Forté Foundation scholar and current MBA student, Divya Dewan describes her upbringing as ‘being raised by a tribe of musicians’ and a ‘clan of female founders’.
She started her global adventures, aged just 10, as part of a touring ‘Mozart Choir for Peace’, bringing together young singers from both Europe and India, to learn and perform classical songs together.
Watching this ‘mastery’ in action led by two world class musician/directors really taught Divya what excellence stands for – “It really had an impact”, and it taught her what it means to aim for mastery.
Both her grandmothers were founders, one grandmother founding an export business, even before completing college, which went on to become the family legacy.
Having strong female role models around Divya helped her, she says, because ‘it is hard to be what you cannot see’.
The mindset coaching Divya later developed, came from a desire to re-frame the narrative; “Something I have applied in my life before I started offering it to other people around me.”
Divya explains, “Because your mindset is the ‘story you tell yourself’ and it creates your persona and it is also how you show up to the world around you.”
Working with mainly millennials and Gen Z does present its own challenges. She says, “It has helped me view things differently and step back and ask how do we show up in our lives.”
“The way you measure success changes the way you show up to situations, from the boardroom to the classroom and beyond. This goes back to re-framing a situation and asking yourself how can I make an impact – rather than just asking how can I gain recognition in this situation.”
Changing your metrics across a number of situations can really change the way you live, after all, offering another human being your presence is the biggest currency you can offer.
Divya goes on to talk about motivation, confidence and self belief and how some people can have such a high level of imposter syndrome that they are showing up to every room thinking they are not good enough.
“Starting from a place of strength is the guide to work through towards greater confidence and self-belief.
Locate and create inspiring role-models and at the same time detox from limiting beliefs and narratives.”
She concludes, “With this new framework always declare and share, as the more you share your new narrative it then really reinforces your belief in yourself.”
She concludes, “Find your style, find your story, and find your strength.”
Divya Dewan was talking to Cambridge MBA Class of 2021/22 colleague, Rosin Patel in the latest podcast episode of MBA Mic. Listen to the full podcast series here>
For more insights on the Cambridge community of MBA women >
