Suganthi Periasamy, DTM

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a Board Member:

In my journey of 20 years in the Computer Science & Engineering field, I have gained invaluable experience in designing and implementing innovative & cost-effective solutions for complex problems in the rapidly changing Banking & Financial services industry. I have experience in Project/Program/Portfolio management, Transition management, Research & Product management, Risk management, Change management and Business process management. As a management consultant, I have completed consulting assignments for international clients in the areas of Compliance & Regulatory management as well Quality assurance management helping them to design strategic process improvements to improve efficiency and bring down costs. With strong inclination towards customer centric solutions, I also have had the opportunity to work on go to market strategies while serving as a Product Owner.

My work has bestowed me with the privilege of working with and leading Cross functional teams spread across different geographies. These teams with diverse cultural and multilingual background have given me the opportunity to practice inclusiveness and collaborative model of operating on a day-to-day basis. While working as a Transition manager, I was able to develop conflict management skills which helped bring together adversarial teams to accomplish the collective goal. As a Program Manager, I have gained financial skills serving as a P&L owner for the programs that I manage.

I have a patent for an innovation in the field of Real Time Payments. I am one among the 9000 people in the world who hold an advanced certification in Product management & Agile practices (PSPO 2).

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

At work, I am involved in the strategic planning and execution of the programs that I manage. Working closely with the CXOs, I have executed consulting assignments in the areas of Compliance & Regulatory management helping my clients to draw strategies to be compliant to the new regulations brought in by the Central Bank/Regulatory Body of the respective geographies. This involved crucial planning as the strategies had to be executed in a time bound manner, failing to do so would result in violation of regulatory laws. While functioning as a Product Owner, I had extensively worked on the go to market strategies to competitively position the product we developed.

During my tenure as Club Growth Director and District Director, I worked to develop strategies to form clubs in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns of Tamilnadu & Sri Lanka, which helped to expand District 82 into two Districts namely District 82 and District 120. While serving as the Region Advisor, I guided District Leaders to develop strategies to accomplish their District goals for the year. I also had the opportunity to chair the District Strategies Committee during my 2nd year as a Region Advisor.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

As a Program manager, I manage multi-million-dollar programs which involve drawing up P&L projections for the financial year, preparing & presenting financial reports to the senior management on a quarterly basis, monthly reviews of projection vs actuals, ensuring profit margin retention and effective management of the cash flow for operational costs. As a District Director, I was responsible for developing, monitoring and implementing the District budget, as well as taking into account the dynamics of the ever changing currency conversion rates of local currency vs USD.

What experience do you have in developing policies?

My professional responsibilities include developing policies for IT governance, regulatory management, business continuity, change management and product management. I also regularly review the policy changes introduced by my clients to Service Level agreements and ensure effective Operational management and Stakeholder management. In addition, my work also includes study of the changing financial policies of the various geographies, understand the impact of those to the operations of my clients, and advise them on the required change management measures.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

One of the most important lessons that I learnt is that a leadership position is time bound but the influence/impression that you leave on people lasts for a lifetime. I learnt that it is important to lead from the front in times of crisis, and to cheer the team from behind in good times. I learnt to be open to ideas and suggestions coming from team members across the board, irrespective of their years of experience. One of the crucial lessons that I gained is that it is difficult to always form 100% consensus among the team and it is important to take the right decisions however difficult the decision-making process may be. Those difficult decisions may not be popular at the time they were made, but it is important to upload integrity, stick to those decisions, and face the outcomes. I firmly believe that practicing empathy at all times, especially in times of crisis and difficult circumstances is very important to nurture a culture of belonging, and to make your members truly feel cared for.

What experience and key strengths would you bring to the Board of Directors?

