Interview with Neeti Sharma, Vice President at TeamLease Services
1. How is the life of a woman in a top managerial role any different from the rest of the fairer sex?
Today’s women are better educated than what they were earlier and hold more jobs worldwide than ever before. Today when a woman takes up a role, she is aware of the expectations the organization has from her. Hence based on her personal commitments, she chooses her career path and the role she can perform in. The time commitment to a role changes at various stages of her life and she may decide to sometimes let go of a larger role if she is not able to give the attention and time required due to personal commitments. From that perspective, whether a woman is in a top managerial role or otherwise, there is not much of a difference. The change occurs for a woman in a top managerial role in the form of time, travel and leadership skills required of her. Most senior positions require periodic travel out of their hometown and country. Woman need to be able to manage their personal & professional lives in such situations and build an ecosystem which will allow her to devote time to both her home and work front. Another differentiating factor for woman in top managerial roles is that she is required to lead teams and in most cases have most male direct reports. She is needed to understand their working styles, guide them to perform better and still give them space to develop themselves. Also, women by nature are more emotional than their male counterparts. She would react differently to a situation and is required to take rational decisions than emotional ones while dealing with business, people and strategies.
2. How does it feel to be a woman in the top brass of an organization? What are the highs and lows of it?
It definitely feels good to be part of the team that decides the organizational strategy, goals and visions. Since today in most organizations, barring the manufacturing sector, there is a healthy mix of male & female workers, it helps to have a similar mix in the top managerial team as well as it provides a balanced perspective for all employees. Most times there is no difference between our male colleagues and us and whether we get brickbats or flowers, they are the given from the same perspective.
3. What do you feel are the key enablers for women in the corporate world in today’s time vis-a-vis a decade ago?
The world has opened to accepting women in senior roles. A decade ago, not many women could aim to get to the senior roles, though there were many working women. Leaders like Indira Gandhi have changed the way the world looks at women in leading roles. Another attributing factor to this change has been the support women get from their spouses and family members. Spouses go the extra mile and help women in top managerial roles so that she can live up to the commitments she has at her workplace. Without a robust support system (and thank god for domestic help), it would have been difficult for women to prove themselves consistently.
4. Are there any major challenges that women leaders still grapple with?
Well, whatever role a woman performs outside her home, she is still a homemaker once she gets back home. She has to take care of home, spouse, kids and everything else. It does become a stretch sometimes, but then only a woman can multitask and manage everything she takes on her plate. Be it providing emotional support to her family, be a friend in need or be a guide to people who depend on her emotionally. She is the pillar of strength at home and also at her workplace. She needs to find a balance between home and work. Another large challenge is that despite all the facilities the organization provides to a woman in top managerial role, she still has to carefully choose where and when she travels – cannot travel very late in the night in most cities in the country, may not be able to go to all places by themselves. Many a times, one is the only woman in a room full of men in a meeting (external meetings) and it does get uncomfortable sometimes.
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