Every morning, at 8’o clock, Ekta Tiwari Bedi zips in her Zen Estillo from Rohini to Gurgaon, to beat the morning traffic and reach office before 9.30 am. Much before this, Ekta prepares breakfast for her 5-year old son and packs him off to school and discusses domestic affairs with her mother-in-law and husband over a cup of coffee.
Ekta works as an Executive Assistant to the Managing Director of one of India’s leading fashion and luxury brands conglomerate. 30-year old Ekta is your anyday, modern, swashbuckling, confident woman who conducts herself at work with as much élan as she hobnobs with the corporate czars and glitterati – as her job demands her to do so.
“My work primarily is to assist my boss for all his business commitments and ensure that his focus remains on important tasks and that his time is productively utilized, as per schedule”, says Ekta.
“To ensure this, I manage less important and time consuming activities like planning his travels and official commitments. My daily responsibility includes managing my boss's meetings and schedule”.
As an Executive Assistant to the MD of fashion brands that have international presence, Ekta’s work also entails herself meeting and dealing with several important businessmen from across the globe. Hence, she has to strive to ensure that her knowledge of current affairs is constantly updated.
Ekta’s work also requires polished communication and presentation skills, which she attributes to have learnt it in her present and past professional assignments.
Says Ekta, “My working hours are usually determined by the working hours of my boss. Several times, I need to stay back late for some important meeting or conference call. Fortunately, the frequency of these is not very high and a lot of work can be done over phone or e-mail.”
“The first half of the day begins with setting a schedule of meetings/ calls for my boss or make any changes as required. I also need to be in regular contact with all concerned with these meetings or calls.”
Continues Ekta, “The second half usually includes planning future commitments including travel, conferences or seminars, dealing with vendors for airlines, forex, mobiles etc”
All this and more, Ekta still manages to be on time for her son’s bedtime story and enjoy a quiet candlelit dinner with her husband, in a restaurant, at times. She also wants to pursue her hobby of salsa dancing.
Says Ekta, “In a work-family balance, it is usually the family that suffers. To maintain a balance here, while work takes almost the entire week, I make it a point to spend my weekends with family and friends. Also, my husband and mother-in-law are very supportive and understand my hectic work schedule.”
She adds, “Also I indulge in vacations twice a year where I make it a point to stay away from official calls/ mails.”
Ekta’s message, “I would definitely advise younger women to take up a professional role such as mine, as it gives you economic independence and gives you a good platform to understand how a business functions, with the daily interaction with the senior management.”
“Additionally, it has improved my confidence and polished my interpersonal skills. The credit goes to the everyday learning in my job and the internal sessions that my organisation conducts to impart self-developmental and professional skills.”
- Suniet Bezbaroowa (views expressed in the article are that of the author)
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