Serving on the Board of Directors of Toastmasters is an unique responsibility as ours is a 100-year-old organization spread across different geographies with membership from diverse economic and cultural background. My professional experience as well as the journey that I have had in Toastmasters so far has enriched me with the following strengths - Leading with a purpose, Upholding the Value System & Standards, Strategic Thinking, Problem Solving with an analytical mindset, Financial acumen, Change management, Striving for excellence while operating within limitations. Having the experience of working with multi-national teams daily, I bring a global perspective in understanding the requirements of our members who come from different ages groups, culture and educational background. My day-to-day work has enabled me to think globally and act locally to deliver customer centric solutions. As a product management consultant, I have the experience in balancing technological innovation while producing tangible results in time bound situations.

Why do you want to serve as an International Officer/Director?

As we foray into the second century, I wish to offer the skills and strengths that I have developed at work as well as in Toastmasters, to our organization to traverse the dynamically changing global scenarios. I would like to use this opportune time to actively contribute towards building and implementing strategies to offer the best service to the changing educational requirements of our members. Our members are from different educational backgrounds, varied age groups and come with cultural diversity. This demographic diversity in our membership has brought in the continual need 1) to innovate our educational program to remain industry relevant 2) streamline our operations to provide timely support to members across geographies 3) to seek & sustain growth opportunities in emerging markets. I believe the professional experience and expertise that I have gained over the years would enable me to contribute towards these three areas. The Toastmasters program has touched my life and enriched me in more ways that I have ever imagined. Serving on the Board of directors would bestow on me the opportunity to give back to this wonderful and supportive community at a larger level.

What volunteer experience do you have outside of Toastmasters?

The seed for volunteer service was sown during my formative years when I had the opportunity to be part of the Interact club in my school contributing to community projects. I went on to serve as the Secretary and later as the President of the Interact club. During my college days, I had the opportunity to organize Blood Donation camps collaborating with the Rotary club of Katpadi. TCS Maitree, the CSR engagement wing of my company opened the doors to volunteer service once I started my professional life. I was able to contribute as a Scribe for visually challenged students of Thiruvanmiyur Government school which helped me understand the true value of perseverance and resilience. I serve on the committee that organizes weekend educational camps at the fishermen communities on the East Coast Road of Chennai providing tuition to children in Maths and English from 6th to 12th grades.

During the pandemic, I volunteered with an NGO to serve as a "Call a buddy" to school children to engage them in friendly telephonic conversations to offer moral support when their families were impacted by Covid. As a volunteer leader at work, I serve on the educational committee of Agile Neighborhood helping them identify mentors/coaches for professionals who are aspiring product owners/mangers. I am a TCS Gold certified mentor and I actively offer mentoring sessions to both budding as well as experienced professionals.

Have you worked with other Boards of Directors outside of Toastmasters? If so, describe your experience.

I worked with the Board of Directors of an educational institution to design and implement Change management strategies during the onset of the pandemic. This educational institution as part of its CSR activities provides free educational services to children from rural areas. With the onset of pandemic, the educational activities of these children came to a standstill due to technological limitations in the rural areas. I had the opportunity to design and implement a program that engaged children everyday overcoming the technical limitations and this continued till they were able to resume their regular curriculum in person at school. I undertook this activity as a volunteer service due to my interest in the areas of Change management and Product development.

In your opinion, what are Toastmasters International’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

Toastmasters International's major objective is to be the most sought-after educational service provider that equips people with communication and leadership skills to address the challenges and opportunities in this VUCA world. To achieve this objective, I would work with the board on the following:
1) Exploring Cost-effective innovation to offer robustness and stability in our Membership services
2) Accessible delivery of our educational program leveraging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence
3) Timely Assessment and fulfilment of the training needs of our leaders to support their endeavors to regain membership, attract new members
4) Developing strategies to be an agile organization that swiftly identifies emerging market trends and addresses the dynamically changing educational requirements of members.

Additional information about candidate:

I love to travel and have a keen interest in exploring new places and experiencing new cultures. I am enthusiastic cyclist. I like to study temple architecture and history, and I am in the preparatory process to publish a Coffee Table book.