52
  Suda Suvarna: I would say the second thing we have to really pay attention to was
• 21:56
  Suda Suvarna: the the language barrier, the cultural barrier,
• 22:00
  Suda Suvarna: barrier, and the geographical,
• 22:03
  Suda Suvarna: diversification, you know, takes time.
• 22:06
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, obviously, not only takes time, but effort and patience that goes
• 22:09
  Suda Suvarna: along with that too.
• 22:10
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 22:11
  Suda Suvarna: So really have to understand where people are.
• 22:14
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, and collaborating to find the consensus
• 22:19
  Suda Suvarna: and commonality was nonnegotiable.
• 22:23
  Suda Suvarna: Because if you go with the posture of, you know what, we are doing
• 22:27
  Suda Suvarna: this.
• 22:28
  Suda Suvarna: This is the solution you're gonna get.
• 22:30
  Suda Suvarna: And, oh, by the way, you have no choice in the matter.
• 22:33
  Suda Suvarna: That is not gonna work
• 22:34
  Lisa Nichols: at all.
• 22:35
  Lisa Nichols: Damn.
• 22:35
  Suda Suvarna: That is not gonna that's a deal breaker.
• 22:37
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 22:37
  Suda Suvarna: So we have to be very cognizant of,
• 22:41
  Suda Suvarna: understanding the overall cultural nuances and the the where the people are coming from.
• 22:45
  Suda Suvarna: You know, especially, you know, for example, you know, if we're having conversation with
• 22:49
  Suda Suvarna: someone in,
• 22:51
  Suda Suvarna: let's say, Japan,
• 22:53
  Suda Suvarna: and we probably need a translator on the call.
• 22:57
  Suda Suvarna: So you have to make room for that and make sure that everybody understands
• 23:01
  Suda Suvarna: what we are saying that is not only technically correct,
• 23:05
  Suda Suvarna: but also from a cultural aspect, it is projected correctly.
• 23:10
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 23:11
  Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
• 23:12
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 23:12
  Lisa Nichols: So good.
• 23:15
  Lisa Nichols: Well, goodness gracious.
• 23:16
  Lisa Nichols: I've got so many other questions here for you.
• 23:19
  Lisa Nichols: Lots of questions.
• 23:20
  Lisa Nichols: But, I mean, let's talk about leadership philosophy.
• 23:24
  Lisa Nichols: So you have been a leader that has been described as really inspiring
• 23:28
  Lisa Nichols: trust.
• 23:30
  Lisa Nichols: You know, what how have you done that personally, Suda?
• 23:34
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 23:35
  Suda Suvarna: I'm gonna ask, a very simple question.
• 23:37
  Suda Suvarna: How do you know, when you trust someone in business?
• 23:41
  Suda Suvarna: I don't I don't know.
• 23:42
  Suda Suvarna: I I don't think you need to answer that question.
• 23:45
  Suda Suvarna: But I'm just gonna say the flash news is not the feeling or the
• 23:48
  Suda Suvarna: sensation you have.
• 23:49
  Suda Suvarna: Correct?
• 23:50
  Suda Suvarna: When you trust somebody, what when we say we trust somebody, what we are
• 23:54
  Suda Suvarna: really saying is three things.
• 23:56
  Suda Suvarna: You know?
• 23:56
  Suda Suvarna: One, they are confident to do their job really well.
• 24:00
  Suda Suvarna: Second, they are very sincere.
• 24:02
  Suda Suvarna: They don't make up things.
• 24:04
  Suda Suvarna: And, number three is, are they reliable?
• 24:07
  Suda Suvarna: Over a period of time, when when we go through the ups and downs
• 24:10
  Suda Suvarna: of the business Mhmm.
• 24:11
  Suda Suvarna: Are they reliable?
• 24:13
  Suda Suvarna: So if you really spend some time on understanding those three components,
• 24:17
  Suda Suvarna: you know, it's the foundation of trust.
• 24:19
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 24:20
  Suda Suvarna: I personally focus on creating an inclusive environment
• 24:24
  Suda Suvarna: where people feel respected and empowered at the same time.
• 24:29
  Suda Suvarna: Mhmm.
• 24:29
  Suda Suvarna: I I have the habit of tapping on people's shoulders
• 24:33
  Suda Suvarna: and, you know, and tapping into their enormous reservoir
• 24:37
  Suda Suvarna: of of talent and experience and all all that.
• 24:40
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 24:40
  Suda Suvarna: Because let's face it.
• 24:41
  Suda Suvarna: We we hire the best people.
• 24:42
  Suda Suvarna: We go through the extent of hiring the best people.
• 24:45
  Suda Suvarna: Why not cut them loose and let them do their job and they're hired
• 24:49
  Suda Suvarna: to do, right, instead of micromanaging.
• 24:52
  Suda Suvarna: And that that has really worked for me not only at Deloitte but also
• 24:56
  Suda Suvarna: before that.
• 24:57
  Suda Suvarna: You know, I've always adopted that principle.
• 25:00
  Suda Suvarna: I'm I'm a firm believer that there should be no permanent characterization
• 25:05
  Suda Suvarna: of an individual if they make mistakes.
• 25:08
  Suda Suvarna: In fact Mhmm.
• 25:09
  Suda Suvarna: That's personally, that's how I believe people learn and grow and
• 25:13
  Suda Suvarna: stretch themselves.
• 25:14
  Suda Suvarna: And, and they become more reliable and competent.
• 25:18
  Suda Suvarna: And that goes back to what I said earlier about building that trust.
• 25:23
  Suda Suvarna: So when you do
• 25:25
  Suda Suvarna: do all those three things correctly, and people want you people want you
• 25:29
  Suda Suvarna: to be around and, you know, they give you opportunities to stretch yourself and
• 25:33
  Suda Suvarna: and get promoted and all of that.
• 25:34
  Suda Suvarna: So good things happen when you when you go through all of that.
• 25:37
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 25:38
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I love that, what you talked about
• 25:42
  Lisa Nichols: really making it a safe place, basically, a safe environment for
• 25:46
  Lisa Nichols: people to to make mistakes.
