Anu Wakhlu is a Leadership and HR Development expert with over 28 years of experience, specializing in leadership skills, team building, and strategic thinking. A certified ICF PCC coach, she excels in organizational change, transformation, and developing top management. Anu has successfully aligned businesses with their mission and vision, transforming HR systems in leading manufacturing companies.
In a thought-provoking interaction with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Anu shares her insights on the challenges women face in leadership roles, highlighting ingrained cultural barriers and unconscious biases. She discusses the necessary cultural shifts to empower women, create safe spaces for risk-taking, and ensure that women’s leadership styles are valued without gendered judgment.
What are the most under-recognized barrier preventing women from stepping into leadership roles? How can we address this from an organizational culture standpoint?
It would perhaps be naïve to say that there is only one barrier to women stepping into leadership roles, since major barriers always arise from a combination of factors. However, one under-recognized barrier would be the confidence and ambition of women themselves. We all know the abysmal statistics on women in Leadership roles throughput the world. In 2021, less than 7% of Fortune 500 CEOs were women. Similarly, the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s survey revealed that women held only about 20% of board seats in NSE Nifty 50 companies.
Stepping into a Leadership role requires women to develop a burning passion for a cause and believe that they can contribute to the transformation of the world. To create meaningful change for the myriad issues that plague the world, we need a different approach to Leadership and Management- one that is holistic, participatory and empathetic. Women naturally have these qualities, and can make a big change to the way organizational Leaders respond to challenges. But for this, women themselves have to feel that they can make a difference. They need to choose career paths where they are in decision-making roles. There will be challenges of course, but once the mental decision is taken, these can be overcome.
From the standpoint of organizational culture, creating an inclusive, equitable and challenging culture will support the thriving and growth women Leaders. Having women role models and mentors; exposure to opportunities and removing unconscious gender bias at work will all be enablers.
What are the most powerful cultural shifts needed to truly empower women to take charge of their professional lives?
Its typically for these kinds of issues that I and another professional have just finished writing a book on “Women Leadership”, It should be launched in early 2025. I am super excited about it!
To respond to your question, these ingrained cultural barriers and biases are not just present in a particular industry—they are prevalent in our entire societal system. So, until the socialization process is changed to reflect gender equity, and freedom from unconscious biases in today’s work environment, I am afraid that peripheral changes will not make an impact. Parents, children’s early upbringing, the academic environment etc., all need to treat men and women as equals, and as important value creators for society. While a lot has changed over the last 20 years or so, and we do see many women in significant leadership roles, the tipping point is still years away.
A few cultural shifts that will empower women would be the creation of support networks and providing equal opportunity in the work place. Having mentors and a support system to encourage women to grow in their careers, and providing guidance and coaching on overcoming biases would be very helpful. Also, the will and determination of women themselves is a powerful force for change. Women need to reframe their professional life as an opportunity to contribute, and create meaning and purpose for themselves and others, rather than merely as a job that provides financial independence.
How important are male allies in empowering women? Can you share some examples of how male leaders can contribute to breaking down barriers for women without appearing performative?
Male allies are very important. Both women and male allies! Women too need to support each other to grow, be successful, be visible and have opportunities. Women can at times get jealous of the success of other women. So, we need to see women growing as a joint agenda of both men and women. In an inclusive organization, the men at the Leadership level need to believe in the business advantage and talent that women bring to the table. Men’s support is critical since the reality is that most organizations have a larger percentage of men employees compared to women and that too in decision-making roles. So, men need to also see women as talent providers and not bring in gender bias.
Male leaders can do this is by ensuring that their women colleagues have a say on important decisions, and are able to voice their opinions. It calls for them to be extra sensitive to the dynamics in the board-rooms, and encourage women to speak up if they are not doing so on their own. Similarly, when it comes to assignments and tasks, being conscious that the team composition includes women especially as Leaders and Team members. What male leaders have to do is provide a level playing field for women to feel empowered, respected and valued. Also provide opportunities for growth and then let them excel at what they need to do.
How can organizations foster an environment where women feel safe to take risks and fail forward, without facing undue repercussions?
As we have discussed earlier, the socialization process which starts from early childhood and continues as the girl becomes a woman is where this problem stems from. So, the entire system needs to gear up differently for handling this. However, there are always things that organizations need to do, and should do, to foster a different culture and eco-system. Creating a work-environment that is safe, encouraging, promotes communication and trust, and encourages initiative is hugely helpful. Giving opportunities for small challenges (and therefore small risks) is a good start.
Also to keep communication going about how she plans to implement the challenge, the pros and cons of the risk element through managerial support and mentoring paves the way for this ability to be embedded. In case of setbacks, having an open communication on what didn’t work and lessons to be learnt from it is a way to build resilience and an open culture. At the same time, while encouraging women leaders, we must ensure that we don’t create unhealthy competition between men and women, creating such a work-environment, and encouraging risk-taking should not be restricted to only women. It should be encouraged for all.
How can businesses and industries overcome this paradox and create a space where women’s leadership styles are seen as authentic, without being judged harshly on gendered expectations?
Women have to be authentic. That may come across as being too aggressive or too passive-whatever it is in some situations. It is well recognized that Leadership styles that have been preferred so far have been for the business context and the era we were earlier in. And in most businesses, the leaders were (and still are) men. So, whatever is familiar is treated as the norm.
Women are seen as more docile, amicable, co-operative than men, and that is sort of deconstructed as the approach expected at work too. But at work, women have to meet targets, succeed in their goals and get things done.A different approach which is more assertive and direct is required. Firstly, I think women should adopt styles according to the situation, see what is apt and respond accordingly. Secondly, they need not feel apologetic if others are not accepting or happy with that! At work, our job is to make things happen, not to only keep others happy. They also need to explain their way of thinking and behavior to their male counterparts so that expectations are set. I think once this happens, you don’t judge a leader by their gender; it’s based on their effectiveness. The expectations for what is natural and fine needs to be set by women themselves.
How do you envision career development models evolving to better support women?
The reality is that the biological role that women play in birthing a child and rearing a child sets up unique needs for women which have to be understood by society and work places. Men cannot give birth. So, for the propagation of the new generation, women’s role is critical and we need to appreciate this. This also means that we understand that women cannot be given the same career development models as men, since many years go into the process of creating a family at the cost of her career growth. So, the models have to be different and what suit different women. There has not been enough work or models that have been created so far beyond flexi working, second innings career track, sabbaticals. This needs some serious reflection and research work. However, what is clear is that success in the conventional sense needs to be redefined for each person individually.
Success is not merely climbing to the top of a pyramid mindlessly. It can mean many different things at different points in our career. Organizations can support the articulation of this for women through reflective conversations, dialogue, workshops, coaching and mentoring. Once its clear what matters to women, then the organizations can play a supportive and enabling role in getting her to achieve the same.
