Testimonials

Duncan, what you do is so inspiring, so encouraging, and reconfirms to me who you are and how much you care. I was so lucky to be in that Prague meeting; the rest is history. I somehow know that one day our paths will cross again.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I would definitely like to publish this under my name. The topic is so dear, so important to my heart, I feel privileged that you asked me to participate. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Duncan is an inspiring and inclusive boss who always made time to guide and mentor others; I always had subconscious knowledge of ‘Duncan’s mentees’ who blossomed with his personal encouragement to stretch their thinking. He learned equally from those around him, and this meant you could be exactly who you are.

It comes as no surprise that Duncan is now heavily involved in helping others through his Taara programme as this is merely an extension of his authentic and compassionate style of leadership.

Just wow. This is amazing, Duncan, and I am more than happy to support in any way you need.

This is such a wonderful thing to do, and it is men like you who will make a difference.

If people understand the business benefits of diversity more, they would go out of their way to have it.

Now it never would've surprised me you writing a leadership book—especially with regard to women in leadership as you are a small few who actually identify and spearhead the issue upfront from day one. You did exactly that at IBM as soon as I gave you an ‘organization chart, and again exactly that as soon as I gave you an ‘organization chart at VMware. First four months in VMware, I dare you to count in your photos how many women are in them as opposed to men because we both know it was pretty much all woman. If you can't then I will. Taara was no surprise either on the basis of the impact you were going to have—you have changed lives of many. You have empowered women in a men's world and also empowered their daughters to aspire and not accept social norms. 

I had the pleasure of working with and for Duncan as he lead IBM Software in Asia Pacific during 2012–2015. This was at a time when I took a big step in my professional career going from being a first line manager to stepping up to bigger leader roles and subsequently my first executive role. Duncan played a pivotal role in this journey, all the way from identifying my potential, taking a bet on me as well as challenging me through the journey preparing me for future big challenges ahead. 

To me, Duncan has a unique ability, and passion, to help challenge female talents to grow and take on bigger opportunities all coming from his passion of a diverse team.  Have worked with many leaders and mentors but Duncan has a unique skill in how he makes people grow, take on bigger tasks and strengthen oneself. In short, he helped set me up for bigger leadership tasks. 

I will always look back at the time when I worked for Duncan where I learned and positively got challenged to grow the most—all helping to set me up for the future success. 

Women now make up 34 per cent of the IT workforce in India, with a majority of these workers under the age of thirty  and moving to almost a 50:50 gender parity in STEM Graduates. The next challenge is retaining them as they get past middle management and take up more leadership roles. This is a great opportunity, and personally having worked for over twenty  years, I believe this will require all of us in senior positions to stay invested to make this happen.

It also requires more sharing from leaders who have done this successfully to help others have an open mindset and learn from the experiences. Having worked with Duncan and looking at the success of Taara, I am very motivated that he has captured his journey in this book and is looking forward to doing more—together!! Wishing him the very best..