• 25:48
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 25:48
  Lisa Nichols: But innovation, I would say, does not happen unless
• 25:53
  Lisa Nichols: you're trying things and experimenting in that part of innovation, Suda.
• 25:56
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 25:57
  Lisa Nichols: And not everything you do is going to work.
• 26:01
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 26:01
  Lisa Nichols: So people are going to you know, some things are not gonna work and
• 26:05
  Lisa Nichols: sometimes people are gonna make mistakes.
• 26:07
  Lisa Nichols: But I think, creating that environment where people feel safe
• 26:11
  Lisa Nichols: to try things is really a paramount trait
• 26:15
  Lisa Nichols: for a leader.
• 26:16
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 26:16
  Suda Suvarna: If you keep slapping people's hand every time they make mistake, you know,
• 26:21
  Suda Suvarna: they're gonna actually,
• 26:24
  Suda Suvarna: regress.
• 26:25
  Suda Suvarna: They're not gonna move forward because they're gonna be afraid of,
• 26:29
  Suda Suvarna: the the ramification that comes, you know, for for making mistakes.
• 26:33
  Suda Suvarna: And I firmly believe that.
• 26:34
  Suda Suvarna: And if you try five things and fail in four,
• 26:38
  Suda Suvarna: what happens?
• 26:39
  Suda Suvarna: And the fifth one is the billion dollar idea that you come up with.
• 26:43
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 26:43
  Lisa Nichols: That's right.
• 26:44
  Suda Suvarna: So Right.
• 26:45
  Suda Suvarna: So you have to allow people to make mistakes.
• 26:48
  Suda Suvarna: And, obviously, we always do the debrief.
• 26:50
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 26:51
  Suda Suvarna: After you do some, experimentation
• 26:54
  Suda Suvarna: and things don't work out, then the question is what did you learn from
• 26:57
  Suda Suvarna: that, what did you do differently, and all of that.
• 27:00
  Suda Suvarna: And I think most companies kinda have that, process of doing
• 27:04
  Suda Suvarna: that, you know, formally or informally.
• 27:06
  Suda Suvarna: And, that's where you actually, you know,
• 27:11
  Suda Suvarna: observe
• 27:12
  Suda Suvarna: the thought process that went into the experimentation.
• 27:16
  Suda Suvarna: You know, what were you looking for?
• 27:18
  Suda Suvarna: What happened?
• 27:19
  Suda Suvarna: What is the difference?
• 27:20
  Suda Suvarna: And by the by the way, are you gonna recommend this to the leadership
• 27:23
  Suda Suvarna: team moving forward if this was your money you're spending?
• 27:26
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 27:27
  Suda Suvarna: So and there is a part of that is also entrepreneurial because
• 27:31
  Suda Suvarna: most of the entrepreneurs that we know, you know, they they mortgage their house
• 27:35
  Suda Suvarna: to, you know, fund their passion and whatnot.
• 27:37
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 27:38
  Suda Suvarna: So in the corporate environment, we don't think that way, but we should.
• 27:43
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 27:43
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 27:44
  Lisa Nichols: It's entrepreneurial.
• 27:45
  Lisa Nichols: You want your people to be intrapreneurial.
• 27:47
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 27:48
  Lisa Nichols: An entrepreneur within the organization.
• 27:51
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 27:51
  Lisa Nichols: I love that.
• 27:52
  Lisa Nichols: Well, we've got I've got so much more to talk about with you, Suda.
• 27:56
  Lisa Nichols: But just scores and scores of questions here, but we do need to take
• 27:59
  Lisa Nichols: a quick break, and we'll be right back with my friend, Suda Sivrana, on
• 28:03
  Lisa Nichols: the Something Extra podcast.
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• 28:34
  Lisa Nichols: Welcome back, everyone, to the Something Extra podcast with my friend, Suda
• 28:38
  Lisa Nichols: Suvrna.
• 28:39
  Lisa Nichols: So, Suda, I wanna ask you a question.
• 28:42
  Lisa Nichols: So what is one principle
• 28:45
  Lisa Nichols: that you will never compromise?
• 28:48
  Lisa Nichols: Because there's always nonnegotiable as a leader.
• 28:50
  Lisa Nichols: What is one principle that you will never compromise on as a leader?
• 28:55
  Suda Suvarna: I I would say the number one would be trust.
• 28:59
  Suda Suvarna: And, of course, I could use that, you know, word integrity too.
• 29:03
  Lisa Nichols: Integrity.
• 29:04
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 29:04
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 29:05
  Suda Suvarna: But, you know, to me, it's kind of, integrity is part of
• 29:09
  Suda Suvarna: the trust.
• 29:09
  Suda Suvarna: Obviously, you cannot earn trust from somebody who,
• 29:14
  Suda Suvarna: without the integrity part.
• 29:15
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 29:16
  Suda Suvarna: Mhmm.
• 29:16
  Suda Suvarna: So once you lose that trust, it is extremely hard, if not impossible,
• 29:20
  Suda Suvarna: to regain that.
• 29:21
  Suda Suvarna: So everybody has to understand understand that.
• 29:25
  Suda Suvarna: You could actually build
• 29:27
  Suda Suvarna: ten years, twenty years, thirty years of worth of trust, with somebody.
• 29:32
  Suda Suvarna: You make one mistake.
• 29:33
  Suda Suvarna: Well, let me put it this way.
• 29:35
  Suda Suvarna: It's not necessarily mistake.
• 29:37
  Suda Suvarna: It's, you know, the word I use, it's, knowingly doing something
• 29:41
  Suda Suvarna: wrong.
• 29:43
  Suda Suvarna: You know you had a choice, but you made a choice that is not
• 29:47
  Suda Suvarna: correct.
• 29:49
  Suda Suvarna: That is not a mistake.
• 29:50
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 29:51
  Suda Suvarna: So that is in our, in our vernacular, we'll say
• 29:55
  Suda Suvarna: disobedience.
• 29:55
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 29:57
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 29:57
  Suda Suvarna: And and and I think that's the most important thing.
