Leading with Heart: Anita Kanti of WrkSpot on the Power of Authentic Women’s Leadership
An Interview With Pirie Jones Grossman
By: Pirie Jones Grossman
Published in Authority Magazine
October 15, 2024
BRAVERY — I learned how to create benevolent self beliefs during the lowest period of my life, it’s a learned skill for rebuilding and refactoring how to forgive yourself and others
In today’s dynamic world, the concept of leadership is continuously evolving. While traditional leadership models have often been male-dominated, there is a growing recognition of the unique strengths and perspectives that women bring to these roles. This series aims to explore how women can become more effective leaders by authentically embracing their femininity and innate strengths, rather than conforming to traditional male leadership styles.
In this series, we are talking to successful women leaders, coaches, authors, and experts who can provide insights and personal stories on how embracing their inherent feminine qualities has enhanced their leadership abilities. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Anita Kanti.
She’s an innovative operations leader at WrkSpot, a disruptive Tech StartUp serving the hospitality arena. Anita K. is also a career and life coach, founder of Anita K Coaching, and the author of “Behaving Bravely: How to Mindshift Life’s Challenges.” With a USC education and a background with major companies like Samsung, Huawei, and Broadcom, Anita K. merges her talent development skills with powerful motivational techniques. Her distinctive coaching philosophy, which champions resilience and bravery, has been widely recognized on national TV and respective media outlets.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about authentic, feminine leadership, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
It’s my pleasure! Embarking on my career as a life and career coach was not planned, it found me 10 years ago by accident. It was then when I was undergoing a divorce, health issues, and the loss of my father, I realized I did not have the coping mechanisms needed to rebuild. Then, I searched for solace and new meanings to cope with life. My quest delivered an addition to self-help books, including learning yoga, obtaining perspectives and guidance from a monk to therapists, and recruiting a health coach. I wanted to share what I had learned and deliver my best to others; hence, coaching arrived and translated into my book Behaving Bravely. Secondly, my background in HR recruitment has also been instrumental in my coaching offerings.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Both exciting and proud, I, too, love following great coaches. In 2017, while surfing for content on relationship management, I watched a few YouTube videos starting MelodicMic, and I liked his style. Feeling gutsy, I messaged him for a conference call invite and an in-person meeting to collaborate on making bite-size coaching videos. Nervous that I would get turned down and not confident that I could perform solo, he genuinely agreed, and we launched 50 videos on YouTube called The Mak Show!
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Anita K Coaching stands apart from the coach next door. I don’t give advice the most; I have not vetted out or practiced myself; it’s imperative to be authentic and relatable. Due to my journey, I trademarked “benevoliefs,” which are benevolent self-beliefs, a term I coined to help ourselves be brave yet benevolent in our thoughts. This concept originated from my personal experiences, where I often held myself to high standards, which sometimes resulted in self-sabotage. This led to the creation of my 5-step paradigm, known as the BRAVE system.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
First and foremost, your vision. I would roadmap my business goals and professional development initiatives just as a project manager would. This would support my focus, especially during the times I wanted to give up. Second, patience. I realized this was key to introspection and mapping in silence, especially when I started writing my book. Third, in execution, I had to step into challenges wherein I did not have the experience, such as marketing myself as a coach. What I did first was to see referrals and testimonials and give away free talks to promote the brand.
Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.
Leadership is all-encompassing in all facets of decision-making, and the story that I can still reflect on today was my first experience with restructuring in a corporate layoff. I have done this at two companies, and it doesn’t get any easier. I took the lessons learned till today. Formerly, I decided to guide the CEO on centralizing the team to improve collaboration and employee engagement, and when it was in the moments when I looked into employees’ eyes, I found it hard to sound convincing. I learned and shared with others that business decisions are not always personal and that empathy and support are key. It goes back to the saying it’s not what you do; it’s how you say it and make others feel.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a personal experience where embracing your unique leadership style, which might not align with traditional expectations, led to a significant positive impact in your organization or team?
