Create a Gender Equal World―Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D—#HeForShe

“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.” ―Maya Angelou

Globally the number of women scaling senior positions especially C-suite positions are very few. Although it is widely advocated to increase the number of women participation in senior positions, it remained in letter, not in spirit.

Research shows that women take failures to their heart and take a little longer time to move on from their failures. They are hard on themselves and love to be perfectionists. They fail to claim their achievements and make noise publicly especially on social media because of gender and cultural aspects. Additionally, they fail to leverage their networks and groups for fear of being misunderstood by others thus hindering their career prospects. 

Strengths of Women: Women are usually collaborative while men are competitive by nature. Collaboration is essential for smooth functioning of organizations and equally essential is competitive spirit without which organizations cannot succeed. Blending both collaboration and competition is essential to achieve organizational excellence and effectiveness. Here are some of the strengths of women: Biologically women have a huge potential and are compassionate by nature. They empathize with others and are sensible to others’ feelings. They are good at soft skills and interpersonal skills. They can handle stress better than men. By nature, men are more aggressive. However, women are soft and well-behaved. Women are also good at hidden data of communication. That is why they know the knack of understanding male egos, emotions and feelings better and act accordingly. Women are leaders at home. They lead their spouses and children effectively. They are more responsible toward work.

When it comes to leadership both genders possess the same leadership skills and abilities. However, women leaders take issues seriously by being direct and decisive. They are more amicable and approachable. They are more committed, transparent, accountable and professional.

Tools for Women to Fast-track their Career: Despite innumerable challenges a few women leaders including Melinda Gates, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Ursula Burns, Meg Whitman, and Sheryl Sandberg broke the glass-ceiling and stood out from others globally. When it is possible for them, it is possible for other women also to excel in their areas. Here are some tools for women to fast-track their career. Women must leverage their knowledge, skills, abilities, networks and groups to fast-track their career. They must form allies and build alliances. They must choose their coaches and mentors carefully. They must help themselves. They must build their personal brands.    

Create a Gender Equal World―#HeForShe: There is a strong perception that men are promoted due to potential while women are promoted due to performance. It is basically because leadership is synonymous with men, not women. Hence, there must be a shift in the attitude and perception of the people toward leadership and women. Leadership is incomplete without the active participation of women leaders.

Building women movements globally to ensure women empowerment helps to some extent. However, women supporting themselves helps greatly to ensure gender equality globally. Additionally, men must extend their hands to women wholeheartedly to build an honorable and prosperous world.

The world is at the crossroad currently. It is time for men to advocate gender equality globally. Remember that it is not a women’s issue anymore but a human rights issue. Hence, make your voice heard to achieve a gender equal world.

Note: I pioneer gender equality globally (#HeForShe).  Here is the link to purchase my bestselling book ‘21 Success Sutras for CEOs: How Global CEOs Overcome Leadership Challenges in Turbulent Times to Build Good to Great Organizations’ http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Ceos-Rao/dp/162865290X

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Life is great!

Professor M.S. Rao

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants India

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