• 30:00
  Suda Suvarna: Once you lose that, it's almost impossible to regain that trust anywhere.
• 30:05
  Suda Suvarna: So never compromise.
• 30:06
  Lisa Nichols: It's it's kind of a you know, it's a crack in your character.
• 30:10
  Suda Suvarna: Exactly.
• 30:11
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 30:12
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 30:12
  Lisa Nichols: If you knowingly know that this is the right thing to do and you
• 30:16
  Lisa Nichols: choose not to do it.
• 30:18
  Lisa Nichols: You and I both love Scott Richard.
• 30:20
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 30:20
  Lisa Nichols: Scott's a good friend of both of ours.
• 30:23
  Lisa Nichols: And, Suda, I'll never forget him saying he
• 30:27
  Lisa Nichols: said, you know, trust is built in drops
• 30:30
  Lisa Nichols: but lost in buckets.
• 30:31
  Suda Suvarna: Exactly.
• 30:33
  Lisa Nichols: And I thought that was such a great way to describe it.
• 30:36
  Suda Suvarna: I've heard him say that too.
• 30:38
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 30:39
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 30:39
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 30:40
  Lisa Nichols: So,
• 30:42
  Lisa Nichols: well, let me let me ask you this.
• 30:44
  Lisa Nichols: If if for a young professional, and I know and we could spend so
• 30:48
  Lisa Nichols: much time on mentoring because I know mentoring is so important to you.
• 30:51
  Lisa Nichols: You've been mentored.
• 30:52
  Lisa Nichols: You've mentored people hundreds probably over your career.
• 30:56
  Lisa Nichols: But for a young professional that wants to grow into that
• 31:01
  Lisa Nichols: CIO, that c suite for the technology, see their CIO,
• 31:05
  Lisa Nichols: CISO, CTO CTO, what advice would you give them?
• 31:10
  Suda Suvarna: Well, several things comes to my mind.
• 31:13
  Suda Suvarna: Let's see if I can go in a sequence.
• 31:15
  Suda Suvarna: My advice is to continue to build deep technical expertise.
• 31:20
  Suda Suvarna: And if you're a CIO, CTO, you gotta know that.
• 31:22
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 31:24
  Suda Suvarna: And things are changing all the time around us.
• 31:28
  Suda Suvarna: So you gotta figure out a way to stay on top of it.
• 31:31
  Suda Suvarna: Otherwise, you know remember when I said something about trust, competence,
• 31:35
  Suda Suvarna: sincerity, and reliability?
• 31:37
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 31:37
  Suda Suvarna: When you're not competent, it's kinda hard to do your job really, really well.
• 31:41
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 31:42
  Suda Suvarna: Right.
• 31:43
  Suda Suvarna: But, you know, I would say equally focus on building the business
• 31:47
  Suda Suvarna: acumen because, you know, we love the idea of being a technologist and talk
• 31:51
  Suda Suvarna: techie terms and use the jargon everywhere.
• 31:55
  Suda Suvarna: But it's really, really important to understand the business,
• 31:59
  Suda Suvarna: the domain, and and and become an expert in that.
• 32:03
  Suda Suvarna: The third one, I would say, leadership and communication
• 32:07
  Suda Suvarna: skills.
• 32:08
  Suda Suvarna: Those those two go hand in hand.
• 32:10
  Suda Suvarna: These are really not in any kind of a particular order, but,
• 32:14
  Suda Suvarna: you know, it's not good enough to be a technologist and just say, I've
• 32:18
  Suda Suvarna: made it.
• 32:19
  Suda Suvarna: You know, you gotta have all of those things.
• 32:21
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, going back to what I said earlier, being curious
• 32:26
  Suda Suvarna: is always an important aspect of being a CIO and CTO.
• 32:29
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, take on the stretch opportunities and seek out mentors.
• 32:33
  Suda Suvarna: You You know, look you know, obviously, we kinda know within the organization
• 32:37
  Suda Suvarna: who who people respect the most.
• 32:40
  Suda Suvarna: You will re go after them and say, you know what, hey.
• 32:42
  Suda Suvarna: Would you be able to spend, you know, fifteen minutes, thirty
• 32:46
  Suda Suvarna: minutes every other week with me and whatnot?
• 32:49
  Suda Suvarna: I have never come across anybody that said no to me when I asked
• 32:53
  Suda Suvarna: for that help.
• 32:54
  Suda Suvarna: And whenever people come out and ask me for help, I have never said
• 32:58
  Suda Suvarna: no to anybody in my entire career.
• 33:01
  Suda Suvarna: Obviously Mhmm.
• 33:02
  Suda Suvarna: You know, when when you since you mentioned CIOs and CTOs,
• 33:08
  Suda Suvarna: you know, obviously,
• 33:10
  Suda Suvarna: they will succeed not just because they know the technology,
• 33:14
  Suda Suvarna: but by aligning it with the business and company strategy
• 33:18
  Suda Suvarna: and really inspiring their people to actually deliver it.
• 33:22
  Suda Suvarna: Without that, I don't know how you actually build the credibility within any organization.
• 33:26
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 33:27
  Suda Suvarna: It's really important to build your network also intentionally within the company
• 33:31
  Suda Suvarna: or outside the company and start building the obligations,
• 33:35
  Suda Suvarna: especially with influential leaders before you cash it in
• 33:40
  Suda Suvarna: later.
• 33:40
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 33:41
  Suda Suvarna: Because, you know, once you start building that obligation for doing something
• 33:45
  Suda Suvarna: above and beyond when nobody really asks you to do, you know, people remember
• 33:49
  Suda Suvarna: that.
• 33:49
  Suda Suvarna: And then you can cash it on sometime in the in the
• 33:54
  Suda Suvarna: future.
• 33:54
  Suda Suvarna: And,
• 33:56
  Suda Suvarna: for my mentees, one of the things I tell them constantly
• 34:00
  Suda Suvarna: is have your own board of advisers.
