#UshaSangwan #LICIndia #InspiringIndianWomen
In December 2013, Usha Sangwan made headlines when she accepted the
position of the managing director at the Life Insurance Corporation of
India (LIC). Since its establishment in 1956, LIC has been run by a
number of managing directors but never a female managing director.
In fact, this is the first time in LIC’s history that the position
of a managing director has been given to a female employee. Usha Sangwan
joined LIC in 1981 as a direct recruit officer and she slowly worked
her way to the top.
In the last 33 years, she held several positions, including that of
the divisional manager of Delhi, general manager for marketing at LIC
Housing Finance, and the executive director of direct marketing and
international operations. During her tenure at LIC, Usha Sangwan worked
hard, learnt the ropes of the industry and never gave up even in the
toughest of times.
Usha Sangwan managed to climb the corporate ladder quickly because
of her determination and out-of-the-box thinking. To increase LIC’s
customer base, Usha Sangwan decided to leverage on social media, and
today, LIC has over 16 lakh connections on Facebook. In addition, Usha
Sangwan was responsible for taking the housing finance arm of LIC to the
international market to raise Rs 1853 million (US$ 29.85 million)
through global depository receipts. In fact, LIC was able to enter the
global market because of the changes Usha Sangwan introduced in the
company.
At a young age, Usha Sangwan made up her mind to become a
successful businesswoman and she worked hard to achieve her goal. Usha
Sangwan was an outstanding student, with a flair for mathematics and
business studies.
Hence, she decided to pursue her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
economics at Punjab University and post graduate diploma in human
resource management at the Asian School of Management. To succeed in
life, it is important to identify one’s strengths and interests, have
goals in life and work towards them. This is what Usha Sangwan did at an
early stage in her life and today, she is enjoying the fruits of her
labor.
For her outstanding contribution to LIC and the corporate world,
Usha Sangwan has been given the Women Leadership Award for the BFSI
(Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) Sector by the Institute of
Public Enterprise, and the Brand Slam Leadership Award by CMO (Chief
Marketing Officer) Asia.
Usha Sangwan is not just an inspiration and role model to young
Indian women but to people of all age groups. Success comes to those who
are willing to take risks and think outside the box. Today’s youngsters
are impatient and hop from one job to another in search of material
gains. This is not the mantra to success. Success takes time and if one
works diligently and proves his/her loyalty to an organization, his/her
hard work will definitely bear fruits.
References:
http://www.mbarendezvous.com/general-awareness/usha-sangwan/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/usha-sangwan-64b78a32/
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=12737862&privcapId=8033827
