Glass ceilings exist, and so do men and women who champion
for promising female employees. But is that it? I have always felt, there is
something else, something different – that can be a Game Changer in how a woman
sees herself in the Organization. But I was unable to put my finger on that elusive
‘something’.
In the Indian context, if you are a woman desirous of
climbing up the corporate ladder, you receive one piece of advice repeatedly –
‘Prepare to fight’. It’s not even a bad piece of advice; quite practical and
quite relevant. And yet – there had to be something else, something different –
something that makes a change in ‘who you are’; not ‘what you do’. But I was
never able to quite articulate what that was.
I looked expectantly at senior women managers to point out
what that could be. While some were examples in themselves, and some provided
ceiling smashing opportunities to women of caliber – that soft little detail
eluded me. As a leader myself, I have tried to encourage girls to come forward...
take up opportunities… and yet I felt I fell short of giving them the
confidence they needed. Until I found it – one week ago – in South Africa.
An Onsite deployment brought me to a customer in South
Africa; and the Manager happened to be a woman. In my informal induction while
she explained the contribution she expected from me, she said, “I want you to feel
empowered”.
6.simple.words.
And they gave me wings!
I’m sure many a Women Empowerment Forum has spoken something
similar. But if a Women’s Forum tells me to feel empowered – that’s just good
advice, right? They speak, I hear; we all go home! They’re not going to fight
the good fight with me! But my manager – that’s a whole different story. When
she tells me to do something – she commits to it as much as I do. She’s got my
back! And that makes a world of difference – it gives conviction to words. That
sentence is an action in itself.
When a Women’s Forum tells you to feel empowered – it feels
like something selfish you are doing for yourself. Here’s an article
that partly explains why! “Good girls are not demanding”, “Good girls adjust”,
“Good girls are not opinionated” – and guess what – the learning becomes a part
of one’s psyche! So that we think not twice but 4 times before asking for
anything for ourselves. But here was my leader asking me to go right after what
I need. It wasn’t ‘bother’ but a step forward in our collective effort.
She wanted me to ask what I wanted; to be vocal about my
needs; that was an expectation of me! Which meant - this was a good thing!
What a validation!
And when a female leader says this to you, you know there is
an empathy that brings forward those words. Hearing those words finally makes
me realize what I want to say to newer generations; this experience makes me
see what I want to do.
