How Women Can Create Lasting Impact in High-Growth Environments

By: Swati Saboo, Co-Founder, Scrabble

CA, sales leader and woman founder, Swati Saboo strongly believes that “Women don’t need inspiration; they just need visibility”. She hails the transformative impact of having women leaders as visible role models, who act as metaphors of hope and achievement for other women leaders.

Armed with 17 years of experience across Dolat Capital, CRISIL, Indusion and Native, Swati is a recognized sales leader. She is known for her strategic approach to leadership hiring, blending analytical expertise with industry insight to build high-impact teams and drive sustainable growth across evolving industries.

In an insightful interaction with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Swati takes us through her leadership journey from equity research to co-founding Scrabble, driven by data-led decision-making, strategic talent placement, and empowering women leaders in evolving industries. She emphasizes embracing unconventional career paths through calculated risk-taking, balancing analytical thinking with intuition, and building strong, people-first teams to create lasting impact in high-growth environments.

For deeper insights read the following interview.

As a strategic architect of future-ready leadership, how has your journey shaped your vision of enabling women leaders in evolving industries globally?

In a journey that spanned both equity research and co-founding Scrabble, I’ve gained the foresight to identify talent who is ready and all set for the future, especially in evolving industries.

Backed by data-driven insights and equipped by my personal journey, I can spot women leaders who can drive global competitiveness and spearhead developmental projects for underserved startups and SMEs. It then becomes a win-win to enable these women leaders by securing strategic placements in environments that will best leverage their natural skills and competencies.

Transitioning from equity research to recruitment leadership, what pivotal moments defined your career, and how can women embrace unconventional paths with confidence?

Some of the pivotal moments that defined my career include shifting from equity research roles at Dolat Capital and CRISIL to leadership hiring at Indusion and Native, eventually leading me to start Scrabble.

While the path has been unconventional, my approach to navigating this unconventional path was methodical. Women can embrace unconventional paths with confidence by training our risk-taking appetite.

In building leadership teams for start-ups, how do you ensure women leaders are positioned as key drivers of transformation?

It is certainly a pain to be included for the sake of it and not driving key verticals of the business from the front.

At Scrabble, we follow a people-first approach and ensure that through our strategic placements, the talent will secure well-rounded opportunities for career growth and expansion. Furthermore, as boutique recruitment partners, we understand the organisation culture, team’s expectations, and through rigorous research and analysis at our end, we always aim to strike the perfect match.

Your research-driven approach stands out, how can women leaders leverage analytical thinking and intuition together to make impactful, future-focused decisions?

As you have rightly mentioned, we need the combination of analytical thinking and intuition to drive future-forward decisions. For this, one need to hone both, the analytical thinking, be it by gaining more rich industry insights, being on top of the sways and trends in the industry, having a network and being surrounded by stimulating individuals.

At the same time, one must hone one's intuition as a skill as well. Test each time your intuition leads you to take the right decision, and similarly, give feedback when your intuition confuses you instead. A fine balance of the two, especially decisions backed by your research, analysis and intuition, will certainly lead you towards the right way.

As a co-founder balancing ambition and discipline, how has your personal philosophy influenced your leadership style and inspired other women in high-growth environments?

Women don’t need inspiration; they just need visibility. As a woman leader in my domain, I inspire other women leaders simply by existing. Every woman in a leadership position today is a metaphor of hope and achievement for other women leaders.

Of course, my personal leadership style to lead with empathy, to not react but respond, does reflect in my everyday work. However, women getting their due and pushing the envelope, getting all the way to the top, will always inspire other women in high-growth environments.

LAST WORD: Advice for Women Leaders on Creating Lasting Impact from the Ground Up

Choose a wise team. Your individual capabilities will only get you so far. But a good team will carry you through the thick and thin of this demanding and confusing journey. Always train your research – you can’t outsource it to AI completely or to a team member. Gain your own industry insights, draw your own analysis, and always improve upon them. Listen to your gut and maybe practice yoga every now and then to be in better harmony with your gut.