Woman Leadership

April, 2017

At an event recently, a senior professional introduced the woman speaker, a True Woman Leader, as below :

She is so Strong that she can be Gentle;
She is so Educated that she can be Humble;
She is so Fierce that she can be Compassionate;
She is so Passionate that she can be Rational;
She is so Disciplined that she can be Flexible

I found these contrasting attributes the best description of a woman ever ! Contemporary and reflective of the times we are in. Not that our mothers and grandmothers were any less. It was just unfortunate that many of them did not get the opportunity and freedom that we are enjoying today. As a society we have lost several academicians, artists, professionals, administrators, doctors, sportswomen etc. in them. Their contribution as ‘homemakers’ holding fort solidly come what may, completely ignored and unsung. But, you will agree a Woman, THEN, NOW or in FUTURE is a leader with the above unique qualities.

Talking of our current times, I was extremely delighted to see scores of beautiful young women walking away with multiple gold medals and awards at my son’s Law University convocation a couple of weeks back. It was a 99.99% clean sweep by the gutsy girls. While all of them are firmly entrenched in their respective careers, I wish they continue for long. Long enough to make an impact on their families, society, profession and their juniors who would look upto them. I am saying this after being a career woman for 25+ years with a family. The most important thing is to create and nurture a good support system to be able to continue the professional journey along with a family life, which is tough and demanding. A woman (for that matter a man too !) cant get to the top alone. She will be foolhardy if she thinks she can. It is her responsibility to spend time and identify early in life, what she wants to do, where she wants to go, how she wants to go and what she needs for it. Critical – create the required bandwidth. She must make this New Beginning as she begins her professional life.