Neythri Member Spotlight: Shibani Sanan – Chief Technology Officer, Ladder

Tell us a little about yourself – your early days, where you were born, your schooling, college, your major, when you moved to the US, how you landed at your current role

I was born in India. Went to school and did my undergrad in India. My dad was in the Indian Army, so growing up I would find myself in a different city and school every 2 to 3 years. I would find myself having to make new friends, and adjust to new teachers and a new city very often. I went to college (majored in Electronics Engineering) at VNIT Nagpur. Met my husband there. We got married and lived (and worked)  in India for 2 years before we started dreaming of making a life in the US. I got a job in the Bay Area 25 years ago, we moved with 2 suitcases and have since then been calling the Bay Area our home. My parents and most of my family are still in India. I have 2 kids in college now.   

Have you drawn professional inspiration from others? Who/what inspired you to pursue your current career and why?

I was lucky to work with several inspirational people in my 15 years at Google. But my biggest inspiration has always been my dad. I was the oldest of 3 siblings. He always wanted me to have a great career and be an independent woman. I feel like I am living the dream he had for me.

Leadership is a broad term and can mean different things to different people. Describe your leadership style and how you “lead” others. 

Leadership is about motivating and inspiring people to do their best work and be the best version of themselves. It is to create an environment where people can take risks and also grow and learn. As a leader I try to earn the respect of my team, not demand it or expect it based on titles. I have a funny story about leadership. Growing up I was fascinated by Dilbert cartoons. I had read so much about the pointy-haired boss in Dilbert cartoons that I didn’t believe managers brought any value to a team. And then one day, I was asked to lead a team of engineers at Google. I changed my mind about leaders around that time but everyday I still try my best not to be like the pointy-haired boss.

What if anything would you want to “do-over” professionally? Why?

Maybe because of the culture I grew up in, I was very humble early on in my career. I would not talk about my achievements and believed that good things would come to me if I kept working hard. In some ways, good things did come to me but quite a lot later than it came to people that advocated for themselves. Somewhere mid-career I realized that I needed to believe in my abilities, reach for things (promotions, projects, etc) instead of waiting for them, take my career into my own hands, and advocate for myself a lot more. If I had to do-over something professionally, it would be to unlearn humility and control self-doubt a lot sooner in my career.

How do you manage self-doubt? How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

Self-doubt is something that never goes away completely. It has to be managed and kept in check always. Self-doubt in my technical abilities started fading away as I saw success in my early career. I was able to navigate from a startup to Google and do well there. But I still didn’t feel confident speaking up in high-level meetings with powerful stakeholders or in front of larger audiences. So I worked with a coach who helped me realize that self-doubt manifests differently in different people. For me, self-doubt manifests as a nagging inner voice that keeps wanting me to shut up as it is too scared to be wrong. I am a perfectionist, so my nagging inner voice was nervous that I would say something wrong. I learned a simple hack that I use now to manage self-doubt, especially in speaking up with powerful stakeholders or in front of larger audiences. I wrote down a few bullet point notes for myself that gave me immense confidence somehow. I still follow that when I can, but over time, there is less of a need to write than just organize my thoughts quickly in my head before speaking up.

How do you balance career, personal life and passions? Is there such a thing as balance?

There is no formula for balancing life. My mantra is – don’t try to be perfect, just keep trying to achieve a balance that makes you happy. Some things that worked for me

• A very supportive husband who put my career aspirations on an equal footing to his own. We built a support system around us with a cook and nanny, day-cares, carpools, etc so our lives would stay in order. Sometimes I couldn’t keep all the balls in the air. But I was ok with that because I kept the big picture in mind and wasn’t trying to be perfect at everything. 

• Mid-career, there was a time when I felt guilty that I wasn’t being the best mother to my two kids. That guilt made me almost give up my professional career. A conversation about “giving up” with my daughter (who is now a senior in college) made me realize that she sees me as a role model and if I wanted her to be an independent career-focused woman, I had to make it work myself. In that conversation, I also realized that she was very proud of me, and missing one school function or not picking her up from school every day didn’t bother her as much as it was bothering me. Since that day, the guilt went away, and finding the balance became a lot easier. 

What are the most important qualities you look for in people?

Drive, Passion, and Curiosity

How important is it to have a mentor and/or sponsor to grow as a leader?

It is very important. Both are important but there is a difference between the two. A Mentor is someone who provides guidance and advice to help you navigate tough situations or navigate your career by sharing their own experience and knowledge. It is usually someone more experienced and may have been through a similar journey. You build continuous trust with a mentor by talking frequently and sharing problems that you may be facing. You look towards them to provide support and help and problem-solve with you. A mentor could also provide a different perspective that can help you look at the issue at hand in a different light.

One important point is that you may need to try out a few people before you find a mentor that is right for you. Don’t be afraid to explore and find the right mentor. After a few conversations, you will know.

Sponsor on the other hand is someone (very likely in your organization) who is an advocate and a champion for you. Someone that can open doors for you and actively invests in your career advancement. Sponsors can remain in the background and work on your behalf sometimes even without you being aware of it. They have the power to advocate for you even when you are not in the room. Usually, it is someone in your management chain and at a higher level than your manager. 

What advice would you give your 25-year-old self? What advice would you give to the next generation of young women entering the workforce?

I think the next generation of women (as I see with my daughter and her friends) are already doing this better than me. My advice is to advocate for yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks. When you see an open door and you think you are not ready, think again. More than likely, you are ready but your self-doubt is getting in the way. When an opportunity knocks on your door – especially something that feels like a stretch, my advice is to trust yourself and take it on. If it is a new stretch job or a role, it may feel tough initially but you will grow into it. 

What’s your favorite way to relax and unwind?

Netflix and Wine

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Never shy away from digging into the details and getting your hands dirty

You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?

Blue because it is calm and pleasing

Yoga & Chai or Zumba & Iced Tea?

Yoga and Chai 

Who would you switch places with for a day?

Shreya Ghoshal because I would love to sing like her

If you were to write an autobiography, what would you name it?

Battling humility and self-doubt

What is your favorite hobby?

Binge watching Netflix

What’s the next place on your travel bucket list?

Greece

What Neythri means to you 

A group of women friends who come from different backgrounds to support and learn from each other without demanding anything in return. Neythri has been a huge gift for me when I really needed the camaraderie and I’d like to thank my friend Bhanu for introducing me to Neythri.