The Six Virtues Of A Woman Entrepreneur

Of being a woman entrepreneur

According to Niti Shastra, there are 6 virtues of an ideal woman. I have searched high and low for its equivalent for men but have come up empty. And I have concluded, in a typical feminine fashion, I hasten to add, that there are none because all Shastras considered delineating such virtues for men, an exercise in futility, as men were simply incapable of them.

Back to us women and our 6 virtues.  Since this is a column on entrepreneurship, let me focus on these virtues in the context of women entrepreneurs.

Karyeshu dasi : Literally this means, be like a maid in household work.  What it actually refers to is excellence.  It means that you should be trained to execute your household chores with the elan of a maid whose core competency it is.  The sub-text here is that not only are you the best at it, but you also take pride in being the best. So the woman entrepreneur brings this strand of thought into her workplace too and insists that every employee of hers does the same. Women entrepreneurs, very often, are bad-mouthed as ball-breakers by their employees, but you surely can’t make a lovely omlette without breaking a few eggs, can you?

Karaneshu Mantri : Karana means counsel in Sanskrit. You should be like the King’s Minister when it comes to giving advice. In other words, when you give advice, it should be bang on, not emotional or knee-jerk but objectively thought through, having weighed both short term and long term pros and cons. May be because you are a woman, people perceive you as being approachable. As a woman entrepreneur I have been drawn into conversations for advice on not just work-related stuff but intimately personal ones too (it is another matter that in India we see no boundaries of personal). Businesses run by women entrepreneurs are high on emotional quotient.

Bhojyeshu Mata : Feed like a mother. This is more about large-heartedness in nurturing and less about feeding. I spent 20 years in the corporate sector and 10 years in teaching and mentoring. An oft-quoted sentence that I have seen in exit interviews, wherever there has been a woman boss, is : I learnt a lot from her. I think it is second nature to us- sharing, giving, nurturing.  And we haven’t been in business long enough to learn not to, unlike the guys!

Kshamaya Dharitri : In forgiveness, be like Mother Earth. The sub-text here is, have generosity of spirit. A senior executive of an MNC once told me that as far as possible, he tries to empanel companies owned by women as service providers because they tend to be not petty and their moral compass is pretty accurate. Maybe we women entrepreneurs have too much on our plates, managing our homes, workplaces and ourselves that we have no time for meanness or short shrift.

Rupecha Lakshmi : Be like Goddess Lakshmi, in beauty. Undoubtedly, it refers to inner beauty. I have seen this time and time again, women who are comfortable in their skin make amazing entrepreneurs (Manjul Gupta of Bodycraft is a good example). But I must also caution you, when they are not, steer clear of them. Remember the nursery rhyme, when she is good she is very very good, when she is bad, she is horrid!

Shayaneshu Rambha : Be like Rambha, one of the Apsaras in Indra’s court who was an artist par excellence in bed, and was called upon to distract whenever a rishi or a demon challenged the Trinity. That’s who we are, right -thinking, independent women, entrepreneurs, magical thinkers, who can seduce our customers not only to buy but also to become our most evangelical salesmen and get new customers for us. More power to women like Richa Kar (Zivame), Swati Bhargava (Cashkaro), Neeru Sharma (Infibeam), and one of the prime movers among them all, Pearl Uppal(Fashinandyou).

I always say this. Nothing compares with the high of being an entrepreneur in India. Nothing except being an entrepreneur and a woman, that is.