• 34:04
  Suda Suvarna: Pick three, four, five people that can give you honest,
• 34:08
  Suda Suvarna: advice on how do you navigate through your career
• 34:12
  Suda Suvarna: and become successful within the organization or outside the organization because you can
• 34:16
  Suda Suvarna: do a lot of things outside the organization, being part of the charitable organization
• 34:21
  Suda Suvarna: and all of that.
• 34:21
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 34:22
  Suda Suvarna: And, one last thing that comes to my mind is,
• 34:28
  Suda Suvarna: don't hesitate to acknowledge success
• 34:32
  Suda Suvarna: and broadcast your own success.
• 34:33
  Suda Suvarna: Because most of the time, we are very timid.
• 34:35
  Suda Suvarna: We are shy about, you know, the technologies.
• 34:38
  Suda Suvarna: We don't care about, you know, getting a pat on the back, but it's
• 34:41
  Suda Suvarna: actually really important for you and your team to be recognized
• 34:45
  Suda Suvarna: publicly.
• 34:45
  Suda Suvarna: And I would say most people don't do that well.
• 34:48
  Suda Suvarna: So those are the things that comes to my mind.
• 34:51
  Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
• 34:52
  Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
• 34:54
  Lisa Nichols: And and I agree with you.
• 34:55
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, in in in human nature sometimes, Suda, we do
• 34:59
  Lisa Nichols: shy away from that because it feels a little bit of self promotion.
• 35:03
  Lisa Nichols: But there's a right way and a wrong way to do it, and you've
• 35:06
  Lisa Nichols: got to let people know what you've contributed, right, and what you've
• 35:10
  Lisa Nichols: contributed to the organization.
• 35:12
  Lisa Nichols: Those are, that I I just love everything that you just said.
• 35:16
  Lisa Nichols: It was so good.
• 35:17
  Lisa Nichols: Well, let's talk about this.
• 35:19
  Lisa Nichols: You've worked in AI, blockchain, IoT.
• 35:22
  Lisa Nichols: There's always something new.
• 35:24
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 35:25
  Lisa Nichols: AI is really the buzz right now.
• 35:27
  Lisa Nichols: But is there a technology right now, Suda, that really excites
• 35:31
  Lisa Nichols: you for the future that you think is gonna be a huge game changer?
• 35:35
  Suda Suvarna: Well, hands down, the answer is AI.
• 35:37
  Suda Suvarna: I know everybody keeps talking about that, and there is a reason for that.
• 35:40
  Suda Suvarna: You know, it's not you know, when you think about AI, you know, it's
• 35:44
  Suda Suvarna: not just a stand alone technology.
• 35:46
  Suda Suvarna: You know?
• 35:47
  Suda Suvarna: But it is a multiplier that enhances everything you just talked about, the IoT
• 35:51
  Suda Suvarna: predictive analytics, r p RPA, AI, and all of that.
• 35:54
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 35:55
  Suda Suvarna: So AI's ability to shift organization from this, reactive
• 36:00
  Suda Suvarna: that most companies are in to predictive to autonomous
• 36:04
  Suda Suvarna: decision making.
• 36:05
  Suda Suvarna: This will actually transform how we work and innovate in the future.
• 36:09
  Suda Suvarna: I don't think anybody can, take a shortcut on this one or
• 36:13
  Suda Suvarna: get a pass or
• 36:15
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 36:15
  Suda Suvarna: Pass to this because it is that important.
• 36:19
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 36:20
  Lisa Nichols: I agree.
• 36:20
  Lisa Nichols: I love the word that you said.
• 36:22
  Lisa Nichols: The the word that I keyed in on there, say, was multiplier.
• 36:26
  Suda Suvarna: Exactly.
• 36:26
  Lisa Nichols: It's gonna be a fourth multiplier.
• 36:28
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 36:29
  Lisa Nichols: So, we have to be we don't need to be fearful
• 36:33
  Lisa Nichols: of it.
• 36:33
  Lisa Nichols: We need to be looking at it and embracing it.
• 36:37
  Lisa Nichols: You went through the AI executive program at MIT
• 36:40
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 36:41
  Lisa Nichols: Which is so cool.
• 36:42
  Lisa Nichols: Were were there, like, one or two useful learnings that you,
• 36:46
  Lisa Nichols: took away from that program?
• 36:48
  Suda Suvarna: Well, actually, I did that for a couple of reasons.
• 36:52
  Suda Suvarna: One is I took,
• 36:55
  Suda Suvarna: AI class
• 36:58
  Suda Suvarna: when I was going to the computer management, program,
• 37:02
  Suda Suvarna: and, I just wanted to see how much has changed.
• 37:05
  Suda Suvarna: So I think that was the curiosity that led me to signing up for
• 37:09
  Suda Suvarna: this, executive program within MIT.
• 37:12
  Suda Suvarna: And, one of the things, you know, that I learned not only from the
• 37:16
  Suda Suvarna: course itself but also from some of the participants, you know,
• 37:20
  Suda Suvarna: what really matters is when you start looking at the AI, what it can
• 37:24
  Suda Suvarna: do, you have a tremendous responsibility
• 37:27
  Suda Suvarna: of making sure that, you know, the data that you're consuming, the infrastructure
• 37:32
  Suda Suvarna: that you rely on,
• 37:34
  Suda Suvarna: is is has a, you know, all the the important aspect like
• 37:39
  Suda Suvarna: data data governance and data quality and ethical frameworks and all
• 37:43
  Suda Suvarna: of that.
• 37:44
  Suda Suvarna: Most people, when they start talking about the surface level, they don't really talk
• 37:48
  Suda Suvarna: about the underneath, you know, of, the the data and infrastructure,
• 37:53
  Suda Suvarna: how it how the AI makes itself work and all of that and why
• 37:56
  Suda Suvarna: that it becomes more reliable over a period of time.
• 37:59
  Suda Suvarna: Those are the things, that, you know, you don't read much
• 38:03
  Suda Suvarna: in the articles.
• 38:04
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 38:05
  Suda Suvarna: So it comes from practitioners who have been there and done that and
• 38:09
  Suda Suvarna: and have struggled through all the ups and downs.
