Charu Malhotra, with 20 years of success in brand rejuvenation and transformation, excels in conceiving and implementing strategies to fuel market presence and drive revenue. With a voracious appetite for triggering brand growth through marketing campaigns.
Women are more goal-oriented than ever, and workplace flexibility is fuelling them. Leadership positions experience a transformation, evolving into a force that impacts not only the company's culture but also a more robust & sustainable business model and society at large. According to a study conducted by McKinsey, findings reveal that only 10% of Fortune 500 companies are led by female leaders. Addressing this disparity requires concerted efforts from organizations to implement proactive measures aimed at promoting gender diversity, fostering inclusive leadership cultures, and providing equal opportunities for women to advance into leadership positions. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of ongoing advocacy, mentorship, and support networks to empower women and enable them to break through the glass ceiling and achieve equitable representation in executive leadership roles.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria are increasingly recognized as vital metrics for evaluating a company's sustainability and societal impact. While environmental factors have always been important, social factors are currently receiving more attention as they ensure that businesses prioritize gender diversity, fair pay, fair treatment, diversity, and inclusion. Governance in ESG lays the foundation by establishing policies, promoting leadership commitment, ensuring transparency and accountability, facilitating stakeholder engagement, managing risks, and upholding ethical standards. ESG guidelines are helping to shape the narrative around power, leadership, and decision-making from women’s perspective.
However, the proportion i.e. gender parity is still far from equality. While there’s been a lot of transformation over the last 2 decades, women still face a lot of challenges concerning authority and power in leadership positions in corporations. It might not be so obvious, but gender biases do exist. There is this so-called invisible glass ceiling that prevents them from climbing up the corporate ladder.
Women's Perspective: Redefining Power, Leadership, and Empowerment
By embracing equality, and diversity, and empowering women across levels of the organization, businesses can enhance innovation, and overall corporate performance and allow for well-rounded and improved decisions. Gender balance at the top management translates into a culture and leadership positively impacts key decisions. Psychological research shows women leaders improve business by enhancing collaboration, inspiring organizational dedication, and improving fair practices. Female leadership demonstrates more transformational leadership styles/ability to inspire and guide along a mission.
Embracing Women as Leaders: A Vital Industry Priority
Women in leadership positions act as a dynamic think tank, bringing forth transformative ideas that enhance decision-making processes and drive positive outcomes. In team settings, females demonstrate passion, enthusiasm, and a natural ability to take charge, effectively guiding and energizing the group towards achieving goals. They bring a multitude of strengths to the workplace, enriching organizational dynamics and fostering a culture of inclusivity and innovation. With exceptional communication skills as their forte, women have a profound impact on enhancing clarity and cohesion across the organization's communication channels. As mentors, they offer guidance and support to colleagues, nurturing talent and fostering professional growth.
At the moment, there are around 15 million women-owned businesses in India, creating nearly 27 million jobs for India's teeming youthful population. This shows a trend toward increased participation in entrepreneurship and corporate leadership. This number has the potential to rise to about 32 million businesses by 2030 if the right policies and actions are introduced and implemented, with the potential to create jobs for nearly 60 million Indians.
Paving the Way for Future Generations
Beyond enriching homes and communities, these women have also become shining examples, indicating what is possible and showing how they can contribute to society if given a chance. Young girls and women looking to become seasoned industrialists and corporate leaders have a crop of impressive women to learn from. Besides, this trend provides a great platform for further advocacy towards building a better and more equitable India. A startling report from McKinsey that came into light last year says - that for every 10% increase in gender diversity, a company's EBITDA increases by 3.5%. The achievements of women can catalyze in the coming years to ensure India plays a crucial role in the world's move to achieve gender parity by 2030.
