Women in Leadership: Balancing Yin & Yang Energies A Corporate Perspective

The Global Leadership Forecast 2014–2015 concluded that “gender diversity in your leadership pool means a greater diversity of thought, which, in turn, leads to improved problem solving and greater business benefits. If men & women represent, two extreme ends of a pole having a fine balance helps us have the best of both the traits.

Pew’s “Women and Leadership” surveyed Americans in 2015 and found that more women in the workforce or leadership mean better problem solving, female leaders are perceived as being honest & ethical than their male counterparts. They are more collaborative and make for excellent mentors.

A 2016 survey of 21,980 publicly traded companies in 91 countries concluded that “the presence of more female leaders in top positions of corporate management correlates with increased profitability of these companies.”[1]

Social Norms & perceptions around women had a huge role in limiting many aspirations. Girls are groomed as the ideal wife and caretaker rather as ideal business women or leaders. In the past 20 years at least, many career decisions were taken based on whether the career choice will lead to a job considered suitable from a marriage perspective. No doubt teaching has always been the first choice for females in India.

Women in leadership roles are associated with masculinity & might not be considered suitable for a lot of norms & expectations which are only from females when it comes to marriage.

Inflexible work environment: Indian women continue to leave the workforce at an alarming rate post marriage & kids. The companies do not offer an atmosphere where they can see themselves nurturing their motherly traits along with the leadership role. Lack of flexible working hours, unrealistic expectations which value hours more than productivity and deliverables, lack of understanding all become pressure points forcing women to leave the workforce.

Sexual harassment, Safety & biases at work also act against women making it difficult for them to sustain a career.

Mindset Change: As a society, we need to grow our girls as individuals & nurture their potential. Globalization increased the level of education & exposure is merging the expectations we have from males & females. There is a need to grow our children as individuals & nurturing their potential. Parents today raise their girls to achieve & be something in life rather than just to get married.

Family Support: Indian men also need to lean in to share family & parenting responsibilities as an equal partner to help females have a longer & successful career. Today both male & female need skills for home management & child care. Females need to build skills which allow them to be financially independent.

Organizational commitment: towards better female representation is imperative to bring in a change.

Firstly, it’s highly important to build a gender-balanced organization. Secondly, organizations should commit to working towards better female representation at the Leadership level. For the same, it is essential to realize that skills can be taught, encouraged, and rewarded. That’s what the best companies do. Follow the scientific approach of identifying your high-performing women employees and training them further on requisite skill-set for senior positions. This will promote a culture of women empowerment.

Buddy/mentorship Programs: Having a defined roadmap, training programs & assigning a buddy helps females who might be struggling to balance their career with domestic or parenting responsibilities. At times talking to someone who has passed through a similar phase can provide valuable survival tips. I, myself, quit my job due to the need to spend more time with my child. I do feel that if at that point I would have got counseling from someone who has already passed this phase I would not have left my job.

Supportive organizational culture: A culture which understands women role as a mother & prime caretaker & does whatever it takes to supports them. Flexible working hours, work from home options, evaluations based on deliverables in place of hours at work are extremely helpful in supporting women. I hear many stories of females who have to quit the consulting space as the organization is not able to offer roles which offer work life balance and no traveling to client space. These females do not want out of city travel due to their kids.

Child care options: having a daycare facility & after school program also help reduce the choice women have to make between work & family.

Freelancing, post-sabbatical return programs: Any women would need tremendous support until her baby is 2 after which he is ready for daycare & preschool. If organizations can support women during this period via freelancing part-time assignment, it could be extremely valuable in helping them retain their career.

Post-sabbatical return programs offered by Tata, Sapient have been well received & appreciated by everyone. Jobsforher, Sheroes are many sites which are helping integrate women back into mainstream post sabbatical.

Indian women will continue to push limits by entering male-dominated professions & break the glass ceiling by proving their talent. An organization which wants to reap the benefits that a diverse workforce brings will have to respect WOMEN’s needs.

https://enterpriseblog.xoxoday.com/places-to-work-for-working-mothers/2975

Last but not the least, smart organizations have understood for a while now that gender balance delivers better and more sustainable performance. That companies with more gender-balanced leadership teams out-perform those with less. While the skeptics will spend another decade resisting this fact with demands to prove causality, the best employers prefer leading the charge to following it. Hence, it would now make sense to focus on the leadership skills irrespective of gender.

1. https://medium.com/@theBoardlist/5-reasons-why-having-women-in-leadership-benefits-your-entire-company-labor-day-2016-a3e46162a7a0