Teamship in theSpotlight: A Conversation with Naila Chowdhury
Participants:
Naila Chowdhury – global leader in telecoms, social impact and women’s empowerment
Jena Davidson – Jenson8
Theme: From War Zones to Boardrooms: The Power of Teamship in a Fractured World.
Early life and theroots of empathy
Jena: Let’s start at the beginning. Where did you grow up, and what shaped how you see the world?
Naila: I was born and raised in Bangladesh, butI’ve lived in 11–12 countries. I grew up in a liberal family in a patriarchal society, where men were generally preferred but my family prioritised education and advancement for women.
My mother died when I was 12, and my twin sister passed away at 11 months. My father became both mother and father to my two sisters and me. Those early losses gave me deep compassion and empathy. I often say I feel a “double strength” in me – hers and mine – when I work for others.
Jena: What did you learn from your father that you still carry with you?
Naila: Something very profound. In a culture focused on money, he always told us: integrity, compassion, kindness and trust never go out of fashion. Never build or break a relationship because of money. If you work hard, it will come – but never compromise true friendship, trust and compassion. That’s what gives life dignity.
He was a first‑generation civil engineer and completely self‑made. During the Gulf War, he lost everything. I never saw him complain. He said, “I worked hard for it. God will give it back.” Before he died in 2007, he regained everything. For me, that was a powerful lesson in faith, resilience and doing the right thing even when circumstances collapse around you.
Defining teamship: trust, dignity and shared growth
Jena: When we talk about “teamship” at Jenson8,we mean the ability of teams to think, act and perform as one under pressure. When you hear that word, what comes to mind?
Naila: I’ve worked across many countries, often arriving where I didn’t speak the language, joining unknown teams during mergers or acquisitions. Sometimes we had to let people go; sometimes we had to grow the team significantly. The starting point was always the same: know them and build trust.
In Bangladesh, I once led a team of around 17,000 people as HR and Customer Relations Director. I felt responsible for them, but I also felt that on the journey, they built me. I grew with them and learned through them. Without trust, I couldn’t have taken a single step.
Teamship, for me, is give and take being there for your people, respecting their dignity, accepting cultural differences and not just imposing what you know. Some times that even meant knowing their families, because in certain cultures, women weren’t allowed to work with us until their families trusted the organisation. When those families finally saw us as trust worthy, that’s when we knew something had shifted. It wasn’t about me as an individual; it was about the kind of organisation we were building.
Role models and leadership philosophy
Jena: Who shaped your understanding of what a great team feels like?
Naila: My early working environment in Bangladesh was very male‑dominated, but there were men who stepped aside and made space for me to lead. We had strong European management, especially from Norway, which invested heavily in our organisation.
A huge influence was Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. I worked with him closely for 17 years. He taught me to simplify problems: when big problems come, step back and think simply about the next step. Don’t try to solve everything in one go – do what’s within your reach, step by step, and always value people for who they are.
My father was another role model – deeply honest, of great integrity, and always helpful to others. When people talk about my parents, they speak about their kindness. That’s the legacy I’d like to carry.
I also drew heavily on Ken Blanchard’s work. Early on, leading a growing team of thousands, I relied on his “Gung Ho” concepts of team spirit, trust, and unity. We didn’t have much access to books, so I would photocopy key chapters and hand them to my team. Years later, I met Ken and his wife Margie in San Diego, and we became friends. He once told me, “I wrote about servant leadership, but you are the role model of it.” That meant a lot.
When teamshipbreaks: threat, hostility and gender
Jena: We’ve talked about strong, safe teams. What about when it’s not like that – when you don’t feel safe?
Naila: I’ve had many very threatening experiences in different countries, including war zones. As a woman in leadership, I’ve been actively targeted by some men who felt threatened by what I could achieve. I often thought, “If they can do this to me in a position of power, what happens to those with no voice?”
Some behaviours were deeply unprofessional: backstabbing, misreporting results to make me look weak,and spreading stories. I felt I had to work 200 times harder to prove that the results we were achieving were real. It was painful, and I still carry some of that hurt, wishing they had understood I wasn’t there to take anyone’s position, but to build something bigger and better together.
