My name is Sardana, and I am the Vice President of Operations at inDrive, a global I.T. and transportation platform. In this role, I have the privilege of overseeing critical operations and functions that contribute to supporting our business goals. It’s a challenging and rewarding position.
I also serve as a Jury Member for the Aurora Tech Awards, an award that recognises and celebrates the achievements of women founders in the tech and startup world. It’s a really rewarding initiative to which I am deeply committed. It was founded by inDrive because of its passion for women in leadership, and I try to reflect this in my spare time when I invest in my team members, especially women. I help them to understand their full potential and unleash it so they can boost their career and become more confident. Giving back is very important to me, but looking outside work, I am a wife and mum with my second baby on the way. I also enjoy horse riding.
In terms of how I landed the role, it’s pretty different. I started my career in the travel industry, initially working at a ski resort in Japan as a student. This experience taught me that customer service is an art. After college, I worked in the travel industry both in Russia and Japan, eventually moving into leadership roles. Seeking new challenges, I moved to the U.S. and considered law school but was drawn to tech. I met InDrive’s founding team at the right time and the right place and helped them relocate their headquarters to Silicon Valley. This project led to a full-time role as VP of Operations. I’ve been with inDrive for over four years, and the excitement here reminds me of my early days in travel. My diverse customer service and leadership background has enriched my tech career, making it a thrilling and fulfilling journey.
I find inspiration and passion from within myself and things external to myself. To do this, I set myself a clear goal because the clearer your goal is, the better you can understand the vision, who you want to become, where you want to be, why you are doing this, and what your purpose is. For myself, I do this through a routine of telling myself a story or imagining it in my head with great attention to detail. This could be about where I am in years to come or focusing on the present moment of what I am doing, wearing, eating and seeing. It helps me stay focused on my short and long-term objectives in all areas of my life.
In such a fast-paced environment, it is easy to lose yourself and your focus, so I place a lot of importance on the “why” of everything. My time in Japan led me to that because of the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which explores the purpose of existence. Living by this method encourages me to find passion in taking on more interesting projects and embracing new challenges.
I divide team leaders into two categories: visionaries and tactical leaders. The founders, who are visionaries, inspire the masses to follow them and change the world. The tactical leaders are those who make these dreams come true, and I identify myself in this category.
To be a successful team leader, the key is teamwork and driving positive change in a professional environment through essential skills. First, communication is crucial. You must communicate clearly, build relationships with your team, stakeholders, and partners, and understand the vision and goals set by visionaries.
Second, strategic thinking is vital. You need to break down grand ideas into specific, actionable steps and strategies.
Third, team building is essential. One person alone cannot achieve big dreams; you need the right team members, and you must boost their skills and foster collaboration. Conflict resolution is also key, as conflicts are inevitable and can be positive.
Additionally, delegation and time management are critical skills. Adapting to change is necessary, especially given the fast-paced evolution of technology and business. A team leader must quickly pivot and adjust strategies as circumstances change.
Lastly, resilience is paramount. Challenges, problems, and setbacks are part of any project, and resilience helps you and your team bounce back. If a leader lacks resilience, it negatively impacts the entire team.
Overall, a team leader needs a combination of skills, primarily soft skills, to effectively guide a team toward success. Soft skills enable leaders to inspire, manage, and lead teams to high performance and achievement.
The first lesson I learned is to take risks and own them. Risks come with consequences, which can either be highly rewarding or disastrous. Regardless of the outcome, you must be mentally prepared and own it. I’ve made career choices that turned into disasters, but I’ve also made choices that led to high rewards. Looking back, I sometimes wonder where I’d be if I hadn’t avoided certain opportunities, but I try not to dwell on it. I recommend taking risks for young professionals if it’s not critical to your or your family’s well-being. It’s fun and scary but worthwhile.
The second lesson I learned is that you’ll hear a lot of “no” throughout your career, which can be discouraging. However, every “no” is a step towards your ultimate goal. Even during job hunting, each rejection is a step closer to that final “yes.” So, take each “no” as progress towards your end game.
