Ladies Who Lead recently hosted a closed-door session with Rekha Menon, Former Chairperson and Managing Director of Accenture India.
Rekha Menon does not frequently appear at public events or interviews, which made this conversation with Ladies Who Lead members particularly valuable.
One idea stayed with many in the room.
Leadership Evolves With Each Stage
Early in a career, leadership is largely individual. It is about competence, performance and the way you approach your work. People evaluate what you produce and how consistently you deliver.
That required a different kind of leadership – conviction and persistence, and the ability to inspire people to take risks alongside you.
At one point Rekha Menon described leading conversations with industry bodies where everyone around the table was already a successful CEO running multi-billion-dollar organisations. Authority alone would not work in that room.
Her message was simple.
Reading The Room
Rekha Menon spoke openly about entering spaces where the rules had already been written, often by men who had spent decades shaping those environments.
Thai is where preparation mattered. She would spend time understanding who was attending a meeting, who actually made decisions and who influenced those decisions. If possible, she would speak with potential allies beforehand so that her ideas already had support before the meeting even began.
Someone else might receive the credit.
Do you want to prove something, or do you want the outcome?
Culture Is Built In Difficult Moments
Rekha Menon responded with an example from the financial crisis of 2008.
It was not an easy decision and it required difficult conversations internally. But the team chose that path.
For her, culture is not something written on office walls. It is created through decisions taken during the hardest periods.
The Confidence Gap
She observed that during her career she rarely saw women step forward to ask for promotions or new opportunities. Many waited until they felt completely ready before applying for a role.
Men, in her experience, often asked earlier.
This hesitation quietly limits progress.
She admitted that she had once done the same. A mentor later pushed her to negotiate more confidently when accepting a new leadership role. The experience changed how she approached her own career decisions.
Her advice was clear – competence is important, but self-belief matters just as much.
Staying Relevant In Uncertain Times
The conversation eventually moved toward the rapid technological shifts shaping industries today.
Rekha Menon described the current moment as one of enormous change. Some roles are disappearing quickly while entirely new opportunities are emerging.
Her advice was not to panic, but to remain aware of the larger landscape. Many professionals focus only on their immediate environment and miss the broader forces shaping their industries.
The ability to stay curious, keep learning and adapt quickly is becoming essential.
Those who remain open to change will find opportunities even during uncertain times.
A Life Beyond Work
Toward the end of the session, the conversation turned to balance.
She shared a story from early in her career. She once attended a retirement speech where a senior executive spoke about finally having time to live his life after decades of work.
The idea unsettled her. She decided then that she would not postpone life for retirement.
There were periods when she worked extremely long hours. But when she took time away, she truly disconnected. Hiking, running, travelling and spending time with family were never postponed indefinitely.
For her, balance was never about daily perfection. It was about making sure life was not reduced to work alone.
The Larger Takeaway
For the women leaders in the room, the message was clear – Leadership is not about becoming one ideal version of yourself but about recognising when the situation has changed and building the next capability required to move forward.
Conversations like this are rare.
At Ladies Who Lead, they are part of how the community creates spaces where women can learn from leaders who have navigated complex paths and share their own experiences in return.