Did you know that the roles people play as parents or caregivers (e.g. pet owners, team managers, aunts, uncles, etc.) have the potential to teach some amazing leadership lessons and develop useful skills? Often, everyone is so immersed in fulfilling the “responsibility” aspect of their role that they miss out on the learning that it offers.

In this talk, Aruna shares her personal story on how she had assumed that becoming a parent would slow her down in her corporate leadership journey, but realized that she had actually gained priceless leadership lessons from this experience by using a simple hack. She goes on to highlight how this role helped her become successful in her corporate career and take on leadership challenges with confidence. Overall, this talk gives an interesting insight into unlocking the full potential that the lifetime leadership role as a Chief Parenting Officer has to offer.

Aruna is a corporate leader with more than 16 years of experience in Marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, and Waste Management. An alumnus of the Harvard Business School (Executive Education), she has held, and continues to hold, leadership positions in reputed organizations. She enthusiastically volunteers for various causes aligned to the United Nations SDGs, such as education and environmental awareness. She is a speaker and panellist at various industry forums and radio talk shows on diversity, sustainability and climate change. Her efforts have earned her the recognition in the GCC’s Top 50 Marketers (2016) and “The 100 most impactful CSR leaders in the world” (2017). Beyond all the above, she is the proud parent of a dynamic 12-year-old, whom she considers as her guide and guru.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx