Women Leaders â€“ Harbingers of change in challenging times

When it comes to women’s leadership careers, there’s a phenomenon known as the "glass cliff." It's a clear euphemism for the term "glass ceiling," which refers to the intangible barrier to progress that women frequently confront while seeking advancement to the highest levels of an organisation. When a firm is in peril, the “glass cliff” depicts the notion of putting a female leader in charge to save it. When women are eventually given the opportunity to show themselves in a senior position, they are given something that is already broken and ripe for failure.

We’ve heard anecdotally about women executives doing a better job during the Covid-19 issue, and new study backs it up. According to one study, Covid-19 results, such as the number of cases and fatalities, were systematically better in nations run by women. How do women leaders steer their organizations and teams through such an environment – is a crucial question.

Adgully’s latest #GullyChat Twitter chat episode on Friday, February 11, 2021 focused on the very important topic – ‘Women Leaders - Harbingers of change in challenging times’. The discussion was joined by:

Runa Sinha, Vice President, nukkadbySTAGE

Charu Raizada, Member, WICCI PR & Digital Marketing Council

Akshaara Lalwani, Founder, Communicate India

Komal Lath, Founder, Tute Consult.

Sulagna Kapoor, Head Of Marketing, mFilterIt

Malvika Sinha, Senior Vice President, Lead Technology Practice, Ruder Finn

Priya Jayaraman, Co-Founder, Nine Yards Communications Consultancy

Key advice to potential/ future leaders

Commencing the discussions, Runa Sinha shared the three advice that she would give future leaders, which were:

Take ownership of your responsibilities. Remain flexible in approach and remain accountable to the outcome
Don’t be led by your emotions. Be rational in communication and thoughts
Manage your life and yourself first.

Communicate India’s Akshaara Lalwani noted, “Women in the corporate world have always had to work twice as hard and be twice as smart, to get even half as much credit as a man according to reports despite the gains in awareness women are still under-represented in the boardroom.”

“Hence, my advice to all the women out there is to stay the course and be resilient, and most importantly, strive to be the absolute best at what you do, because at the end of the day results talk,” she added.

mFilterIt’s Sulagna Kapoor’s advice was, “Make time – it is all about priority. Get your hands dirty – the learning is priceless. Be compassionate – your secret weapon to win hearts.”

Charu Raizada added here that women leaders need to challenge the status quos and norms; lead by listening and leverage others’ expertise to build a common vision and build on allies early on.

According to Tute Consult’s Komal Lath, “Be adaptable & agile – life is unpredictable, so learn to adapt to different situations and problems that come your way. Don’t settle for anything less than what you aim for/ Be hungry, not greedy. Know where the cracks start and to nip those in the bud before trying to scale up instead of stepping up.”

Nine Yards Communications Consultancy’s Priya Jayaraman advised women leaders to “play to your strengths. Women are very multifaceted. Knowing the best version of oneself is important”.

Malvika Sinha from Ruder Finn said, “Hustle, learn-unlearn-repeat, form your own opinions, invest in yourself & your people, keep a check on your mental, physical & spiritual health. You definitely can’t pour from an empty cup, and remember there isn’t a glass ceiling if you don’t think there is!”

Follow the entire discussion here:

(8) Adgully (@adgully) / Twitter