#UnlearnToRise - Trupti Deshpande

This World Inclusion Day, we bring you #UnlearnToRise, a new series continuing our conversations around unconscious bias. Through real stories from across Mahindra, we explore the assumptions we make about people and the beliefs we need to unlearn.

To rise again after a career break, I had to unlearn the belief that my value as a leader was tied to continuous corporate output.

After 22 years in finance leadership, across Pharma, Manufacturing, Media, Real Estate and IT Services, I made a conscious decision to step away from work to focus on my children and care for my elders.

The break brought its own questions and the guilt of feeling that a gap on my CV might mean a gap in my capabilities. But caregiving taught me to prioritize better, navigate complex situations with patience, and manage competing demands under pressure. It gave me space to reflect and strengthen qualities that matter just as much in leadership: resilience, adaptability and clarity.

Returning to Mahindra Accelo has been an opportunity to bring my financial and technical foundation together with a renewed sense of purpose. Five months into this journey, I bring a fresh perspective, greater leadership maturity and a clearer sense of how I can create lasting value.

A career break may change your timeline, but it cannot erase the experience and capabilities you have built over the years.

This is how I #UnlearnToRise.