• 38:13
  Suda Suvarna: And and also the different aspect of that was the responsibility
• 38:18
  Suda Suvarna: of each leader within an organization.
• 38:21
  Suda Suvarna: How do you take this head on and deal with,
• 38:25
  Suda Suvarna: all the, the confusions and all the pushbacks?
• 38:30
  Suda Suvarna: But yet, at the same time, you you still need to make progress, and
• 38:34
  Suda Suvarna: you keep driving for the results and all of that.
• 38:36
  Suda Suvarna: And embrace this before you become completely outdated.
• 38:39
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 38:41
  Suda Suvarna: Strategies, you know another one is the strategy and vision.
• 38:44
  Suda Suvarna: And how do you actually
• 38:47
  Suda Suvarna: enable that in a tree treat AI as a business enabler
• 38:52
  Suda Suvarna: and not just as, a technology to that embeds
• 38:56
  Suda Suvarna: into the company's strategy with the clear priorities.
• 38:58
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 38:59
  Suda Suvarna: But there's, you have to be mindful of the fact that it's improving customer
• 39:03
  Suda Suvarna: experience, driving, you know, operational excellence or efficiency,
• 39:08
  Suda Suvarna: or creating new products or revenue streams.
• 39:10
  Suda Suvarna: These are all need to be a part of this strategy and with this,
• 39:14
  Suda Suvarna: vision.
• 39:15
  Suda Suvarna: Otherwise, why would you spend all that techno dollars,
• 39:19
  Suda Suvarna: on something that's gonna just wither away and just become, you know,
• 39:23
  Suda Suvarna: another shiny object that you chased.
• 39:25
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 39:27
  Suda Suvarna: The last one that I learned from that was, you know, the impact of
• 39:31
  Suda Suvarna: AI on the people and the culture.
• 39:33
  Suda Suvarna: The biggest shift, will be on the workforce, and I and you and I
• 39:36
  Suda Suvarna: talked about this before too.
• 39:38
  Suda Suvarna: Yes.
• 39:39
  Suda Suvarna: I I would say leaders need to actually prepare and
• 39:43
  Suda Suvarna: reskill their team and and also, at the same time, foster
• 39:47
  Suda Suvarna: a culture of experimentation
• 39:49
  Suda Suvarna: and address concerns about job displacement and be very
• 39:54
  Suda Suvarna: transparent with people.
• 39:56
  Suda Suvarna: If you don't do that, then, you know, you're really not doing your job.
• 40:00
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 40:02
  Suda Suvarna: Those are the
• 40:04
  Lisa Nichols: thinking the the planning and the preparation phase for this is very important.
• 40:08
  Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
• 40:08
  Lisa Nichols: Right, Suda?
• 40:09
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, you can't just,
• 40:12
  Lisa Nichols: because the reality is there are some jobs
• 40:16
  Lisa Nichols: that will go away.
• 40:17
  Lisa Nichols: And, you know, you can't wait until they completely
• 40:22
  Lisa Nichols: go away to start planning for that.
• 40:24
  Lisa Nichols: So,
• 40:26
  Lisa Nichols: that's really good.
• 40:27
  Lisa Nichols: That's really good.
• 40:29
  Lisa Nichols: Well, let's I'm gonna ask you this question.
• 40:31
  Lisa Nichols: So global leadership.
• 40:32
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, you've led teams across India, Argentina,
• 40:37
  Lisa Nichols: Colombia, Ukraine.
• 40:38
  Lisa Nichols: I think you said Deloitte was, what, a hundred and fifty countries, something like
• 40:41
  Lisa Nichols: that, I think you said.
• 40:43
  Lisa Nichols: The Philippines.
• 40:44
  Lisa Nichols: What have you learned about cross cultural leadership?
• 40:48
  Lisa Nichols: And we've already touched on this a bit because you're you've said you've got
• 40:52
  Lisa Nichols: to learn about the culture.
• 40:53
  Lisa Nichols: You've got to make sure you understand the culture.
• 40:56
  Lisa Nichols: Is there anything else, Suda, that you would say?
• 40:59
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, communication, obviously, language, culture.
• 41:02
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 41:03
  Suda Suvarna: I I think when you you know, this is my personal observations.
• 41:06
  Suda Suvarna: You know, I could be completely, you know, on a tangent here.
• 41:10
  Suda Suvarna: But the people
• 41:11
  Suda Suvarna: people look different from the outside.
• 41:14
  Suda Suvarna: But all of them
• 41:16
  Suda Suvarna: have basic needs, basic concerns, basic desires
• 41:20
  Suda Suvarna: with, you know, different goals and objectives and ambition that whatever they may have.
• 41:24
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 41:26
  Suda Suvarna: I find that more there are more commonalities than
• 41:30
  Suda Suvarna: differences.
• 41:31
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 41:32
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 41:32
  Suda Suvarna: And, another thing that comes to my mind is, I also learned people
• 41:37
  Suda Suvarna: like to be treated fairly and and with dignity, compassion,
• 41:41
  Suda Suvarna: and respect, and all of that.
• 41:42
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 41:43
  Suda Suvarna: Regardless of what country they're in, where they're coming from, their background,
• 41:48
  Suda Suvarna: doesn't really matter because the fundamental needs for everybody is,
• 41:53
  Suda Suvarna: you know, to be treated fairly and with, you know, with dignity and all
• 41:56
  Suda Suvarna: of that.
• 41:57
  Suda Suvarna: So Mhmm.
• 41:58
  Suda Suvarna: I mentioned it to you.
• 41:59
  Suda Suvarna: That shows my age too.
• 42:01
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 42:01
  Suda Suvarna: My my entire career spanning about forty years just in IT.
• 42:06
  Suda Suvarna: I have not come across a single individual who does not
• 42:10
  Suda Suvarna: like to be recognized, an economist for doing an excellent work.
• 42:14
  Suda Suvarna: They might shy away.
