BY J.M. LEE
Jivi Saran was born in Mission, BC, but did all her education in a boarding school in India, so she has a great outlook on East meets West. Her passion has been in ancient wisdom and a modern twist for peak performance. She fluently speaks, reads, and writes 3 languages. Over the years, she has worked in many capacities as an Organizational Development Consultant. Today, Jivi is a Senior Business Advisor with BDC Financial. Dedicated to professional development, she continued to take courses such as MBA-Leadership, and Ph.D., and now doing a doctorate in business at Royal Roads University. Persistence, resilience, and dedication to self-actualization have gotten her where she is now.
“We are now living in a new paradigm of leadership and business which requires us to make more courageous and bold decisions; we need to stand out as Disruptors of the status quo,” Jivi declares. “My greatest inspiration has been Maya Angelou, as she is the epitome of resilience against all odds. She did not let her life circumstance impede her achievements.”
Jivi has developed some of the most sophisticated and influential models of Leadership, Organizational Strategy, and Mindset Improvement through her Corporate Soul program. Coined as the “CEO Whisperer,” she works closely with high-level CEOs to accelerate growth and profitability in their businesses.
Jivi’s most significant and most vulnerable moment was accepting the role in the finance industry, as she had 36 years in healthcare. Still, she had the drive to learn, plus her experience in Advisory Services, and she took the challenge and triumphed.
“Mentoring others, I look for openness and the person’s desire to learn and grow,” Jivi affirms. “Nothing is more gratifying than seeing another woman you have mentored taking courageous steps in her personal growth and development.”
A walker between the worlds, Jivi has a good grasp of spirituality and strong business acumen. “My confidence doesn’t come from task or functionality, and rather than I am a good person doing right by the world,” she professes. “My meditation, journalling, and mandala coloring are all part of my self-awareness, self-realization, and commitment to self.”
The strategies that can help women achieve a more prominent role in their organizations, Jivi believes in the four traits:
1. Humanizing Leadership: We must see more vulnerable dedicated leaders showing the world their true selves rather than wearing masks. Such as Jacinda Ardern.
2. Emotional Intelligence: Understand your triggers and be willing to dig deep to see where they come from so you can resolve them.
3. Self-Actualization: Know who you are first
4. Adaptability to the external environment
“I have a high standard of excellence for myself and expect to mentor and coach the same in my team,” she expounds. “My personal dedication to my professional development also shows up in the team members I hire as Business Consultants. You can’t expect something from your team if you are unwilling to do it yourself.”
Mainly working with men, Jivi hadn’t encountered any resistance, unlike when she was a newcomer. “People would assume I was not the right person for the role due to my young age. Women get promoted all the time in our line of work. BDC has a strong dedication to Diversity and Inclusion, and for this reason, we are a balanced team.”
Balancing work and home can be a tricky preoccupation for women. “BE YOURSELF,” Jivi says without flinching. “We are so busy trying to be someone else that we forget who we are born as, in our own true magnificence. Make time for your family, but don’t neglect friends, the people we like and who like us.”
Jivi wants to honor her mother, who has been a true inspiration for hard work, family values, and a strong work ethic. “She has worked hard all of her life, personally and professionally, giving us an excellent example of what a person can achieve through hard work and dedication. Like most of us, she has endured many trials, but her resilience is next to none. I love that she never let life’s challenges impede what she wants to accomplish for herself.
Jivi understood motherhood much better when she had her kids. “I realized parenting doesn’t come with a handbook, and each parent is trying to do their best. I have brought up two powerful leaders in my kids, and I am very proud of the adults they have become. They are both gifted in their own way and undeniably the rebel disruptors that will change the world uniquely. I would like to thank you, my mom, for teaching us resilience, the power that lives inside of us, and above all, to love and give freely and expect nothing in return.”
