How are female leaders transforming the workspace?
“I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything… living standards and outcomes.” – Barack Obama
Women empowerment in India has now progressed with full momentum. We can now see women being recruited to the topmost positions in the corporate world. In the past couple of decades, the status of women in Indian society has changed drastically. Today, Women have been playing a vital role in the growth of the Indian economy and have made a big impact and got success in almost every sector.
When we speak of female leaders, we are reminded of Kiran Mazumdar who is known as India’s wealthiest self-made women entrepreneur who found a biopharmaceutical firm in 1978.In 2019 she held the title called Indian’s 54th richest person and world’s 65th powerful woman. Another Indian woman who we look up to is Indra Nooyi a former CEO of PepsiCo who has now joined Amazon’s board of directors. A young entrepreneur who has made it her mission to spread her menstrual awareness among the underprivileged girls is Aditi Gupta, founder of Menstrupedia.
So, what makes women such great leaders? There are several traits at what makes them so great at what they do:
1. Women can wear many hats:
Women always balance their personal and professional life with utmost ease. Women have been practicing the art of finding solutions to different types of problems without getting stuck in one area. Right from taking of children and aging parents at home to acing tough corporate presentations at work, women are in-born managers.
2. Women are better
communicators:
Research has proved communication to be a woman’s strongest skill. Women believe in an open communication system which allows clarity in executing different roles and responsibility. Female leaders show more emotional intelligence and empathy which helps in strengthening bonds with their employees. Because of this skill, women come up with better ideas to motivate other people. They have the ability to understand the employee and instil confidence in them.
3. Women fight against the
odds:
From time immemorial odds have always been against women. They weren’t allowed an education, neither were they allowed to work. Even though times have changed, women still have to fight to break the glass-ceiling. When women have fought against the odds to lead, they have already crossed the toughest obstacles that have stood in her way, which eventually makes her a very strong leader. When confronted with a challenge, women look at the glass half-full rather than half-empty.
4. Women are humble leaders:
It is true that companies with humble leaders outperform their competitors. Women have a higher emotional intelligence and are humble and sensitive as compared to men. The ability of the world’s female leaders to govern with humility rather than by ego has helped them to successfully weather the Covid-19 pandemic.When the Covid-19 pandemic first began to make itself felt outside China back in March 2020, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a now-famous appearance on Facebook to talk about the need for a strict national lockdown. She was warm, comforting and very clear: stay at home, break the chain and save lives. As we can see, the country has managed to contain the cases to a bare minimum. Humble leaders work to support, inspire and develop others. Humble leaders teach others the best of what they know, they help others achieve.
5. Women make the dream work:
Women leaders show passion and enthusiasm at work and are always open to the point of view of their employees. They have the skill to serve as well as be served. Women leaders are cooperative and collaborating and show fairness in their work. They believe in the success of each member of the team rather than being a solo success.
Final Thoughts
In the twenty-first century, the key qualities required to lead include the ability to collaborate, connect, empathize and communicate. We have seen women to execute the change that they want to see. They have always been the go-getters. They help transform the workplace with their democratic way of functioning. Leadership by women is vital to increase the pace of societal transformation at home and in the workplace.
