How Organizations Can Become More Gender Inclusive
by Preeti Prayag
4 minutes read
Have you ever walked into a meeting to find yourself the only woman in the room? How did that make you feel? Intimidated? Or apprehensive?
Unfortunately, this remains a common experience for women in the workforce everywhere, especially in leadership positions. Only about 17% of leadership positions in corporate India are held by women.
But despite this, the outlook for women in leadership is not bleak. The first step to solving a problem is to recognize that it exists and understand it. We have definitely made progress on that front, with several leading organizations taking a bold stance on commitment to inclusivity and gender diversity.
However, many still wonder what they stand to gain from having more women in leadership. To put things into perspective, women make up nearly half the population, and are a formidable demographic force as consumers. So as an organization, you need to sell your solutions to women as much (if not more) as you would to men. But let’s face it, men have a great deal of trouble understanding women!
Cultivating women leaders helps organizations better capture the pulse of your women consumer base. Not just that, but they also help encourage more women to take on leadership roles, either through a hands-on approach of mentoring and guiding other women, or just becoming a source of inspiration for the women around them. Here are some of the key advantages of having women be a part of leadership teams.
Uphill climb
No fundamental transition of this scale comes about without challenges, and not all of them are external either. Women in leadership face an uphill climb each day and the challenges they face are unique as compared to their male counterparts. Let’s break a few of them down, shall we?
Seeking Equity:
In a male-dominated culture, it is difficult for women to expect fair treatment in the workplace. There are several instances where a woman’s perspective is shot down or ignored in favour of her male counterpart’s perspective. This is known as ‘Source Bias’ where the information’s credibility is linked to the source by the recipient. In several instances, the same perspective offered by a male counterpart will be readily accepted by the recipient. This is not a conscious action but stems from a lifetime of conditioning. Like all challenges, addressing it starts with better understanding the problem.
So, the next time you are listening to perspectives, try and focus on the actual perspective rather than who is offering it. Decoupling the perspective from the person will help you evaluate it objectively, thereby eliminating the source bias.
Tackling Imposter syndrome:
Imposter syndrome is when self-doubt creeps in, particularly when you hold positions of responsibility. It plagues both genders, but women have a particular affinity to question themselves more often than their male counterparts.
While there is no straightforward solution to it, consciously understanding it and being vigilant can go a long way in helping overcome the imposter syndrome. Guidance and mentorship can go a long way in helping overcome this, so think about signing on a leadership coach to guide those who transition to leadership roles.
Enlisting Support and Advocacy:
As with most women in corporate India, your female peers dwindle rapidly as you step up the career ladder. This can lead to a sense of loneliness and abandonment setting in. To address this, it’s important to cultivate a support system that helps keep them motivated and encourages them to voice their opinions without the fear of being shot down. Group coaching can go a long way in cultivating such a support system and can last long after the coaching session ends as well.
Change for the better
Yes, change is hard. But the tremendous benefits women bring to the table can more than offset the effort. Not only do women bring forth a different perspective, but can catalyze a chain reaction, leading to more women taking on a career path that does not end with marriage, kids, and household chores.
They can bring about an economic impact of unprecedented scale and catapult corporate India into a formidable global force to be reckoned with.
So, let’s take a step back and embrace the power of the woman leader and take a stance to nurture and grow the role women play in corporate India. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
If you’re looking to take inclusion from policy to progress with coaching, drop us a line on information@mentoring-matters.com and we will be happy to be a part of your organization’s journey.
Wondering which coaching engagement would work best for you? Drop by www.mentoring-matters.com and learn more about how your organization stands to gain from leadership coaching.
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PREETI PRAYAG
Preeti Prayag is the co-founder of Mentoring Matters, a platform for businesses and individuals across industries to drive holistic professional growth across mid and senior-level positions through dedicated coaching by certified professionals.