• 42:15
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 42:15
  Suda Suvarna: They don't want the,
• 42:17
  Suda Suvarna: public,
• 42:18
  Lisa Nichols: the spotlight on the
• 42:19
  Suda Suvarna: public recognition, but I have not come across a single person
• 42:23
  Suda Suvarna: that really hated that.
• 42:25
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 42:25
  Suda Suvarna: So, personally, I take all the opportunities to celebrate success with everybody
• 42:30
  Suda Suvarna: and reward and recognize people publicly and all of that.
• 42:33
  Suda Suvarna: And that's that's part of the cultural aspect that you have to continue
• 42:37
  Suda Suvarna: to feel to make sure that, you know, you're building a great organization with
• 42:41
  Suda Suvarna: a great culture where people want to come and work.
• 42:45
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 42:46
  Lisa Nichols: That's so beautiful.
• 42:47
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 42:48
  Lisa Nichols: I think it's so beautiful.
• 42:49
  Lisa Nichols: People care about the same things.
• 42:51
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, we've done I haven't worked globally, but we've done mission trips.
• 42:55
  Lisa Nichols: And I'm like, wow.
• 42:57
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, they love their children just like we do.
• 42:59
  Lisa Nichols: They want a good life to their children.
• 43:00
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, there are so many.
• 43:03
  Lisa Nichols: I I love what you said.
• 43:05
  Lisa Nichols: There's just more commonalities.
• 43:07
  Suda Suvarna: Those are all ontological distinctions.
• 43:08
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 43:10
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 43:11
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 43:12
  Lisa Nichols: For sure.
• 43:13
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I know you've served on a lot of boards.
• 43:16
  Lisa Nichols: You've served on a lot of boards.
• 43:19
  Lisa Nichols: So I'm sure you get asked every week, would you come serve on this
• 43:22
  Lisa Nichols: board?
• 43:23
  Lisa Nichols: You know, how do you choose where to give your time
• 43:27
  Lisa Nichols: and talent?
• 43:28
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, because I know you have opportunities all the time coming to you.
• 43:32
  Lisa Nichols: Everybody wants a piece of Suda.
• 43:35
  Lisa Nichols: How do you how do you make those choices, Suda, for yourself?
• 43:39
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 43:39
  Suda Suvarna: I I would say and I I'll give you a short answer first.
• 43:42
  Suda Suvarna: You know, I pretty much enjoy giving back to the community,
• 43:46
  Suda Suvarna: because being in the US, you know, I I feel not only privileged
• 43:50
  Suda Suvarna: but completely blessed.
• 43:52
  Suda Suvarna: So what do I do in return?
• 43:54
  Suda Suvarna: I give back.
• 43:55
  Suda Suvarna: So
• 43:56
  Suda Suvarna: especially if the purpose of their cause is pretty much in
• 44:00
  Suda Suvarna: alignment with what I really care about.
• 44:02
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 44:02
  Suda Suvarna: That's the short answer.
• 44:03
  Suda Suvarna: The long answer would be,
• 44:06
  Suda Suvarna: it really offers me a great opportunity to give back, not only give back
• 44:10
  Suda Suvarna: to the community, but also share professional
• 44:14
  Suda Suvarna: expertise in areas like for me, it is governance, technology,
• 44:18
  Suda Suvarna: role of AI that can play in the organization I'm serving as a
• 44:22
  Suda Suvarna: board member.
• 44:23
  Suda Suvarna: And, also get different perspectives from other board members,
• 44:28
  Suda Suvarna: who are all equally successful individuals,
• 44:32
  Suda Suvarna: from different aspects of the, you know, you know, the corporate world.
• 44:35
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 44:36
  Suda Suvarna: And and what we are really focused on is to make an impact on
• 44:40
  Suda Suvarna: the organization's mission.
• 44:41
  Suda Suvarna: And if the mission is aligned with what you really care about, magic
• 44:45
  Suda Suvarna: happens.
• 44:46
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 44:46
  Suda Suvarna: And, one other thing, you know, which is kinda side benefit, it
• 44:50
  Suda Suvarna: also has,
• 44:52
  Suda Suvarna: benefit more for me personally, like developing leadership and strategic skills,
• 44:58
  Suda Suvarna: building my professional network, and gaining, like,
• 45:02
  Suda Suvarna: a better sense of, purpose and fulfillment,
• 45:06
  Suda Suvarna: because it is you know, you think you've got it all and you've been
• 45:09
  Suda Suvarna: doing this for a long time.
• 45:10
  Suda Suvarna: You kinda not sometimes you get the feeling that, you know what?
• 45:14
  Suda Suvarna: I can do this.
• 45:15
  Suda Suvarna: But suddenly, you're sitting across, someone who's
• 45:19
  Suda Suvarna: at a operating at a much different level than you are.
• 45:22
  Suda Suvarna: Then all you have to do is just shut up and listen and learn.
• 45:26
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, for me, it is extremely beneficial for my, you know,
• 45:30
  Suda Suvarna: career perspective.
• 45:31
  Lisa Nichols: For your development?
• 45:32
  Suda Suvarna: Yes.
• 45:32
  Suda Suvarna: My development.
• 45:33
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 45:33
  Lisa Nichols: I yes.
• 45:35
  Lisa Nichols: When we were talking about young professionals,
• 45:38
  Lisa Nichols: that's one thing I would say.
• 45:40
  Lisa Nichols: Look for a young professionals board that you can serve on.
• 45:44
  Lisa Nichols: You would be so amazed.
• 45:47
  Lisa Nichols: The network for sure, but also what you can learn because you
• 45:51
  Lisa Nichols: may be sitting there as an IT professional, but the person across from you
• 45:55
  Lisa Nichols: is Maven in marketing.
• 45:58
  Lisa Nichols: You're gonna you're gonna learn.
• 45:59
  Lisa Nichols: So, that that I just think serving is I I just
• 46:03
  Lisa Nichols: think everybody should be serving in some capacity.
• 46:06
  Suda Suvarna: They should.
• 46:07
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 46:08
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 46:09
  Lisa Nichols: Well okay.
• 46:10
  Lisa Nichols: So this is a little more personal.
