On the 11th of February, I have the pleasure of meeting Mrs Lalita Stable, Head of Sales at Google London with a few other girls from my school. The Google office was captivating at first sight, my eyes dragged up to the 11 stories surrounding me, scattered with glass lifts. Each window was playfully decorated by colourful post in notes in different patterns and drawings. We went up to the cafe, and sat with her drinks in hand ready to soak in her wisdom. Two questions asked which sparked the most intriguing responses were:
Working in a large company like Google, how does it feel being a small cog in a big machine?
Lailta told us “I think Google does an amazing job at making every employee feel valued and a part of something that is impactful. Every Friday Sundar Pichai gets on a call with the offices worldwide, and the most popular questions are sent through online. He answers those questions and also takes questions from the live audience there in the US. Every single employee also used to receive letters entailing everything discussed at board level meetings. However they don’t do that anymore, due to an increasing risk of leakage of sensitive data.”
What would be your biggest advice on having a good work-life balance?
Lalita explained that it was essential to figure out what her priority was in life, and realised that her “family was more important than her career.” Therefore whenever she had to make the choice of how to spend her time, she would prioritise her family, even” if that meant [she] wouldn’t advance as much as [she] wanted to in her career”. She also talked about how identity is something which can not be easily defined. She believes that she “has many different identities, of a mother, a wife, a daughter, a boss and a member of a team.”She had to adapt to each one of those roles when in them, and “the combination of these is what makes” her herself.
It was a pleasure speaking to her, and I learnt a great deal from her wisdom and knowledge she had to share.
By Sanjana Iyer
