Women in executive positions are making the most progress in closing the gender gap in the technology industry, or at least among its big players.

Harkav Security‘s chief executive officer, Sheetal Narwal, is an accomplished leader with a track record in the for-profit and nonprofit, educational, and governmental sectors. In the course of her 12-plus-year career, she has acquired a wide range of skills and expertise, including those in marketing, stakeholder relations, branding, mergers and acquisitions, customer relationship management, competitive intelligence, and cybersecurity. She is an excellent leader and mentor who listens carefully and builds good relationships. 

First Steps towards the Tech World  

Sheetal’s journey started years ago in a small city in India. She used to be sharp and strong-minded as she grew up to senior high. She shares, “Our humble beginnings were the launching pad for my pragmatic dreaming.” She pursued her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in computer science since she was so passionate about technology. Since she was still in college, Sheetal has always been rather entrepreneurial and has taken on a lot of freelance network security jobs.

Following graduation, Sheetal began working for a variety of organizations, including major global firms like Wipro Infotech and HCL Technologies, in the IT sector. She quickly realized that she wanted to succeed with the most recent security technologies, which were then more readily available to her in the North American market. As a result, she made the decision to quickly immigrate to Canada to study wireless network and cyber security. She successfully completed an internship with the police force of a nearby city, Belleville, as part of her course work, during which time she also discovered just how hard the police services work to ensure the public’s safety and security. She asserts, “A seed was sown that time in my mind which led me to study more about effective security systems in the physical as well as the cyber world.”

After receiving an intriguing employment offer from a renowned firm, it was time for her to begin working in downtown Toronto. She spent the following several years tackling every issue head-on and climbing the corporate ladder. During her off-work hours, she would perform independent research and self-study in the security field and, with any remaining free time, volunteer for a variety of causes. Sheetal came to the realization that there was still a lot of work to be done in order to excel in top-notch security systems globally around the time she was working in a leadership position for a public organization. This is despite the dedicated teams working daily to improve security systems all over the world. She recalls, “I told myself that with my skill set and my zeal, I would add value to the existing system and, with my leadership impact, the maximum number of lives I possibly can. The seed sown a few years back helped me narrow it down that the first step to delivering excellence in the security domain starts with physical security and systems.”  

Joining Harkav Security

Since its establishment in 2018, Harkav Security has been committed to providing a range of physical security services so that its clients may enjoy hassle-free tasks in a threat-free environment. It has a clear goal to become a major worldwide security agency to protect client assets and play a significant role in making the world a trustworthy and safe place to live.

Since its founding, Harkav Security has offered a range of highly qualified security services, including uniformed security, security consultation, patrolling, and professional security guards. It means that businesses may carry out their operations and other routine chores without facing any security challenges. Harkav Security also assists with any events and parking enforcement, pandemic response security, retail and loss prevention security, residential and building security, and construction security services.

Sheetal states, “A company’s fundamental values are essential for all of its stakeholders because they act as the “guiding light” that directs the organization’s behavior toward a shared objective.” The key principles of Harkav Security, such as honesty, integrity, responsibility, and accountability, play a significant role in Sheetal’s fundamental worldview. As a result, when Harkav Security was searching for a new CEO to assume leadership and steer the company in the right direction, she saw a challenging role, a vision, and a mission that all resonated with her so well that she not only wanted to be a part of this goal, but actually lead the company and its employees to realize it. This was one of the main reasons Sheetal jumped at the chance.[Text Wrapping Break] 

Harkav Security provides highly effective security solutions throughout the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta in Canada. Harkav Security’s vision and mission to provide top-notch security solutions resonated with me. 

The Tech CEO

Being a leader in an organization needs a great deal of strategic and critical thinking as well as self-motivation, self-awareness, accountability, problem-solving, leadership, selflessness, and the capacity to be successful in a new environment while also inspiring others to share your vision. It’s undoubtedly a worthwhile challenge to conquer. The legacy and goals Sheetal wanted to achieve were her top motivations for becoming a CEO. She aspired to be the leader, take on the responsibility, design strategies, and influence lives both within and outside of the firm in order to have a profound ripple effect on every day. 

