We the Women!

Over the horizon, under the sea,
From far flung war rooms to the complex corporate tree.

Armed with wisdom and mind shackle-free,
Thou hath come a long way, Our Women in reverie.

Spread out your wings, weave a new desire,
Learn, Lead and Last, you have in your belly the needed fire.

Break Free from the cage that throws your ambitions on the burning pyre,
DO not be the damsel in distress, you were born only to inspire.

Let them not douse the strength of your power,
From your submissiveness , they stimulate their valor.

Accept not the hogwash of their sympathy,
Battle the challenges of womanhood gracefully.

As an entrepreneur or an employee,
rests on you the hopes of  a legacy.

So, Arise, Awake and march forward,
The millennial woman, you are here to be heard!!


Love,
Megha S.

Women Leadership: New Age Imperatives

We are in the era of Radical Shifts. The corporate dynamics is flipping at a fast rate and fostering gender equality remains a high visibility agenda across companies. While we may have seen a surge in the number of women entrepreneurs, the number of women CEOs and executive team members is stagnating. It stands at a meagre 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEO positions. Where is it emanating from?

According to the Women in Workplace study 2016 - Promotion rates for women lag behind those of men, for every 100 women promoted, 130 men are promoted. Secondly, at senior levels, women shift from line to staff roles. 90% of CEOs were promoted from line roles and 100% of those were men.

So why are women leaders important and how will we benefit from women leadership?

• Women have circular vision, one moment they could be talking about the latest pub in town and next moment giving you perspectives on the stock exchange. They can switch gears real quick, making them exceptional motivators and problem solvers.
• Women are multi-taskers and highly collaborative and process oriented.
• Women are skeptic by nature and look for legitimacy in the prospective solution to a problem. Thereby, building an authentic yet practical model for work.
• Improved staff retention, innovation and access to talent.
• Lead to higher employee engagement since the diverse strength of all employees can be leveraged.
• Role Model effect will lead to a better socio-economic quo,

Companies can enforce gender equality in the following ways:

• Stop relegating women contributions as supporting and not central/leading role.
• Develop women’s skills and capabilities by trainings.
•  Do not brush off critical feedback from women as non-competent.
• Commitment to gender diversity should be percolated from CEO to every employee.
• Put better systems in place to ensure the policies are working towards fair hiring, promotions and role alignments.
• Encourage and ensure direct interaction of women employees with senior management.

Finally, the women must follow the 3L Strategy to achieve leadership roles – Learn, Lead and Legacy:

•  It is not only what you know, but also who you know that defines success. So connect with people, transformational leaders and exchange knowledge and learn.
• Be fearless and be a good negotiator. Be aggressive wherever needed.
• Overcome traditional gender expectations with élan and grace to leave behind a positive legacy.

Women in the Changing dynamics of the Corporate world

International Women's day is fast approaching.March 8th, every year is marked as the IWD. Being an employee of an equal rights employer, the stress on IWD, gender equality at work, fair policies for woman and enforcement of a work culture free from gender-bias is a very important KRA for the policymakers of the organization.

We have certainly come a long way. From the confines of the four walls of the house, where women were being denied basic education to becoming literate, educated, skilled and highly skilled workforce of the Nation;women have surely come a long way.

Something that remains intact is the mindset of the average Indian Man or may be Men across the world. Therefore, we see fewer women at the top management positions than we see the men. There are a handful of such fiercely forceful ladies as Rekha Menon or Vanitha Narayanan in the IT industry and Arundhati Bhattacharya or Shanti Ekambaram in the Banking industry.

A Woman has always been epitomized as a caregiver, a fulfiller and a nurturer. Whereas, man has been exemplified as the bread earner, the hard worker and financially responsible.A female employee is still considered as a temporary asset to the team at least in the heads if not on papers.She will join, get married in due course, go on maternity leaves and that shall mark the end or slowdown of her career.Yes, it may mark a temporary slowdown, but she is not temporary. She is here to stay. The sooner we understand and realize this, the sooner we acknowledge that getting Ahead is a womanly trait too and that she should not be suppressed is when we will take the first step towards a balanced economical growth.

Disparities in financial remunerations due to gender bias is a commonly faced and discussed about topic. So many women face this challenge often. For an equal rights employer, it becomes obligatory to eradicate such unhealthy practises.

Let us give our women their due, unclog our mindsets and support them in their journey. Yes support - for they were, they are and will always remain to be the life givers on this planet and need a little handholding at stages, which in o way should impact their aspiration or desires.

There is an excellent video on Gender Equality at work(an advertisement by Tanishq). Go catch a glimpse of it here.

With Love,
Megha S.