• 46:11
  Lisa Nichols: You're married to Stephanie, and you've been married for many, many years.
• 46:15
  Lisa Nichols: You've raised two grown children.
• 46:17
  Lisa Nichols: Suda, I will I love this about you, and I will never
• 46:22
  Lisa Nichols: I won't ever forget this, and it made such an impression on me.
• 46:26
  Lisa Nichols: I remember being at the award ceremony where you were
• 46:31
  Lisa Nichols: you accepted the super global finalist, St.
• 46:34
  Lisa Nichols: Louis CIO Orbi award a few years
• 46:38
  Lisa Nichols: ago.
• 46:38
  Lisa Nichols: That's a mouthful.
• 46:40
  Lisa Nichols: And what I remember is in your acceptance speech, how
• 46:44
  Lisa Nichols: you honored Stephanie,
• 46:47
  Lisa Nichols: and you gave so much credit back to her.
• 46:52
  Lisa Nichols: What what do you what's your family?
• 46:54
  Lisa Nichols: How has your family
• 46:57
  Lisa Nichols: impacted even your leadership and what you've been able to do in
• 47:01
  Lisa Nichols: your career?
• 47:03
  Suda Suvarna: That's, this is
• 47:07
  Lisa Nichols: The loaded question.
• 47:08
  Suda Suvarna: Question, but I like that question.
• 47:10
  Suda Suvarna: You know?
• 47:11
  Suda Suvarna: It allows me to just, get straight from my heart.
• 47:15
  Suda Suvarna: And my fine family is my power plant.
• 47:18
  Suda Suvarna: Okay?
• 47:19
  Suda Suvarna: You know, obviously, they give me the purpose to wake up in the morning
• 47:22
  Suda Suvarna: and deal with anything that comes my way.
• 47:25
  Suda Suvarna: And, you know, at the end of the day, I kinda remember, you know,
• 47:27
  Suda Suvarna: what whatever I do has a direct impact on my family.
• 47:31
  Suda Suvarna: So I I I choose to make sure that I make all the good
• 47:34
  Suda Suvarna: choices and whatnot because not doing so will have a direct consequence
• 47:38
  Suda Suvarna: on my family.
• 47:39
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 47:39
  Suda Suvarna: So, they are the source of my inspiration and and and
• 47:43
  Suda Suvarna: strength, you know, especially Stephanie through all the ups and downs.
• 47:47
  Suda Suvarna: You know, we've been married for thirty four years.
• 47:49
  Suda Suvarna: And,
• 47:51
  Suda Suvarna: you know, as a family unit, I know
• 47:55
  Suda Suvarna: we are all different.
• 47:56
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 47:56
  Suda Suvarna: Or my kids Mhmm.
• 47:57
  Suda Suvarna: Think differently, act differently, and we have different strengths and weaknesses.
• 48:02
  Suda Suvarna: But we deeply care about each other and love each other no matter, you
• 48:05
  Suda Suvarna: know, what.
• 48:06
  Suda Suvarna: You know, that is unconditional love.
• 48:09
  Suda Suvarna: I learned long time ago, one side does not fit all.
• 48:12
  Suda Suvarna: So you have to work with each family member to
• 48:15
  Lisa Nichols: Children are all different.
• 48:17
  Suda Suvarna: Exactly.
• 48:17
  Suda Suvarna: Yeah.
• 48:17
  Suda Suvarna: You have to meet where they are.
• 48:19
  Suda Suvarna: And, business, you know, to me is, you know, the correlation to that business
• 48:23
  Suda Suvarna: is, you know, business is no different.
• 48:26
  Suda Suvarna: You treat everyone with dignity, respect, and work, and and and and
• 48:30
  Suda Suvarna: and work with them in a way, that works for both
• 48:34
  Suda Suvarna: parties.
• 48:35
  Suda Suvarna: And and you stay focused on what are you trying to accomplish, what is
• 48:39
  Suda Suvarna: your mission at hand.
• 48:40
  Suda Suvarna: And and there is always a give and take, or you never lose sight
• 48:44
  Suda Suvarna: of what is really important that is in front of you.
• 48:48
  Suda Suvarna: And and that that's that's what keeps me going.
• 48:50
  Suda Suvarna: And I learned something from my family, and I applied that to work.
• 48:54
  Suda Suvarna: And I learned something something from the business and
• 48:58
  Suda Suvarna: also applied that to my family life now.
• 49:00
  Suda Suvarna: So it's a it's a two way thing.
• 49:03
  Suda Suvarna: But, you know, make no mistake.
• 49:04
  Suda Suvarna: My my wife is my power plant, nuclear power plant, keeps throwing all the
• 49:08
  Suda Suvarna: energies out.
• 49:10
  Lisa Nichols: I love that.
• 49:12
  Lisa Nichols: I've not ever had anyone say that, but I love that.
• 49:16
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 49:17
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 49:18
  Lisa Nichols: Because we I mean, we've been we've been to dinner with you and Stephanie
• 49:22
  Lisa Nichols: and just, you know, you know how important our family is to us.
• 49:25
  Lisa Nichols: And I can't I years ago, our middle daughter
• 49:29
  Lisa Nichols: because they're all all three of our children are super different, and our grandson
• 49:33
  Lisa Nichols: is even more different Yeah.
• 49:35
  Lisa Nichols: Than the than the other three.
• 49:37
  Lisa Nichols: But I remember Paige saying years ago, she said, you know what?
• 49:41
  Lisa Nichols: She goes, it takes all of us to make one of us.
• 49:43
  Suda Suvarna: Oh, very nice.
• 49:44
  Lisa Nichols: And she was gone.
• 49:45
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, she was maybe twelve.
• 49:47
  Suda Suvarna: Wow.
• 49:47
  Lisa Nichols: She goes, it takes all of us to make one of us.
• 49:49
  Lisa Nichols: And what she was really saying is, Suda, you know,
• 49:53
  Lisa Nichols: that that because we're different, we sharpen one another,
• 49:58
  Lisa Nichols: and we, you know, help one another be more whole.
