Women… be your own advocate!

In the past couple of decades wherein I have observed the journeys of women around me, I realized one big truth, ie by and large, women need to be their own advocates, because save for a few exceptions, generally they may not find someone advocating for them; ofcourse there are a few who have allies and supporters, but these tend to be a minority.

Strange as it seems, even the most accomplished women think twice before promoting themselves. I will try to uncover this below.

What statistics say

To be honest, I don’t find it surprising that only 10% of Fortune 500 companies’ CEOs are women. In India, women constitute a mere 5%, with only 100 out of 2,000 listed companies having women as MDs/ CEOs. Only 15% of Indian unicorns have at least one female founder.

On deeper reflection, you will realize that India and the rest of the world have been trying to move the needle on gender diversity in the last few years after decades of inertia and inactivity. And moving a needle which has been stuck in a time warp for decades is no easy task!

There are still very few role models for women to look up to and emulate, there have not been too many opportunities for women to realize their full potential, there have been only few workplaces which have provided a truly equitable and conducive environment for women to take up leadership roles, there have been relatively few believers and advocates yet that have given space and opportunities to women to learn, develop and grow…all of which have culminated in low gender ratio at a broad level.

What women need

It is high time organizations provided equitable opportunities for women to learn, grow, lead and shine. What women need is not token support, but real opportunities and space to unleash their potential. Women may need some amount of mentoring to grow into leadership roles, just like their male counterparts do, but what they need more is empowerment, wherein, they must be given the space, opportunities and time to take on new challenges, be allowed to stumble, learn, succeed and grow.

Women don’t need a patronizing approach that stems from a view that they lack confidence and experience and need to be hand-held; what they need is a level playing field, a plethora of equitable opportunities and Managers who will root for their success, critique them constructively, coach them when they make mistakes and set them up for success.

Women need not display the same behaviors and qualities as males; they can be different, and their success ought to be measured by the business outcomes rather than by how they are perceived by their male colleagues, knowing that for most part, workplaces continue to be male dominated. There is a considerable amount of unlearning and learning that organizations need to brace for in preparing their workforce to embrace a diverse workforce, exhibit an inclusive culture and provide a sustainable environment for women to flourish.

What women have to do

At the outset, women need to figure out for themselves as to what they want to achieve, by when, and how they want to get there. Once that is done, they need to speak for themselves, ask for support — this could be at home or in the workplace, and they must advocate for themselves.

Women by nature tend to be modest, and a vast majority of them set high benchmarks for themselves, more often than not underrating their capabilities and underestimating their potential. I would attribute this to the fact that women have very few role models and exemplars they can look up to, to get a sense of how those achievers have gotten there, what their career stories look like, and draw inspiration from them; having more such role models will make the case stronger for self-reflection for women to see if they have the potential to emulate those role models.

The scenario is changing… but it is changing rather slowly and sporadically. For gender diversity at leadership levels to take a quantum leap, two things need to happen; while organizations have to do their bit in driving policy implementation and providing the required support, women need to take a lead role in advocating for themselves.

I learnt from experience that being too modest and overly critical of one’s capabilities, under-estimating one’s potential and holding one’s light under a bushel are behaviors that will slow down or stall progress; unfortunately, most women tend to do that. Women must feel comfortable to promote themselves and push themselves forward. They have to speak up, advocate for themselves and at the same time it is key they prepare themselves well to take up those opportunities and give it a good shot. I believe in the saying — Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.

I would be surprised if a woman is thrilled to be selected for a key role or leadership position merely because she ticked the diversity box. Am sure women will agree that they want to make it on sheer merit. At the same time, obstacles, biases and roadblocks must be removed so their focus will only have to be on honing their skills, enriching their experience and maximizing their potential.

To sum up, women have everything it takes to be successful. They need to know what they want, ask for it and prepare for it with courage and conviction.

As Mary Angelou said, “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it”!