I was supporting a C-level executive for a Fortune 500 technical giant. Through a personal discussion, I learned that his son, a recent college graduate, was struggling with his career search and that it was leading to some chronic emotional health issues. Having a strong recruitment background, I offered to meet his son and offer career coaching and guidance as a favor, driven by a personal connection and a desire to help another parent and recent college graduate. The word got out in my HR organization, which led to a second C-level executive requesting that I assist in supporting his son. This resulted in the creation of a successful pilot program, a women’s network for coaching on wellness and personal development.
In your journey as a leader, how have you balanced demonstrating resilience, often seen as a masculine trait, with showing vulnerability, which is equally powerful, but typically feminine? Can you give an example where this balance created a meaningful difference?
During a formal board meeting, I took a stand on an unpopular business decision that was challenged by more experienced executives. I advocated for the positive impact it could have on the employees I passionately support. Despite feeling vulnerable, as my stance conflicted with that of my executive at the time, I presented my argument backed by unbiased facts. Over a month later, we reached a more respectful alignment. Balance is all about alignment and timing.
As a woman in leadership, how have you navigated and challenged gender stereotypes, especially in situations where traditional male-dominated approaches are the norm? What strategies have you employed to remain authentic to your style?
With more experience comes more wisdom, and in traditionally male-dominated environments, I choose not to put unnecessary pressure on myself and fight any imposter syndrome by cultivating my inner dialogue with benevolent self-beliefs. Other strategies are meditating on my strengths and visions, pausing for silence to gather my thoughts and stress-relieving techniques that involve physical fitness. Plus, humor helps!
How do you utilize emotional intelligence and active listening to create an inclusive environment in your team or organization? Could you share a specific instance where these qualities particularly enhanced team dynamics or performance?”
Emotional EQ is critical professionally and personally. I echo and lead by example with my favorite attribute, respect. It’s the one discipline I don’t deviate from, and demonstrating mutual respect at all times naturally supports active listening and inclusiveness. On one of my teams, we had an employee undergoing a gender transformation, and it required empathy and education for others to come to a mutual ground of inclusion and respect. We rolled out awareness, sensitive listening training, and small forums to engage ideas on continuous inclusive initiatives.
What role has mentorship played in developing your authentic leadership style, and how do you communicate authentically to inspire and empower both your mentors and mentees?
We can’t exceed our talents without mentors. My best bosses and senior colleagues have guided me and shaped who I am today. I offer help when I feel I can add value to others. Extending interest in others, sharing similar stories, and talking about the “elephants in the room” help extend an advocate type of support to my style. I have had mentors with various personalities, and mirroring your coachee has proved positive.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Leading Authentically As A Woman Will Affect Your Leadership”?
Here are the 5 things I believe are essential to leading authentically:
BRAVERY — I learned how to create benevolent self beliefs during the lowest period of my life, it’s a learned skill for rebuilding and refactoring how to forgive yourself and others
READINESS — When I was not ready to move forward with a new life post my divorce, this skill had to be harnessed and self promoted from tools that you gain through reflection. And sometimes you have to move forward even when you are not ready.
ALIGNMENT — Alignment with the right plan and activities to carry out and forward is critical, during my hard times, I had to align with health goals, anger management, and other tools to carry myself through a threshold.
VISION — You can’t move forward without a solid vision even if you are uncertain how to travel there. A vision keeps you going, it’s your WHY. For me personally, coaching was a vision wherein I can offer a service at my highest purpose.
EXECUTION — This is all about ACTION. Ideas can’t manifest into anything concrete without process and progress, even a little micro progress regularly can do the trick. I had a vision board to help me with this step which was one of the most challenging.
Are there potential pitfalls or challenges associated with being an empathetic leader? How can these be addressed?
Yes, common threads exist at all levels of leadership. I believe if you are an empathetic leader, you will never be forgotten from a positive standpoint. However, hard calls can lead to being taken advantage of or sometimes not taken seriously. This can be addressed through direct communication and transparency. Implementing a culture around effective leadership is a great way to address any pitfalls.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
A movement of non-judgment through the most extensive branding awareness campaign and platform I could influence.
How can our readers further follow you online?
They can visit my website, http://www.anitakanti.com/, to learn more about my services.
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!