Work-life balance is something I’m still exploring. It would be easier if I were a single working woman, but the challenge is greater as a working mum and wife in a demanding, fast-paced environment. I’m expecting my second child soon, and while I haven’t mastered work-life balance, I have learned a few tips.
First, prioritise sleep. Without sufficient sleep, you start to break down. I experienced this when, for years, I slept only 4 to 6 hours a night. Looking back, I see how critical it is to have physical resources. We aren’t robots; like engines, we need maintenance, or we’ll eventually stop functioning. Prioritising sleep helps you think clearly and manage your tasks better.
Balance, in my opinion, means doing as much as you can in every aspect of your life—work, family, and personal interests—without being too hard on yourself. As a mum, people expect you to always be available for your child, but it’s impossible to always be there. I balance evening calls with quality time on the weekend. Similarly, work always demands more, but you must learn to prioritise. Sometimes, doing a task well enough is sufficient; perfection isn’t always necessary.
Balance involves compromise. Do your best in various areas, but don’t be too hard on yourself. To maintain this, you need resources, primarily rest. If six hours of sleep is enough for some, that’s great. For me, six hours isn’t enough anymore. Living on minimal sleep during crises is okay, but it’s not sustainable long-term. Consistency in rest ensures you have the resources to impact your work and personal life.
Mistakes offer valuable learning opportunities. They remind you that you’re not perfect and help you focus on solutions. If a mistake happens repeatedly, it’s a pattern that needs addressing. Embrace mistakes as part of the learning and development process, ensuring you do not repeat the same mistake more than three times. Sharing accountability within your team is crucial. As a leader, you must share and learn from mistakes to foster continuous improvement.
First, don’t be afraid to try. It’s not rocket science unless you’re building rockets for Mars. For that, you’d need a degree in engineering. The tech industry is a vast field with many facets: HR, legal, business development, sales, marketing, operations, and R&D. It attracts diverse professionals from different backgrounds.
For instance, if you have experience in administrative tasks or operations, you can still find roles within tech companies. My team, for example, manages administrative functions like facility management, travel, procurement, and IT support, all crucial for supporting the core business. There are also roles in sales and development, where skills from other industries are transferable. A salesperson in retail can transition to selling IT products, showcasing how versatile tech roles can be.
Even becoming a software engineer is accessible. Many people learn online, study coding, and enter the field without formal degrees. The key is having a goal, studying, trying, and developing your career as you go.
Second, be proactive. Review job descriptions, understand the requirements, and assess your skills. Don’t get discouraged by qualifications you may lack. Apply anyway. The worst outcome is an automated rejection email, but the best could be a conversation that leads to a job. Hiring managers often compromise, realising they might not find someone who meets every criteria but sees potential in candidates. This happened to me. I didn’t have extensive experience as a Vice President of Operations, but my superiors saw potential and invested in my development. It wasn’t as scary as I thought. So, my advice is: don’t be scared or discouraged. Be proactive. Keep trying because each attempt, even rejections, brings you closer to your goal.
To me, success is about achieving a future state of mind where I have ultimate freedom in my career. In ten or fifteen years, I aim to be able to choose what I want to do, who I want to work for, or if I want to work for myself. I want the flexibility to decide whether to work one hundred hours a week or just ten. This professional freedom is my definition of success, and I strive to achieve it. While I want to reach this goal, I also focus on enjoying the journey and not just the destination.
Currently, success means two things to me. First, it’s the satisfaction of doing something meaningful with my team, aligning with my values and personal views. Second, it’s seeing my team thrive. If my team members are growing, happy, and making an impact, that indicates my success. As someone who chose to be a manager and leader rather than specialising in one field, my happiness and my team’s happiness go hand in hand. Together, they define my success in the present moment.
On a broader scale, success is about having professional freedom in the future. However, success is different for everyone. Each person defines it in their way. For me, success is customised to my personal goals and values.
As conscious, aware, and responsible individuals, we can make the world better. Instead of chasing goals set by others or by society, we should focus on what truly suits us. This personal approach to defining success allows us to live more fulfilling and authentic lives.
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