Careers are often described as a function of ambition and hard work. In reality, they are just as much shaped by what others choose to give along the way. Over the last 15+ years of my career, that’s been hard to ignore. The moments that changed direction for me didn’t always come from being the most ready person in the room, but from someone choosing to back me anyway. A stretch role, a new business to lead, a seat at the table I didn’t feel I had quite earned yet.
None of these felt monumental in isolation, but together, they have shaped the trajectory of my career in ways that are only obvious in hindsight. Returning from maternity break and stepping into the responsibility of leading a different business than the one I handled before I went away, was another such moment. It was not framed as anything exceptional, but it reinforced something important - trust, when extended without hesitation, has a way of normalizing what could otherwise feel like an exception.
That’s what makes the idea of “Give to Gain” feel real. Because in practice, giving at work is rarely about big gestures. It shows up in smaller, everyday choices. Giving credit in a meeting when it’s easy to absorb it, giving someone an opportunity before they have asked for it, or making space for voices that don’t naturally speak the loudest. It’s giving time, attention, and sometimes just an ear. These are the habits that quietly shape more confident, capable professionals.
Across my career, I have also found myself building teams where women make up a significant part of the talent; not by design, but by consistently recognising potential and capability for what it is. It’s something I have come to take pride in, and something I know I will continue to advocate for as a way of working. And yet, there’s an uncomfortable truth that sits alongside this.
Many women still find themselves having to prove more, take on more, and earn what is often more freely given to others. The expectation to over-deliver or “double hat” isn’t always stated, but it’s understood. Which is why equality is unlikely to come from women simply asking louder. It comes from systems, and the people within them, choosing to give better. More consistently. More consciously. Policies can create intent, but they don’t always create behaviour.
It’s easy to put frameworks in place that tick the right boxes, but culture is built in the everyday, in who gets backed, who gets heard, and who gets the benefit of the doubt. The kind of giving that happens without expectation, in the moment when it’s needed, is what pays back over time. Not immediately, and not always directly but in how people grow, how teams evolve, and how workplaces become places where more people can step forward.
Over time, equality isn’t argued into existence. It’s built through what we choose to give, every single day.
(Madhura Ranade, Managing Partner ‑ West, Dentsu Creative Webchutney)