But I must also say: not all men were like that. Many men have lifted me up – people like Dr Suresh Subramani at UC San Diego and Emmanuel C. Perlman, with whom I’ve done peacework around the world. Spiritual leaders have also grounded me. The hugging saint, Amma, has been a profound influence. Watching millions come together aroundlove and service reminds me of what humanity can be when we move beyond ego and division.
Culture,recognition and emotional honesty
Jena: How emotionally honest do you think teams really are, versus how much they pretend to be?
Naila: I’ve seen both. I made it a priority that before the weekend, we held a two‑hour session about what didn’t go right and what could have gone better. People could share personal and professional stories. I would ask them to tell me everything that had gone wrong with me and where I could be better.
I didn’t hide my emotions. I’ve cried in front of my teams, telling them, “Without you, I would have collapsed.” When they saw my vulnerability, they stepped forward with their own stories. That’s how we released tension and built deeper trust, especially as the company grew. Without that healing circle, I don’t think we could have stayed as strong as we did.
Jena: Is there one emotion teams feel all the time but struggle to name?
Naila: Recognition and gratitude. Many people are never recognised. The ones who talk more often over shadow quieter, harder‑working colleagues. Those quiet doers hold everything together, but if you don’t consciously dig to find and acknowledge them, hidden grievances grow.
Culturally, I see differences too. In many Asian cultures, there is a natural respect and sensitivity toward others, regardless of status. In parts of Europe and the US, people can be more aloof. People call care and recognition “unprofessional”, but for me, it’s basic humanity. In the global “rat race”, we forget to notice the person at the next desk.
Crisis, drills and zero tolerance
Jena: You’ve mentioned bomb threats and kidnappings. How do high‑performing teams handle personal stress and crisis without losing momentum?
Naila: We did many drills to prepare – they help create muscle memory. But when real crisis hits, it’s what’s inside you that counts: your care for people and your sense of responsibility. If you’ve consciously practised the right values, they show up in those moments.
I pushed for zero tolerance on wrong behaviours, especially around inequality. In some countries I worked in, only men were valued. Women were expected to stay quiet, even indrills. But if you stay quiet in a real bomb threat, you might die. So we had to fight cultural norms and insist on equal treatment and participation. That was not ideological; it was life or death.
I also insisted on six‑month training and bonding periods before launching new operations wherever possible. We used that time to become a family, especially in customer service. Not every organisation gives you that privilege, but where we had it, it made a huge difference.
Systemic barriers, gender‑based violence and policy fatigue
Jena: You’ve done intense work in India andPakistan around women’s safety. How did that connect to teamship?
Naila: In India, for example, you see a country sending people to the moon while, at the same time, women face horrific levels of violence. Gang rape is used as a tool to suppress women who do well,especially from minority communities. Every 15 minutes, someone is attacked. It’s heartbreaking.
We worked to reintegrate survivors – 300 people at a time. You feel you’ve created a drop of hope, then you return a month later and see 100 more victims. Amma once told me, “Even a drop creates a ripple. Keep going.” That helped, but it was crushing work. After three years, I was broken and needed time to heal.
I served as an adviser to the G20 on women’s empowerment, helping shape policies on safety and empowerment. But policies are meaningless if not implemented. The same is true in companies: you can have beautiful value statements and frameworks on teamship and inclusion, but unless they’re lived, they’re just words on paper.
What breaks teams –and where real teamship begins
Jena: If you could remove one behaviour from teams to make them better, what would it be?
Naila: Selfish, siloed, self‑centred behaviour – the belief that you can move ahead by holding everything to yourself. People think they can rise alone because they have certain qualities. Maybe they can,for a while. But in the long run, that mindset demoralises others and becomes even more dangerous at higher levels.
Sharing and growing together is essential. If those who know more shared a little more, many more people would grow. That’s what strengthens teams and organisations over time.
Jena: Finish this sentence for me: “Real teamship begins when…”
Naila: Trust, trust, trust. Nothing can go forward without it. And it has to show up in your behaviour, your work and yourmanagement, every day.
Naila's final word: I have two daughters and three grandchildren, and I do what to make the world a better and safer place for them and future generations. My family is my world