Shweta Gulati: On working with passion and purpose

Shweta Gulati, Regional controller, Blue Dart Express
Image: Amit Verma

A year or so after she joined Blue Dart Express Ltd in January 2019, the pandemic struck and Shweta Gulati, regional controller, along with her team, had to make the shift online. Gulati, as a sort of regional CFO, has responsibilities that include adhering to the timelines of reporting the key financial numbers for the region and compliances, and ensuring optimal utilisation of resources.

With these moving online, Gulati, who has six managers reporting to her besides 70-odd accounting team members across locations in eight states, had to ensure there were regular calls so that teams remained connected and motivated despite not meeting face-to-face.  

Gulati believes in living by three Ps—passion, purpose and persistent action. “Whatever you want to do, you should have passion for that. The second is purpose—whenever you are doing something, you should have some goals. And third is persistent action. So I need to do whatever I have been doing in the best possible way,” she says.

At Blue Dart Express Ltd, she has translated these and the CDI (Connect, Develop, Inspire) concepts to SWOT analyses, to make sure that she and her team enjoy what they do, work towards goals and keep on learning. “We initiated activities and one of them was asking team members that whatever you are doing, first learn why you are doing this, what do you like about your job, what challenges you are facing and how you can add value to other roles,” says the 40-year-old who has about two decades of work experience and has been in managerial positions for about 17 years.

Another activity, she adds, “was [so people] never stop learning”. Team members were given ideas on doing things in better and different ways and “we got good feedback from the team and they were eager to adopt new things”, she recollects.

According to her colleagues, it is her ability to take feedback seriously, besides her experience and in-depth knowledge about her job, that makes her a good manager. “She is very knowledgeable about working profiles related to her job,” says Deepak Kumar, an accounts manager. Gaurav Bhatia, senior finance manager, adds, “She gives time to every reportee, listens to everyone carefully, takes the feedback positively and makes changes accordingly,” he says.