Deepali Paul

Executive Presence Is Not About Looking the Part. It Is About Leading With Intention. For decades, women have been told that if they work hard enough, results will speak for themselves. Many of us believed it. For South Asian women, especially, this belief runs deep. We were raised to value humility over visibility, preparation over promotion, and excellence over recognition. We learned to keep our heads down, respect authority, avoid taking up too much space, and trust that our work would...

For a long time, I believed purpose was something lofty. Either you found it, or you did not. I admired people who seemed to discover theirs early, as if clarity arrived fully formed and they simply followed it. Recently, during a powerful session at Neythri as part of the Professional Leadership Development event led by Dolly Meese and Maggie Schear, that belief shifted. What struck me was not just the inspiration of the conversation, but its structure. They reframed purpose not as something...