At the BW Businessworld Growth Leadership Conclave and Awards 2018: From SMEs to Unicorns, there was a panel discussion on "Why are Women Better Leaders?", moderated by Dr Amna Mirza, Assistant Professor- Political Science, SPM College, Delhi University.
"Girls compete with each other, but women empower each other. There is a remarkable similarity here. As the saying goes, if the opportunity doesn't knock, you build the door. Sadly there is a hiccup that when a woman is withdrawing, she is doing something else. The best way to predict the future, is to actually create it", said Mirza.
Ayushi Gudwani, Founder & CEO, Fablestreet, said, "Women are holistic leaders. We are much more creative and we have a strong emotional quotient. That combined with great IQ can lead us to build great culture organizations. In a world where we live in, we have excessive support from men to excel. I have had immense support across various areas. There is a mindset shift needed for men. It's a little bit frustrating to forget that women can have a strong vision and business acumen. The corporate life is actually quite fantastic out there, and we should appreciate that. I think it's challenging to raise funds, you will have to make double the effort to convince investors to trust in you. It's hard for old-fashioned people to accept they are dealing with a woman leading the organization, and are the decision makers. I am a big believer that as educated women to empower the rest."
"Women have the raw material to become great leaders. We can be multi-taskers. Leadership is a skill woman develop over a period of time. The women who do get to the top, in larger organizations, have been through a larger bar of leadership than their male counterparts. Women tend to become excellent leaders because of they do to get there. There used to be ads before which would say Men Only. There wouldn't be many jobs available for women, and there were professions which were not women-friendly. But 25 later those very women's career gets impacted. There has been a huge shift from when I entered the organizational world to today. While it has become far more women-friendly, but it doesn't go all the way to the top. Women still have a challenge at the top leadership level. If you look at the top 2 or 3 roles, I am not sure if it is that diverse. These are structural challenges which need to be addressed", said Dr Shalini Lal, Founder, Infinity OD.
Dr Vibha Tripathi, Founder, Swajal, said, "Women bring colour to your life. A woman makes the world complete and fills in those gaps which are necessary. A lot of women hear this phrase that they are jugglers. It's about balancing things in life. I was very ambitious as a child, and after having kids I realized I cannot trifle with motherhood."
"Women come with an inherent quality of being able to lead. The agility to take on different roles gives you a lead, and that's where women excel. I left a high paying job and came back to my own country to foray into the technology world. It was not a cakewalk for sure, but not a hard walk as well. It was the support of my family and friends which helped me. Technology is male-dominated, it has not been easy. I got support from people who I am working with as well. People are now accepting more women in technology", said Meghna Peer, Co-Founder, Aurelius Consultants Pvt Ltd.
Arushi Verma, Co-founder and Director, Fitpass, said, "Women have a lot of compassion. Hence women are able to lead to do their work efficiently. When I started to approach gyms to put them on our website, people were wondering what a woman would know about gyms. They questioned about why women would know anything about these. But now I have been empowered by my partners who have thanked me for coming into their business. Investors do take time to understand that women can lead the organization and create change."
"I belong to a small town in Rajasthan. After graduation, I wanted to become a lawyer like a family. My family just wanted me to become a teacher. My mother and father stood behind me. I was told that I should just marry and give children. They said I wouldn't be able to pursue law. But now I have a big law firm. The change is there. Lots of girls are now pursuing law from my family. India has a strong law to support females, but there is a problem with execution. My profession is still very male-dominated, which needs to change", Shobhaa Gupta, Advocate, Supreme Court.
Deepa Antil, Founder, Sashakt Nari Parishad, said, "Women are and will always be a better leader. Women when given a chance to lead, excel. I found that females who just want to work, but haven't been allowed to work, I wanted to know who can be the voice to lead them out and make them independent. 5 lakh women are in my organization. I think economic independence if a woman has, that is the main empowerment. I would want to know how many people here would welcome the women in my organization for a job".