Chitra Kasthuri
Vice President
Alcatel-Lucent
Chitra Kasthuri is a member of:
Past Career Path
To grow an organization that has charm, vitality, energy, and
belonging,” was Chitra’s concern when she was deputed to head the
Mobility division of Lucent Technologies three years ago. Having worked
in the U.S. all her life, it was a challenge to reckon-a challenge
similar to when she started her work career.
Married Life
Hailing from an orthodox Brahmin family from the temple town of
Srirangam in South India, Chitra Chitra was a liberal by nature and
good student by God’s grace. Her interest in studies encouraged her to
complete her Masters in Mathematics. But she had to follow the
traditional path of marriage and family. However, events turned in her
favor and she and her husband left for the U.S. to pursue their higher
studies leaving the child behind.
Chitra was pooled into Mathematics and Computer Science for another
Masters program. “I didn’t know what a CPU or memory meant at that
time,” she says. Under the mentoring of a professor at the University, Chitra started from ground zero, taking several courses in computer
science. Even before she completed her Masters she was absorbed into a
small company to do backend programming. Months later, Chitra switched
over to SwitchCo, a packet data switching company and from there she
graduated into AT&T, then into Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs
Innovations upon its spin-off in 1986.
Work-life Balance
“It was a huge shift. I was somebody in SwitchCo and now I was one among
hundreds of thousands people,” she says. Work was challenging and Chitra needed a work-life balance. For a few years she skipped lunches
and travels to stick to her 9 to 6 schedule and rush home to care for
the family.
Role Model
In 1991, she experienced a turnaround. Chitra met her inspirational
idol and mentor, Mary Chan, at AT&T Bell Labs and realized it was
time for her to concentrate on her career growth. Chan’s energy,
enthusiasm, demeanor and high achieving goals found Chitra paving her
own path and setting personal goals that would build her career in the
organization.
“The most important lesson I learnt from her (Chan) was to take up jobs
that didn’t attract others. Whether we win or lose, we should see a
gain. It shows your guts, confidence and difference,” says Chitra . Chitra got her chance to prove her difference when she was appointed
as CDMA Test Supervisor at AT&T in 1995. Two years later, Chitra was promoted to Director to manage TDMA technology. Chitra understood
the significance of this new position, tackled the difficult technical
issues associated with product development and developed expert customer
relationship skills.
Growth in Lucent
It’s this forte of Chitra that brought her to Lucent India as an expat
to grow the organization. When Chitra came to head the India shop in
2003 she had to face the challenge of a work environment very different
from the U.S., the travails of being a woman leader in a male dominated
society and with the additional strain of leaving her family back in the
U.S. “I had to chisel myself into the Indian working mode and build the
organization to develop and deliver on leading edge wireless data
technologies as part of Lucent Global team.
In the early 2000s the entire global telecom market was seeing declining
growth and many people in the industry began to lose faith. At this
time Lucent experienced a change in management, attrition increased, and
Chitra had to straighten things out. “Growth is always easy but when
it comes to scaling down, people can’t take it. And when I explain that
it’s for business reasons in India, it’s even harder for the kids here
to digest the fact of losing their job,” she explains.
Confidence in Work is Important
Growing an organization in hot job market in India was tough. There were
frustrating times when people wondered if there was a lasting future in
telecommunications. But her confidence in her work and nearly a year of
smart management found her gaining the trust of her employees again as
the market rebounded. She had to build competence quickly and ensure
delivery of product in three months time. Chitra and her management team
worked hard, convincing youngsters to stay with Lucent through
mentoring programs, focus group meetings and town hall meetings.
Attrition fell over the following year and she was a happy woman with a
proven track record.
Additionally, hiring a few experienced people from the industry outside
of the confines of Lucent made some of the managers at Lucent nervous.
“We determined for some roles we needed to reach outside for talent and
we were successful in bringing a few talented individuals on board,” Chitra says. At the time in Lucent, internal promotions were more
common practice as people were fostered inside the organization to
ensure they knew the processes. “You need to be prepared for the job
ahead and when you are, then promotions will come.” Chitra herself
says she has learnt this over the years.
Reaching the Goals.
Back in the U.S., she was promoted to the post of Distinguished MTS
(DMTS). This was a first memorable event. Chitra had aspired for her
career to take her into management and she expressed her interest to
superiors and soon found herself climbing the managerial ladder.
Understanding the needs of senior management through her mentor, Chitra
understood how to delegate work as necessary and get certain tasks done
through others unique competencies. This became an important milestone
in her professional life and she learned the important lesson to be
upfront about one’s career ambitions and goals by clear communication to
her direct management. This lesson learned, Chitra has been teaching
the same to her mentees throughout her career.
Chitra as a Manager
A highly focused manager with a quest for knowledge, Chitra makes it a
point to understand the technical details of her work and the interest
zones of her employees to get the required work done in time and at top
quality. “When I discuss details, if I am not strong technically, I feel
disarmed,” she says. She understands the strengths and interests of her
team and delegates work accordingly to achieve best results.
This attitude has helped her through her two decades with Lucent Technologies, and Chitra is still going great guns!
