Vasanthi Srinivasan: Shaping the Nation’s Future Leaders
From MOOCs to Marigolds
In a marketplace ablaze with the sounds and furies of India’s most cacophonous festival – Ganesha Chaturti – a saree-clad, bespectacled woman briskly strides through. She stops at a stall that packs row upon row of Ganeshas, some muddy brown, others brushed with vivid reds and blues amidst incense fumes and marigold scents. Just then, she receives a tap on her shoulder: “Ma’am? Are you Professor Vasanthi? I took your MOOC on People Management, and it changed my life.” The speaker, Pallavi, is a young software engineer, a baby hoisted on her hip, her husband hovering nearby. Pallavi excitedly gushes to Vasanthi Srinivasan about her plans to return to work after a maternity break in her new, upskilled avatar: as a people manager.
Another time, at an airport in Ranchi, Srinivasan observes a group of people mumbling and pointing fingers. “I thought maybe they were looking at somebody else,” she recalls. Finally a shy young man seems to drum up the courage to approach her. Introducing her to his wide-eyed family – uncle, aunt, parents et al – he said: “Yeh hamare Professor hain, humne online course kiya tha. Aur uske baad na, jo bhi seekha, mujhe promotion mila.” (“This is our Professor. I took an online course, and after that, whatever I learned, I got promoted.”)
Vasanthi doesn’t just garner admiration from online audiences. MBA students at IIM-Bangalore, where she’s taught for twenty-five years, vouch for the way she shifted their perspectives. Many reach out to her over their corporate journeys, seeking advice on diversity initiatives or prickly HR tangles. Right from the start, Srinivasan was clear that her courses on People Management would not be sidelined as dispensable fluff. That she would draw wannabe bankers, consultants and technologists into her classrooms, since they would eventually grapple with a thorny, and yet deeply rewarding business challenge: people.
Grasshoppers to Knitting Needles
As a child or even as a teenager, Srinivasan had never envisaged such a future for herself. Living close to the now-bustling Thippasandra in Bengaluru, Vasanthi recalls the village-like feel of her neighborhood. The milkman’s kids also attended her school (New Horizon Public School) and on walks home, they pointed to various bugs – “grasshoppers, ants, friendly insects, poisonous ones” – or to plants and grasses that could be safely chewed.
After the 7th Grade, she moved to St. Anne’s, an all-girls institution, where she interacted closely with peers from challenging households. Vasanthi herself was clumsy at art and craft. Her friends set up a barter: she would tutor them on academics, while they would handle her knitting and drawing. She laughs at how the Art teacher was dubious when Srinivasan turned in decent knit-wear.
Half-sarees and Happenstance
Later, as the first woman in her family to head to college, her grandmother acceded to her attending Jyothi Nivas on two conditions: that she must wear a half-saree at all times and not “have a love marriage.” Choosing Commerce because she wasn’t drawn to Science, Srinivasan did not exercise too much thought on her future. Even today, she empathizes with young adults who do not know what they wish to pursue. She admits that she too was like that. She explains to parents that success is not always the outcome of a deliberate childhood plan.
At Jyothi Nivas, Srinivasan flourished in intercollegiate activities. As the only one in a half-saree, she stood out for her spunk and extroversion. Over the years, as she effortlessly navigates complex environs in a saree, she appreciates her Paati’s one-time strictures.
Not Just Marks
As a highly respected Professor now, Srinivasan says that folks wrongly assume that she must have been topping all her classes. “But I wasn’t. Intelligence is more than just marks.”
Once her anxious father sat her down and berated her. He thought she might flunk. An exasperated Vasanthi asked: “What would make you happy?” He wanted a first class, but didn’t think she could get there. Srinivasan hunkered down to edge past her father’s goal: with 60.1% Even now at 92, her father occasionally brings up her carefree past.
Turning Trials into Resolve
In her final year of college, her father was struck with a heart ailment. Vasanthi juggled the emotional weight of his illness, her studies and financial strains. Tutoring kids while swotting for her finals, she grasped how fragile their situation was. It was an experience that cemented her resolve to “always be financially empowered.”