As the CEO of Harkav Security, Sheetal sets the overall tone for the work environment and culture of her organization. She oversees the strategic planning and growth of the firm and works with her team to manage all operations, track business performance, and adhere to all established standards. She is in charge of overseeing the organization’s assets and liabilities, creating and directing the planning, development, and execution of any new or current business plans, establishing quantifiable strategic goals; and liaising with the board of directors, staff, or the community. Since she began serving as the group’s symbolic leader, Harkav Security has won several accolades: 

• “Quality Business Awards 2021”
  
• *Winner of the Consumer Choice Award in 2021 and 2022
  
• Canadian Business Awards as “The Most Trusted Security Guard Services Provider 2022”
  
• “Consumer Choice Award Winner 2022”Certificate of Excellence 2020, 2021, and 2022 by Bark 

Setting Priorities

Setting clear priorities for everyone in the organization, including herself, is utterly important for Sheetal. She believes it allows her staff to make an informed decision about what they need to do, what they don’t need to do, and when they need to focus on certain tasks. She says, “Technically, priorities are what we do, rest all is haze. Also, there is a major difference between you talking a good game or having clear priorities.”  

Based on the strategic planning and quantifiable objectives for the fiscal year, Sheetal’s team and she draw out the road map for all actionable items for the staff members, including herself, and then meticulously line up the trajectory of all priorities to keep the team on-track throughout time. She continues, saying that maintaining a success meter or scoreboard for the results of all important activities is essential to empowering individual employees, the teams they work on, and maintaining general harmony in the business. Employees can seek meaning and purpose at work through this prioritization process while also advancing the company’s mission. 

New Transformations in the Security Sector

The security industry effectively began decades ago with just physical security and perimeter sweeps, which were often performed as needed in response to any event. However, security now plays a more active part in ensuring that individuals are safe. One key factor behind the security industry’s noticeable growth is technology. With features like guard tracking and geofencing, barcode checkpoints for patrolling, virtual dispatchers for alarm response, etc., the world now has online and mobile application solutions to optimize security operations. 

A greater understanding of the value of security has been made possible through security awareness and numerous programs made available by schools. Major unfortunate accidents around the world, including one major act of terror on 9/11, have resulted in a paradigm shift. CCTV surveillance and alarm monitoring has become the new normal for not only businesses but every household. In the past few years, the heightened need for cyber security is the next step up. 

Some modern methods and innovations that have and will cause disruption are (not limited to) the Internet of things, drones and advanced robotics, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented reality. 

Challenges for Woman Executives at Workplace

Gender bias and stereotyping are one major challenge faced by women executives in the real world. Sheetal believes that combating this challenge essentially requires more engagement from everyone—all women and men, girls and boys. She further adds that prejudice is another big challenge faced by women even in this century, especially ethnic prejudice. Sheetal opines, “Being a woman of color myself, I understand the everyday struggles that women of color face and the change that we need and deserve to avoid this bottleneck.”  

According to Sheetal, building a sisterhood is one pretty bothersome challenge that female leaders face. She concludes that women need to support and empower fellow women and lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.

Words that Motivate

Sheetal advises her fellow leaders to practice resilience. She says, “Know who you are and how you operate while working out your “resilience muscle’ and getting stronger every day.” She further adds that in this process, one should also focus on encouraging others and developing a resilient workforce for positive leadership outcomes. 

Sheetal’s other advice would be that one doesn’t have to play masculine to be a strong female leader. She asserts, “Believe in yourself, find your passion, listen with your heart and think with your mind, stay focused. The sky should be below your limit.” 

Learning from Life Lessons

One of Sheetal’s favorite life lesson quotes is, “What matters most is how we respond to what we experience in life.” There had been many harsh times in Sheetal’s life, personal and professional, and it was up to her how she should have interpreted them. She has worked a lot on her mindset and skill set, and it’s still a work in progress. But she realized soon enough in her life that one’s attitude is everything; it is what shapes beliefs and desires. She opines, “When something happens, the only thing in your power is your own attitude towards it; you can either accept it or resent it, but eventually you will have to respond to it in a certain way.” 

According to Sheetal, she has observed people obliterating their accomplishments in a matter of seconds due to the way they decide to respond to a challenging circumstance. As a result, Sheetal decides to respond to difficult situations by making difficult judgments rather than giving in to hardship. Despite any hardship, she always has complete control over her emotions, and nothing can topple her. 

Plans for the Upcoming Years

In the next few years, Sheetal envisions herself closely collaborating with her Harkav Security team to enter a new security market, namely smart home technology, in order to provide homes with greater security, convenience, and cost savings. In the near future, the team also intends to enter the product market and introduce its own line of security goods for both end consumers and corporations. Personal protection services for high net worth individuals is another security-related service that Harkav Security is introducing. Harkav Security plans to expand all of its security activities globally in the next few years.

Website: www.harkavsecurity.ca