Leadership is about grit & determination, and they are definitely not gender specific

Unlike most other professions, women already form a very large part of the workforce in communications and other creative professions – 34 per cent compared to a national average of 14 per cent. However, the challenge before this industry is the high dropout rate. The ratio drops to just 11 per cent at senior management positions, and a mere 3 per cent in boardrooms. 

In conversation with Charu Raizada are three noticeable women, each doing her bit towards breaking down barriers for women in leadership: Dr. Deepa Sethi, Professor, Chairperson, PGP – LSM, IIM Kozikode (Kerala); Mou Chakravorty, communications strategist at Deloitte  and a Council Member at Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) Public Relations & Digital Marketing Council; and Priya Bendre, a communication Strategist with Fortis Healthcare and a council member with WICCI Public Relations & Digital Marketing Council. 

Listen to this podcast in two episodes:

Part 1:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7r1vVrWw7QHF9OaSyqCzTK?si=91edb337999d4de6

Part 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6mzdvCtcPmU4eFm80Crnkt?si=0499ebdc8ae448fb

With a mere 3% of women making it to the boardroom, what can companies do to break down barriers for women to break into leadership roles? 

Dr Deepa: I believe there are three major barriers for women to break into leadership roles. The first and foremost being equal opportunities. It has been observed by a number of studies that women are not offered equal training and leadership opportunities as their male counterparts.  Organizations prefer hiring women in cosmetic roles and at a lower level. Therefore, in order to climb the same number of steps, women need a longer time. 

The second is lack of empowerment an outcome of both external and internal factors. It is true that there are certain external factors like less organizational support, lack of training and mentorship, low acceptability from the peer group and the seniors, social stigma related to women leaders, rigid societal norms with regard to roles of women, which lead to lack of empowerment for women to reach the boardrooms. However, we need to acknowledge that lack of empowerment may also be due to internal factors, which include lack of self-confidence, low morale, less trust in one's capabilities, vulnerability towards here says so on and so forth. And finally, the third barrier is absence of walking the talk of diversity and inclusion policies. 

Do you find subtle biases in policies and processes? 

Priya: Biases continue to be commonly experienced, despite organizations taking mammoth steps towards increasing the advocacy for greater equality and also to build respect for employees. Despite all of this social categorization - such as gender, age, maybe sexual orientation, religious beliefs or socioeconomic status, they continue impact the hiring process and the employee promotions that happen. What is important, however, is to understand that these biases exist, and eradicating them with effective communication is required. Workplace that's free of unconscious bias is one where every employee feels confident that they have a voice, they feel respected and a strong sense of belonging. 

Somewhere we seem to be content with celebrating women's achievements and increasing visibility. Why do we shy away from calling out inequality? 

Mou: When I look back, say three to four years ago, the discussion on gender equality was something which was a tick in the box scenario, and it was more like a discussion pointer, during talent development programs, or most likely, during leadership discussions at a very, very surface level. What came to light was that during COVID time, suddenly, this discussion spurred to a next level. The whole matter about respecting diverse opinions, diverse gender, empathy and being human suddenly was very, very pertinent, because women in their natural roles bring a lot of empathy and human centricity. 

Now, how do we take that to the next level? It is about the mindset - to kind of do away with the biases, societal pressures women go through. Meritocracy really should become the choice rather than any other aspects.Secondly, how do we make sure that there is a clear understanding about not having a preconceived notion about women having a certain strength or a weakness, it is about celebrating their different approach to work. The third, of course, is different talent development gaps and policies, which corporates need to bring to light. All of these three aspects were very important and pertinent to us. So what we did was, we initiated a survey, which really looks into these three big pillars, and very soon we'll be able to tell you more as we try to investigate what's happening in the industry. 

Women were significantly impacted by the pandemic, we all know that. And while no one experienced business as usual, but women were affected the most, Are we somewhere being very harsh on ourselves? 