Blood Drives to Lifelong Purpose
At that critical juncture, a friend introduced Srinivasan to Lata Jagannathan of the TTK Group, who was setting up the Bangalore Medical Services Trust. A home visit and a brief discussion later, Vasanthi landed a job to co-ordinate blood donation drives. Her role involved mobilizing donors and working closely with hospitals to ensure the smooth execution of these life-saving events.
This two-year stint not only gave her a foothold in the professional world but also instilled a sense of how purpose could be braided into work.
Finding A Calling
Prodded by folks who recognized her wizardry with words, Srinivasan enrolled in an evening public relations course at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, where she garnered a gold medal. Her coursework involved visiting factories and engaging with HR professionals: “It became clear when I saw the HR heads—that’s what I wanted to do.”
An encounter with Anand Naik, who would later head HR at ITC, was pivotal. He suggested she consider XLRI, sharing his own transformative stint there. His words struck a chord, so much so that Vasanthi didn’t apply elsewhere.
Generosity Opens Doors
Getting into XLRI was a dream come true, but the ₹10,000 admission fee was an impossible hurdle for her family. Unsure of next steps, she confided in the friend who had helped her land a job earlier. That very evening, the friend returned with a check for the exact amount.
Even today, Srinivasan marvels at how this act of kindness not only changed her life but also that of many others.
Transformative Years at XLRI
XLRI proved to be more than an academic experience. Surrounded by extraordinary peers—national athletes, poets, debaters, and authors—Vasanthi initially felt out of place. But it was exactly the environment she needed to challenge herself and plumb her own strengths.
During this time, she realized that she too could be competitive: “But my competition has always been with myself—how I can better myself, regardless of how others are doing.”
Lessons in Self-Love
At one time, a professor handed her a book titled Why Am I Afraid to Love? for an assignment. Embarrassed by the title, which sounded like a romance novel’s, she reluctantly dug in — only to find it deeply transformative. The book taught her the importance of self-love and compassion, themes she hadn’t been exposed to till then.
During her viva, she mustered the courage to ask why the professor had chosen this specifically for her. His response was surprising: “I don’t want you to become masculine. Keep your femininity—you can still be impactful in the world.”
The statement stayed with her. “After that, I was never apologetic about crying, expressing my feelings, or being who I am,” she says. This clarity helped her embrace her emotions and vulnerabilities, shaping how she navigated life and leadership.
An Empowering Partnership
At Wipro, Vasanthi met her husband, who’s not just a partner in life but an unwavering pillar in her professional journey. “He’s deeply committed to my career, possibly more committed than I am,” she admits. He even asks her tough, probing questions that goad her to review her decisions.
Observing the diminishing relevance of generalist HR roles, she wanted to acquire a deeper understanding of organizational behavior. When she flippantly mentioned her vague dream of pursuing a PhD “someday,” his response was: “Isn’t this the best time to go? I can take care of the home, and you can do your PhD.”
From XLRI to IIM-B: Bridging Two Worlds
Her doctoral experience at IIM Bangalore was different from her journey at XLRI. “If XLRI was about personal discovery, IIM-B was about forging my professional identity.” At XLRI, she had delved into the human aspects of HR. At IIM-B, her focus shifted to integrating HR into the broader business narrative. “How does one change that narrative? How does one work with it?” she wondered, sharpening her own knowledge of how businesses operate.
Layering the analytical rigor of IIM-B with the human-centric perspective of XLRI accorded her a unique lens into business challenges. “Together, these two schools of thought allowed me to see things very differently.”
Turning Into a Full-time Academic
On completing her PhD—a journey that included a maternity break after her daughter’s birth—Vasanthi joined a boutique consulting firm, convinced that academia wasn’t her calling. But fate had other plans. When a professor at IIM-B went on sabbatical, Srinivasan was invited to step in. What started as a stop-gap teaching assignment evolved into a full-time role. “I never thought of myself as an academic, but here I was,” she laughs.