• 50:02
  Lisa Nichols: You know, I think.
• 50:03
  Lisa Nichols: So so grateful.
• 50:05
  Lisa Nichols: So grateful for that.
• 50:07
  Lisa Nichols: Oh goodness.
• 50:08
  Lisa Nichols: You've got so much here.
• 50:09
  Lisa Nichols: I want you're a musician.
• 50:13
  Lisa Nichols: You're an avid cyclist.
• 50:15
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, tell me just a little bit.
• 50:17
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, how does what what muse what what parallels have you
• 50:21
  Lisa Nichols: seen between music and leadership?
• 50:23
  Suda Suvarna: Oh, quite a few.
• 50:24
  Suda Suvarna: In fact, I was fine with the music first.
• 50:27
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 50:28
  Suda Suvarna: And I'm an like you said, I'm an audiophile.
• 50:32
  Suda Suvarna: I would call myself as a critical, listener,
• 50:37
  Suda Suvarna: because I'm I'm looking for all the different aspects of,
• 50:42
  Suda Suvarna: you know, marveling the the whole singers and the musicians and
• 50:46
  Suda Suvarna: the the sound engineers and the producers and the technology that
• 50:50
  Suda Suvarna: goes hand in hand with all of this.
• 50:52
  Suda Suvarna: You know, it all comes together like a magic.
• 50:54
  Suda Suvarna: When you listen to a good piece of music, you're kinda like, oh my
• 50:59
  Suda Suvarna: gosh.
• 50:59
  Suda Suvarna: This is amazing.
• 51:01
  Suda Suvarna: So when you actually dissect and go down of each of
• 51:05
  Suda Suvarna: these, areas, right, it's a discourse.
• 51:08
  Suda Suvarna: Each of them have their own discourse behind the skill sets and
• 51:12
  Suda Suvarna: the whatever they're performing.
• 51:14
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 51:15
  Suda Suvarna: And, each one is different.
• 51:18
  Suda Suvarna: And they all had different type of skill sets and whatnot.
• 51:21
  Suda Suvarna: But when they produce some music, when that comes together and when you start
• 51:25
  Suda Suvarna: listening to that, you can't tell,
• 51:30
  Suda Suvarna: anything, but you're just enjoying the music.
• 51:33
  Suda Suvarna: You know, it's the same way I would say in leading a team.
• 51:36
  Suda Suvarna: I I try to do my best, you know, like the best artist or
• 51:39
  Suda Suvarna: the best engineers, singers, producers, whatever it is.
• 51:42
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 51:43
  Suda Suvarna: The takeaway for me is how how can I be like them
• 51:48
  Suda Suvarna: and create a wow moment for my stakeholders?
• 51:50
  Suda Suvarna: My you know, that includes my team and my customers and everybody
• 51:55
  Suda Suvarna: else in that.
• 51:55
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 51:56
  Suda Suvarna: So it's just like, you know, me listening to enough enough
• 52:02
  Suda Suvarna: finally, kind of, produced music and and having that,
• 52:06
  Suda Suvarna: you know, a heartfelt moment.
• 52:08
  Suda Suvarna: I I would like to replicate that in business
• 52:12
  Suda Suvarna: by by working with my team and and creating that wow moment for my
• 52:15
  Suda Suvarna: customers.
• 52:16
  Suda Suvarna: Mhmm.
• 52:18
  Lisa Nichols: Beautiful symphony.
• 52:20
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 52:20
  Lisa Nichols: Exactly.
• 52:21
  Lisa Nichols: It's made up of many different parts.
• 52:24
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 52:25
  Lisa Nichols: I love that.
• 52:26
  Lisa Nichols: Well, okay.
• 52:27
  Lisa Nichols: I have one more question for you, Suda.
• 52:30
  Lisa Nichols: This is called something extra.
• 52:32
  Suda Suvarna: Okay.
• 52:33
  Lisa Nichols: What do you believe is the something extra every leader needs?
• 52:37
  Suda Suvarna: I would say be influential with a high dose of empathy.
• 52:42
  Suda Suvarna: When everything is around is about to change
• 52:46
  Suda Suvarna: or in some cases changing already.
• 52:48
  Suda Suvarna: Right?
• 52:49
  Suda Suvarna: There's a lot of changes happening in our, domain.
• 52:52
  Suda Suvarna: So we have to anticipate the worst case and the best case scenario
• 52:57
  Suda Suvarna: and be proactive with our action right now versus just reacting
• 53:01
  Suda Suvarna: to an unpleasant situation that might come up later.
• 53:04
  Suda Suvarna: So I would say, you know, be influential with the high dose of empathy
• 53:07
  Suda Suvarna: because people are going to struggle through all these changes.
• 53:10
  Suda Suvarna: As leaders, you have the responsibility to make sure that you calm the storm
• 53:14
  Suda Suvarna: and, you know, let everybody come with you versus dropping
• 53:18
  Suda Suvarna: bodies off behind.
• 53:19
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 53:20
  Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
• 53:22
  Lisa Nichols: Suda, I have absolutely loved this conversation
• 53:26
  Lisa Nichols: with you.
• 53:27
  Lisa Nichols: Thank you so much, my friend.
• 53:29
  Lisa Nichols: I appreciate you taking the time to be on the show today, and I
• 53:32
  Lisa Nichols: know that you're gonna really help our listeners.
• 53:35
  Lisa Nichols: So thank you for that.
• 53:36
  Suda Suvarna: Thank you so much for investing your time and energy in this, and I
• 53:40
  Suda Suvarna: can't thank you enough for just give allowing me a chance to,
• 53:44
  Suda Suvarna: speak from my heart.
• 53:45
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 53:45
  Lisa Nichols: Very good.
• 53:47
  Announcer: Thank you for listening to today's show.
• 53:49
  Announcer: Something Extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production.
• 53:53
  Announcer: Copyright Technology Partners Inc, two thousand and nineteen.
• 53:56
  Announcer: For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi dot co
• 54:00
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• 54:02
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• 54:06
  Announcer: you listen.