Women and leadership have been a topic of debate for quite some time now. While the effectiveness of women leaders has been studied with great interest over the last decade or so, the empirical database is still inadequate as there are not many examples.
It is an established fact that men and women excel in different aspects as individuals and organisational members. The explanations given for the differences are supposedly in the way each gender is made and wired. Venus and Mars stories are almost folklore. Hard research only proves (or disproves) what is already happening and exists. This article focuses on that.
The author is of the firm opinion that a woman in a leadership role is a good thing, and more of them rising to the top will be a blessing. This is just not about gender equality — it is purely for self-interest and interest of the survival of the world.
She’s fiery
Historically, women in most cultures were consigned to domestic roles and denied opportunities to deal with the outside world. Men were the hunters, as they were seen as physically stronger and less vulnerable to physical exploitation, and maybe this is why, men decided the rules.
Things are not very different in the modern world. When a woman rises to the top, she does so despite thousands of things pulling her back — even if she is a busy professional, she is still expected to perform the role of a ‘wife’, ‘mother’, ‘daughter’ and ‘daughter-in-law’, among others, after and before work. Most of them do ‘double’ duty every day. Now, in spite of such a workload, if she still manages to perform well professionally and climb the career ladder, she hits a glass ceiling at some point.
‘Wise’ men in the top management wonder ‘Can she travel? Can she network? Can she bond? Maybe not. Let’s give this job it to a man.’ I am not exaggerating when I say that for every Indra Nooyi and Chanda Kochhar, there are hundreds and thousands who hit the glass ceiling.
So, when you see a professional woman CEO, tell yourself that this person has come through fire. It is the evidence of their capability and competence; it is a badge of honour. They have earned it more than any of their male peers.
She’s more ethical
The other reason why we must celebrate women in leadership roles and pray more of them surface, is to do with ethics and values. The tolerance for compromise is much lower in women. You won’t see them pulling out a ₹100 note to bribe the cop after breaking a traffic signal.
It may have something to do with the instinctive mechanism of a woman, not to be perceived as a person who is willing to make compromises. Hence they are likely to uphold a higher level of ethics. Some of the research studies after the 2008 sub-prime crisis proved that companies that had at least one woman on their board fared better and few of them indulged in the kind of mindless financial engineering that brought down some of the mightiest of names.
Maybe ‘Lehman Brothers’ would have survived if it had been ‘Lehman Sisters’!
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