Heel the world

This Women’s Day, let’s acknowledge their leadership skills, writes Paarth Singh

Gone are the days when the success of a business house was based purely on the profit arrow that pointed northwards. It is the business leaders in heels, as compared to their counterparts, who are changing the perception of the deciding factors that lead to the success of a business house. In a study conducted by the global consulting firm Hay Group with regards to essential skills required for effective leadership in a workplace, women outperformed men as far as key intelligence competencies like emotional self-awareness, empathy, conflict management, adaptability, and teamwork are concerned. These traits have made women best suited to deliver a stable approach for a healthy balance sheet of the company.

According to the recent Mahindra Good Business Study (MGBS) which was conducted in 10 metro cities in India, the term ‘Good Business’ today is associated with having ‘ethical standards’, ‘caring for the community’, and ‘inclusivity’, ahead of traditional business metrics such as ‘financial performance’, ‘market leadership’, ‘profitability’ or ‘growth’.

Acing crisis management

“Leadership has got redefined in the period of Covid-19. You, not only require execution skills for business but holistic skills to be able to see problems with an eye for a solution. I feel that women bring to the table much more than just empathy, money, roles, ambition etc. They bring about solutions to large crises which do not have serious formulas. Their ability to adapt an open-minded approach and be flexible allows them to experiment with the solutions and I think Covid-19 has proven that,” says Shaili Chopra, a TV anchor and founder of shethepeople.tv, an exclusive women’s channel.

Rekha Menon, Chairperson and Senior MD, Accenture, India led by example during the trying times of the pandemic when she ensured that the essential services of her global clients were not affected. She is also a strong propagator of the culture of equality as 24% of their women employees hold leadership roles.

Considering the battle of sexes and the hurdles along the way to reach the summit of the corporate ladder, a growing number of women in India are taking the entrepreneurial route to fast track their ambition of stepping into the CEO’s shoes.

The start-up culture has acted as a catalyst in many women donning the leadership role and becoming their own boss, apart from doing yeomen service to the society.

According to the sixth economic census released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), women constitute around 14% of the total entrepreneurship in India.

Women account for more than 75% of consumer purchases and hence their understanding as the end-user gives women leaders an advantage to market the products and services in a more profitable way.

The MGBS also reveals that as consumers, people are increasingly demonstrating that their idea of a ‘good business’ means that the product and price alone may no longer be sufficient to secure the sale.

Strengths galore

According to Forbes, the top three female communication strengths are their ability to read body language and non-verbal cues, good listening skills and effective displays of empathy. Added to that, is their ability to lead as a team. “SAIL is a colossal organisation, with multi-location production units and mines, wide-ranging product basket and diverse workforce. People are its greatest strength and with synergised efforts of the entire Team SAIL, we will strive to attain the higher summit,” asserts Soma Mondal who became the first woman chairperson of the steel giant on the first day of this year after having turned the fortunes of the company since she joined in 2017 as the Director (Commercial).

According to the Caliper study of the ‘Qualities that Distinguish Women Leaders’, women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders.

“Women are the game changers across the world. Having grown up in India, we come in with so many different perspectives. The way we tackle things, the way we go about it is very unique. Now, with the pandemic where things have changed, we have realised the comforts and the possibilities to work from anywhere,” says Sindhu Gangadharan SVP & MD, SAP Labs India in a chat with shethepeople.

“If you look at leadership, I am a strong believer in the fact that every one of us are leaders in our own ways. It does not really depend on your designation or your area of work. I think each one of us has to mould those leadership skills only then you will find your target and work towards achieving it,” says Sindhu while signing off.

There are many examples of an organisation having fared well under the leadership of women. Yet, despite their success, society is still sceptical in accepting the facts.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook who has led the social media company from a $56 million loss in 2008 to $18.5 billion in profits in 2019 had said in one of her interactions: “Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively for women. When a man is successful, he is liked by both men and women. When a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less.”