International Women's Day 2026: A Conversation with Divya Mayani

In honour of International Women’s Day, we’re shining a spotlight on the incredible women of Interpolitan. Through this special interview series, we’re proud to share the stories and insights of the brilliant minds driving our success.

For this conversation, we transported ourselves to our Mumbai office to sit down with Divya Mayani, our Regional Head of Global Accounts.

Having built a career in private and commercial banking institutions in India, Divya brings a wealth of experience that inspires excellence across our entire global team. In this spotlight, Divya shares how giving to gain has influenced her personally and professionally and how understanding value contributes to success.

How do you balance delivering performance while also nurturing people, culture, and long-term well-being?  

I balance performance with people by thinking long-term. Revenue may close a quarter, but culture builds decades. I set high standards but also create space for learning curves, mistakes and growth. Strong teams aren’t built through pressure alone. They’re built through mentorship, consistency and care.

As a working mother, I deeply value sustainable success. When people feel psychologically safe and valued, performance naturally follows.

What does "Give to Gain" mean to you in a practical sense within your role and leadership?

“Give to Gain” means adding value before expecting returns. In my role, that translates into guiding clients even when there’s no immediate transaction, mentoring juniors without expecting recognition and connecting people in my network simply because it helps them.

Ironically, this approach has always brought the greatest professional returns: trust, referrals and long-term partnerships.

Can you share an opportunity someone gave you earlier in your career that helped shape your path and how that experience influenced the way you support and lead others today?

Early in my banking career, a senior leader placed immense trust in me by asking me to build and lead a completely new vertical, one that the team had never actively focused on before. It was both exciting and intimidating. There was no blueprint, no existing structure, and initially, no team.

I started from scratch: defining processes, building client relationships and creating momentum on my own. As management trainees joined later, I had the opportunity to coach and mentor them, shaping not just the vertical but also the people who would eventually carry it forward.

What gives me the greatest satisfaction today is seeing that team continue to perform strongly even years after I moved on. It reinforced a powerful lesson for me: leadership is not about being indispensable; it’s about building something sustainable.

That experience shaped my confidence to start new initiatives, take calculated risks and back myself even today. More importantly, it influences how I lead. I consciously give others ownership, trust them with meaningful responsibility and encourage them to build systems that thrive beyond any one individual.

What are you doing today to help create a more positive, inclusive, and empowering world of work for the next generation? 

I consciously delegate ownership, not just execution. When young professionals are trusted with responsibility early, they grow faster. I involve them in decision-making, client conversations and strategy, not just tasks. Empowerment comes from participation. Working in cross-border capital, I encourage cultural sensitivity and global thinking. I help young professionals understand how to collaborate across geographies, backgrounds, and perspectives because the future of work is global and interconnected.