Women executives - issues, thoughts and advice.

Family priorities: It is a fact that women give higher priority to family and a large part of this in on account of the fact that women are expected to attend to the families no matter what position they occupy or how busy they may be. In most cases, particularly in India, men do not share equal responsibilities of household chores and therefore, responsibilities to see that children are woken up, got dressed and dropped at school and later picked up and homework etc. are the jobs which have to be attended by women. Very happily I have noted that no matter what position they occupy in organizations they attend to most of these.
Some time while choosing teams there is a negative discrimination against women who shoulder these responsibilities particularly when the job contents require uneven working time or late hours. One good thing is that women’s prioritizing family higher than office work and leaning towards family work actually depends on the importance of the office work. During the CWG days there were women, perhaps they had made adequate alternate arrangements, giving higher priorities to the office work irrespective of the late and uneven working hours.

Therefore I think that though women, perhaps rightly, give higher priorities to the family and are often discriminated against, can and do immerse themselves in the work and perform as well, if not better than men, when the job really demands and is very important and critical.

Pregnancy/Maternity leave: These relate to physical realities and special care that is to be given/taken is understandable. I do not think there is any misgivings in any section on this account. I have noted that women in these condition get special attention and are allowed reasonable concessions and such action is considered acceptable. I do not think there is not adverse discrimination on this account except when physical efforts are required in the job.

Sometimes when women do not proceed on maternity leave till the last day even when they are not able to work or even sit is very odd. This is criticized by different groups. I have often noted that senior women executives counsel these women.

Security Issues: This is a real issue and there should be no compromise on this account. Safety and security comes first. Co-workers are expected to assist in this and quite often the do. During the CWG days men co-workers used to drop women colleagues. Due care must be taken while travelling in the public transport and/or taxies. There should be no compromise on this particularly after the Pune incident where a young programmer was attending to the office on holiday and was killed by the guard.

They must be vigilant against stalkers. Cultural difference must be understood and how casual non-verbal signals can be misunderstood have to be learnt and accepted and care to be adopted so that one blamed at a later stage as being an aiding/abetting party. Due care about drinks and food at parties has to be observed and non-verbal signals triggered while accepting parties at certain location and time has to be kept in mind.
Women must be advised on this aspect as the first thing when they must examine/take up when they join a new job or join a new office. Any concern must be discussed with HR and highlighted to the office.

Harassment: This is an issue and has to be examined and dealt with firmly. As we all know these days couples prefer working partners, young colleagues in office approaching each other is understandable. The men must understand and accept when the girl is not interested or says a clear ‘no’.
When a casual approach or contact crosses the line and becomes harassment is clearly understood by both the parties and unfortunately harasser does not pull-back/stop even to the discomfort of the other. Women must be told to talk about it to other women and to HR and seniors. There is no shame in reporting it and there is no stigma.

Working for long years in Govt I have handled some of these cases very firmly. In our social groups there are enough ways to impress upon the harasser to pull back and mend his ways. There must not be any hesitation in initiating/taking action against the harasser.

Leadership Roles: At the outset I must admit that half of my working life was under women bosses. Among the women and men leader that I have seen, there is one distinct difference in the leadership styles. I have found women to be more considerate and humane and not as crude/crass as some men are/can be. One of the lessons I learnt from one of my lady bosses was that ‘aggressiveness’ and ‘assertiveness’ were distinctly and entirely different - it is possible to be assertive while being very polite and without any aggression.

Besides the above differences, I did not find much difference in them. Among the peer group and colleagues too I have not noted other differences. 

Glass Ceiling: This has been defined by the United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission as "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements."

My advice to the working women is that do not believe that any such barrier exists and it will disappear. Yes, believe me that it will disappear if you do not believe in it and do not accept that it limits your achievements. Mind is a strange machine. If you believe such barriers exist they will operate and restrict you and not otherwise.

One must remember that the world neither not fair as per your yard-stick nor is it supposed to be fair because it is the real world. It is essential to believe in God yet remember there is no one who is sitting and passing judgements on issues being fair or unfair as per your thinking/yard-stick. In the long run the things will square up and in short run small/big bends, turns, ups and downs will be there and one has to take them in his/her stride.