Priya: See the impact of crisis is never gender neutral, and COVID has not been an exception. So while everyone faced unprecedented challenges, women were bearing the brunt of economic and social fallout. Now, this did not just extend to the work or the family responsibilities, but it also sort of arose from the fact that, being a primary caregiver, a much bigger and a much wider responsibility landed on women's shoulders. What I feel is important to be done is to acknowledge the fact that women bring the same amount of talent, work and strategy to the table as men do. Once this acknowledgement is in order, I feel, equal opportunities will sort of start falling through. And advancement will gradually happen, hoping that it happens on an equal scale, so we need to continue to work harder, but we don't need to be so hard on ourselves. 

What needs to change so that women are able to take the lead and we see a shift in the dropout rate? 

Dr. Deepa: First of all, women need to acknowledge the need to be treated equally, not specially at the workplace. We need to understand that we cannot earn equality unless we let go of our desire to be treated specially. Also, women need to be more supportive of other women. Women need not let the honeybee syndrome overcome them, which again, unfortunately, is quite prevalent in our organizations these days, coexistence should be a key rather than isolation. On the other hand, the male counterparts need to treat her as an individual as a human being. Organizations on the third side should accept that women need not be denied or offered opportunities based on their gender alone, but based on their expertise, so if there are women with expertise capable enough to lead organizations, there should be no hesitation in going ahead. After all, leadership is all about grit, determination and resilience. And these things are definitely not gender specific. 

How can women become each other's strengths in climbing the ladder of success? 

Mou: One of the things that I often talk about is that when we nurture and help women to grow when they are probably in their mid-management level, stepping towards the senior leadership, one of the key things that that they need to be nurtured towards is the true meaning of leadership. Indira Nooyi once said, that the meaning of a true leader is not just walking with respect yourself, but the true quality comes when you give back. So the point is, how do you give back? I think time has come when women need to now go beyond and see what they can do, near their society, their environment, work, and possibly, grow with a network, let's say just women centric councils. 

The second point is basic respect. Whole mind-set needs to change and that can only happen when there is a larger environment created, which is why I spoke about the fact that the management needs to look into nurturing of talent and continuous process of training and imbibing of culture of sisterhood needs to happen. 

World Economic Forum's global gender gap report of 2020 indicates that it will still take more than a lifetime to make equality a reality. And this means none of us are likely to see it. But how can we pave the way for an equitable future? 

Dr Deepa: I have these four tips to offer. The first is have a child within, which simply indicates being childlike. Because that helps living in the moment. That helps being objective, which helps handling prejudices, stereotyping and preconceived notions. So the second point is love yourself, accept yourselfalong with your strengths and areas of improvement. Having control of your life, not letting others control you. The third thing is to keep the doors of communication open. Which leads to objectivity, which leads to empathy, self-esteem and assertiveness. We either become aggressive or passive or passive aggressive, somewhere in the routine of our life we have forgotten to be assertive. And finally, always respond. Never react. 

Mou: Clear, communicate, and collaborate - if the women focus on these three, I think we will slowly start seeing some change. As a first step, any management should do, is to let women opine – communicate. The second tip from my end will be have a very clear goal setting process. The third is, of course, collaboration, very important in today's day and time, and women leaders need to really understand the strength of this. Your entire stakeholder network will be successful only when you can create an opportunity for another sister, that's where you grow, and progress further, because then you're creating an opportunity for generations to come. 

Priya: So I, I think there are two big steps that we need to take to sort of build an equitable future. One is take charge. I feel that is a big gap that sort of needs to be plugged - if we all take charge of where we want to be, the workplace we want to live in and a cohesive team that collectively walks towards common goals, I think it's a big step. Another thing that I feel we should be looking at doing is stop stereotyping. We need to eradicate competition between women. The only workplace competition that we should have is for an equal playground, for an equal promotion. By following these two steps, we will be setting the foundation for an equitable future. And at that point, I don't think it will remain a concept, it will became the foundation of every workplace. 

*Edited for length and clarity

(Mirgashira is a podcast for Indian PR and Communication professionals anchored by RadhaRadhakrishnan and Charu Raizada. To listen to all episodes visit https://www.digitales.co.in/industry-insights/mrigashira-podcast/)