Her teaching philosophy was shaped by her own experiences as a student, when she often heard others belittle HR courses. Determined to change their views, she reimagined how HR could be taught to non-HR professionals. “My whole approach was: how do you bring value to business managers?” she says. Her ability to ground HR concepts in real-world business challenges made her a much sought-after professor.
Championing Gender, Ethics, and Governance
Long before DEI and gender empowerment became central to corporate discourse, Srinivasan was already paving the way. By 2004, she was actively researching gender issues in the workplace. “In 2011, we had our first paper. By 2013, I was on the field doing research,” she recalls. Her work on ethics and governance began as early as 2007. “I could see ethics and governance becoming important, but there was no place where it was getting addressed.”
Her efforts culminated in national-level contributions, including a role in drafting the 2019 National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct. “It’s not just about identifying the gaps—it’s about creating frameworks that lead to change.”
Creating Pathways: The Tanmatra Initiative
Vasanthi’s commitment to empowering women extends beyond her classroom. Along with colleagues, she co-founded Tanmatra, an initiative to ensure women can access management education. “We kept hearing, ‘Where are the women?’” she recalls, referring to the lack of female leaders in organizations.
Tanmatra has become a powerful platform, with this year’s cohort of 34 students selected from 90 applicants across 20 organizations. “It’s about uncovering the hidden talent pool,” she says. “These women were always there—we just needed to create a space for them.”
Adapting to a New Generation
Over 25 years of teaching, Vasanthi has witnessed shifts in students. “Students today are far smarter and more aware than we ever were,” she observes. But their information-saturated pasts create other challenges: “EQ is something we are not cultivating enough. Moving from information to judgment, particularly the emotional piece, is tough for them.”
In today’s classrooms, respect isn’t a given—it’s earned. “Students don’t blindly accept authority. As a professor, you need to enter your class with the mindset that it’s your first time teaching,” she advises. Yet, she firmly believes that the unfairly-maligned Gen Z is not the problem. “If they’re 23 and behave like 35, we have a problem,” she quips, highlighting the need for educators to adapt to fragmented minds and new ways of thinking.
Her mission is to cultivate resilience, emotional intelligence, and empathy in the next generation of leaders.
Rethinking Pedagogy
A staunch believer in experiential learning, Vasanthi highlights its potential to reshape education. “In every class, something needs to happen that forces students into action-based thinking.” Traditional lecture methods, she argues, are no longer sufficient. “Unless we adopt action-based, project-based pedagogies, we won’t achieve transformation. Teaching alone is not enough.”
Her classrooms are dynamic, filled with real-world scenarios and self-awareness exercises. This move towards hands-on learning reflects her belief that students must actively engage with ideas to truly internalize them. “It’s about moving beyond knowledge and inspiring action,” she says.
Championing Broader Diversity
Currently Srinivasan is turning her attention to new dimensions of diversity. Beyond her impactful work on gender equity, she tackles areas like LGBTQ inclusion, accessibility for persons with disabilities, and class-based diversity.
One of her key goals is to influence public policy, with a sharp focus on corporate transparency. She advocates for stronger disclosures that push companies toward meaningful change, ensuring that diversity is more than just a box to tick.
The Comedian That Could Have Been
Though her days are filled with serious work, Vasanthi sometimes muses about an alternate career as a stand-up comedian. With a treasure trove of amusing stories from her professional life, she feels she could weave them into a hilarious routine. However, there’s one catch: her tendency to laugh before delivering the punchline.
“If I’m already laughing, why would anyone else bother?” she says with a hearty chuckle. Despite this, she hasn’t completely ruled out the idea. The thought of doing something irreverent and spontaneous evokes a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.
Shaping the Future of Leadership
Till then, she remains focused on creating meaningful change, not just for individuals but for organizations and society at large.
“In the end, it’s about passing on the wisdom of the past while adapting to the present,” she says. “It’s about creating leaders who can think, feel, and act—not just for themselves, but for the greater good.”
References