Focusing on Compassion and Humanness. Member Spotlight: Chinmayee Somaiya
Chinmayee Somaiya is a leadership coach, trainer, and facilitator based in Australia, with a decade of experience in facilitating the bridging of organizational divides in the medical device industry. She has been a member of MBBI for several months and is most passionate about furthering efforts to bring facilitative capacity to local communities.
Global Perspectives
In her personal and professional life, Chinmayee has a wealth of experience in the international arena and has a deep respect for people of diverse cultural backgrounds. She grew up in India and received her Master of Engineering in Optical Communication from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi in 1992. Several years later, Chinmayee moved to Australia to work as a Software Development Engineer, then received her Postgraduate Diploma in Software Engineering from Macquarie University in Sydney in 2000. From there, she progressed to working with diverse stakeholders and coordinate multiple global teams to facilitate design and development, conflict resolution, systems thinking, and leadership development workshops at ResMed Ltd, a global medical equipment manufacturer. Because of her experiences in coaching and workshop facilitation within this company, she found it natural to transition into a position where she conducted leadership and developmental coaching and facilitation full-time. Chinmayee credits The Coaching Room and other coaches and facilitators, who supported her efforts in developing individual wisdom in order to better support her clients. “You work on yourself first before you help others,” she explains. Their integrity in their missions gave her the direction she needed, to pursue advanced training in professional coaching and facilitation and develop a more authentic understanding of herself and her purpose.
It was following this transition that she first heard about MBBI and was immediately excited to find a network of likeminded professionals who were passionate about mediation and engagement with local communities. She aims to bridge the gap between nations to achieve peace, make impact at a larger scale, and provide mediation and facilitation skills to communities so that they can resolve conflicts themselves. “A single person can only do so much. As an organization, we have more reach than any single person can, and I believe in the power of groups in being able to create a movement.”
On Gender and Leadership
She is no stranger to individuals’ biases related to her intersecting identities as she works as a leader and facilitator in the corporate realm. Chinmayee acknowledges that it takes a lot for women to build their credibility in this space and even at the height of someone’s career, there will be people who aren’t emotionally ready to participate in conflict management. However, it’s crucial to bring all voices to the table. “Speaking to trauma, it can manifest in so many ways – in arrogance, in defensiveness, but the key component is to normalize it and make it okay, so we can attempt to move through it.” There are emotions behind our actions and our culture doesn’t often allow for these emotions to be expressed and explored in the workplace. She asks herself, how can I bring myself forward so they feel safe? She recognizes that there will be people who may try to minimize her as a woman, but she is unwavering in her desire to remain compassionate and unapologetic about being skilled in her field.
Life Lessons
Chinmayee continues her facilitation work, driven by the memory of those moments where she has been able to witness individuals or a group glimpse a sense of identity that connects them within and yet transcends themselves. She finds it extremely rewarding to watch people develop their self-confidence, access broader perspectives, and blossom. “You feel the shift in the moment, in people, and I tell myself that that’s enough.” She acknowledges that it isn’t always easy, especially in the corporate realm, where she is often confronted by hard façades and internal politics. “It’s sometimes hard recognizing people’s potential and feeling helpless.” Despite this, she constantly strives to raise awareness of how important this work is to resolve group conflicts, for the success of individuals, the company, and indeed the world at large.
Reflecting back on her career, Chinmayee notes that if she could’ve provided her younger self any words of wisdom, she would’ve advised herself to work on her inner development. “Although, I don’t know if I would’ve listened,” she laughs. “By inner development, I mean… emotional development, cognitive development, being able to see other and higher perspectives. It also means continually broadening my sense of identity and understand where it is sitting in this moment.” It’s this focus on inner growth that she identifies as the most critical task for mediators and facilitators, in order to facilitate with compassion and a connection to others’ humanity – the common thread that binds all of us.
Article by Chloe Pan, MBBI Writer