How the future leaders being trained to emulate men, they will be trained to emulate women
With the onset of the global pandemic, the tech industries witnessed significant movements toward equality and racial justice, and have seen more organizations commit to strengthening their stances on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). From an organizational perspective, much of the focus has been on the growing representation of women in leadership. Ms. Apoorva Aggarwal, Office Managing Principal, New Delhi, ZS share more insights on the same
- How has gender played a significant role in leadership?
What you see is what you believe! and, we have had men dominated leadership positions for the longest, having strongly influenced the perception around a workforce. In fact, there are certain leadership traits that people associate with men more because that is what they have seen getting successful.
I do believe that there is enough awareness now around the value and business impact gender diversity brings in and most organizations have programs to enable women to build strong professional careers and taking leadership positions. With needle-moving progress on the inclusivity front, more and more women are getting opportunities to secure meritocracy-driven leadership roles. This, in part, is made possible by some women leaders paving the way and showing the others that leadership traits transcend gender and are more individualistic in nature.
That’s where the growing importance of ally ship also comes into the picture – the overall support ecosystem of women comprises of equitable and inclusive opportunities at all levels. In fact, strong male allies and champions play a big role in elevating and accelerating the pace at which women advance to senior roles.
I strongly believe that leaders can play an integral role in developing the right ecosystem for more women professionals to flourish and raise their hand for leadership roles. Storytelling and relatable narrative are great ways to continue to share powerful examples and experiences.
2. How does a gender leadership role determine the quality of services in organizations?
Roles and impact are gender agnostic but bringing different point of view, thought process and challenging status quo is key to innovation, and success for any organization. Enough studies have shown that a diverse leadership is good for the business and tremendously increased the value and impact to business and clients
Making gender diversity and equity bases actions as a strategic business priority will help bring the needed change and keep organizations honest and accountable to their objectives. As more firms continue to reap the benefits of a gender, thought and neuro-diverse workforce and showcase a host of success stories, more companies will follow suit and the movement will gain further momentum.
From the organizations’ perspective, ensuring that a diverse workforce feels included and belonged is crucial. Included and engaged employees are more likely to stay in the firm for long, giving a huge competitive advantage. Firm-wide policies that extend support during personal milestones are a great way to ensure that employees feel empowered enough to return to work after a gap arising due to any personal reason.
There is no dearth of opportunities for those who create impact, are capable and deserve it. Women should feel encouraged to take on challenges and organizations should continue to relook at their culture, processes and create structures that women feel empowered to raise their hands.
3. How can women’s leadership in an organization be increased?
Organizations around the globe need to be more intentional and systematic in their approach to nurture women with leadership traits. Unconscious bias, non-verbal cues hampering women’s professional development and limited support, all together create a non-receptive work environment, leading many women to not raise their hands and at times quit the workforce.
The earlier we recognize that it is the systems that need some overhaul, the earlier we can walk the talk on attaining a truly balanced workforce – the faster we would get there
The wave of championing for women rights and advocacy for their higher participation has yielded remarkable changes in the world across but only the most well-rounded policy changes will propel organizations to further improvements and make organizations accountable.
In today’s age, a simple Google search around “how gender-diverse leadership is good for organizations” will lead to millions of supporting arguments and research findings. While there is enough data, the differentiating factor will be how we plan to convert these into equity base actions and truly bring about a top-down and bottoms-up approach to women hiring, engagement and retention.
4. Interventions required for developing women leaders on an individual level?
The foremost point, I would say, is that women should be taught to embrace their individual leadership style. More often than not, women are expected to fill someone else’s shoes, leading to a loss of their personal strengths. As soon as women professionals start fighting for a mindset of equality as a reality, there will be a paradigm shift in how women in leadership should rightfully advance.
Another way is to make the leaders on the board accountable for driving actionable results around the cause. Putting up a united front will ensure that measurable progress is made that is beyond a check-the-box training session or a one-off initiative.
5. Do women have a different leadership style? How will men benefit if they try to adopt this style of leadership?
Every individual has a different style of working and definitely genders being one fabric. For obvious physiological reasons coupled with years of conditioning and cultural beliefs, there are differences in the outlook of leaders of different genders. EQ is an element which is talked so much in the leadership roles for success and that can vary across the two. There could be roles where the care giving, inspiring and encouraging instincts are valued more. One is not right or wrong but too much of any one aspect leads to saturation and lack of innovation.
Leadership skills have a long learning continuum with ample of opportunities to adopt and evolve, which often goes beyond any gender relevance. Thought diversity should be the focal point for all the leaders and through that journey, some of the greatest business and people outcomes could be harnessed.
