WOMEN LEADERSHIP: NEW AGE IMPERATIVES

Throughout time we have seen that Royalty, founders, presidents and monumental
frontrunners have been the roles held by men as rule. But with progressive thinking and
changes in equality, we have seen strong female leaders too who are playing a major roles of
leadership a reality we see now. Major female leaders are present in all realms of the working
worldleading many professional and governmental organizations.

Within Professional industries, we still see more male CEOs, CFOs, board members and
other leaders, but women continue to blaze a trail to leadership. Examples of strong female
leaders in the professional sphere include Melinda Gates and Oprah Winfrey. These women
have risen to the top as successful leaders and have not allowed our patriarchal society to
become a barrier towards their success. Melinda Gates, a philanthropist of the United States,
along with her husband Bill head a scholarship fund known as Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the foundation has given more than twenty-six million dollars in grant monies to
students in need while pursuing higher education. Similarly to Melinda, Oprah Winfrey is
known for her philanthropic efforts as well. In addition to her compassions, she is the leader
of the Oprah Winfrey Network. Like women of professional industries, women in
government organization have also overtaken roles that were previously filled by men only.
Centuries ago, people would have scoffed at the suggestion of a female fully in charge.
Female leaders were often treated as child bearers and figureheads, while the male
counterparts handled any political decisions. Since these dark ages, women have demanded
their rights and have reclaimed positions of leadership. Women like Hilary Clinton and
Michelle Obama are prime examples of leading women in government. Hilary Clinton is best
known for her work at Secretary of State in the United States, and her advocation for human
rights focusing on the shirked rights of women. Michelle Obama is also a woman of power as
the first lady to take an active role in this position, working to promote healthy lifestyles and
fight childhood obesity.

Our society would not be as successful as it is today without women like Melinda Gates,
Oprah Winfrey, Hilary Clinton and Michelle Obama. These women are just as influential as
men of leadership. We must continue to advocate for equality, encourage women to take on
leadership and in turn, change the world. Thirty-seven percent of all businesses worldwide
are owned by women, and nearly one billion women are poised to join the workforce
globally. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that if women around the world were fully
engaged in the labour force, as much as US$28 trillion would be added to the global economy
by 2025. In spite of many gains, many remains are to be done to improve the status of women
in India. The female work participation rate in India is only 26 per cent whereas it is 46 per
cent in China. Some 34 out of every 100 women are illiterate as compared to only 13 in
China. From many research and studies conducted in India revealed that equal sharing of
housework is still a nightmare for women. Working wives find that the housework and care
of children is still largely their task, quite unequally wives shared with husband as on an
average working wives/mothers are compelled to work at least 14 hours a day and even more.
The weekend is less a time for rest and more to catch up on unfinished and pending tasks of
the household for them.
A report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that companies with at
least 30 percent female leaders had net profit margins up to 6 percent higher than companies
with no women in the top ranks. Diverse leadership, by its very nature, prevents group-think
and leads to better decision making. Therefore we need to reform laws, but creating smaller
opportunities can also help. Women face systemic challenges, including a lack of jobs,
structural corporate obstacles, workplace bias, unsupportive families, poor or unsafe transport
services, prohibitions against owning land and limited access to financial capital. According
to the group Education for Employment, lowering or removing those barriers and increasing
womens workforce participation to that of males in the Middle East would have an enormous
impact on local economies for example, boosting GDP by 34 percent in Egypt, and 12
percent in the United Arab Emirates.

The biggest challenge to women in leadership positions today is as there are only five percent
of women in the fortune 500 are women CEOs so there is no role model, there is no network
that they can consult or get inspired from. Its easier if you have many people out there so
that you can learn, you can follow, you can go for guidance, and if you have mentors so lack
of role models is one aspect thats hurting women. The second thing I feel is to reach the
pinnacle of your career and have to be considered a strong leader. Its a continual hard
learning process women unfortunately face the age demographic by the age thirty-five if
youre not married and if by fourty you dont have a kid you may never have a kid again so
many of such age demographic at that stage women tend to stay home or look off their kids
or force themselves to find a husband and get married and have a kid and manage the family
but at that time is also the most demanding time career wise and despite whatever they say in
the press about of pathways of the career and then come back. Once you step out it is close to
impossible to come back because all your peers will be ahead of you, your skills will be out-
dated, you lose credibility so this is what hurting women in the workplace. Its that
demographic timeframe where their career speaks but their personal lives have to keep
balance and its very hard.

An analysis of media on women's leadership, suggests that the need for more nuanced ways
of understanding women leaders identity formation that combine a range of macro and micro
methodologies. It points to the importance of including an examination of both the specific
organizational fields and the broader political, social and economic discourses of women's
leadership, as mediating influences on the construction of women's leadership habits. It is our
belief that our study reveals the need for more complex ways of understanding women
leaders' identity formation and, in doing so, opens up productive spaces from which may flow
subjugated knowledge of diverse women's leadership.

In recent years a new dimension of women in politics emerged all over the world. More and
more women are now interested in entering into politics. Conventional politics dominated
male and hence women were notably absent in politics. In India, before and after
independence reform movements has helped women to gain some power in politics. After
independence women have achieved an unprecedented political breakthrough with the
reservation of seats in panchayats and other public bodies. Indian women were among the
earliest to get their right to vote without any political movement compared to United States
and many western countries. At present womens participation in politics is very low in
comparison to men in State Assemblies and Parliament it is about 11 per cent only (26
women in upper houseRajya Sabha consisting of 245 members and 59 women in lower
houseLok Sabha consisting of 543 members). However Indian women have achieved
distinction to become UNO Secretary (Vijay laxmi Pandit), Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi),
Chief Minister (Sucheta Kriplani, Jayalalitha, Uma Bharati, Mayawati and Vasundhara Raje)
and even President (Pratibha Patil). The demand for special concessions and privileges along
with the reservation of posts in assemblies and parliament the bill is pending for approval and
these are the first steps towards women empowerment in India.

Therefore creating a network of women leaders generates momentum as they in turn share
support and encouragement across time zones. With todays inter-connected world, we can
offer perspective and tangible coaching to women to help them discover their power and
purpose. Women are leading economic and social change. Lets give them the opportunities
and tools to do more and create a long-lasting impact.