Women's Day: Industry Folk on Why Women Make Better Leaders

By: WE Staff

Sunita Handa, Principal Advisor, Protectt.ai Labs

Women Score Higher on Interpersonal Relationships, Communication & Social Responsibility

Men and women are said to possess different emotional strengths or competencies that are considered gender-specific. In general, men tend to score higher than women in areas of assertiveness, stress tolerance, and self-regard. Women tend to score higher than men in areas of empathy, interpersonal relationships, communication, and social responsibility. These inherent qualities in women collectively establish how well we:

• Perceive and express ourselves

• Develop and maintain our social relationships

• Cope with challenges, manage stress and make decisions

• Use emotional information to effectively guide our thinking and action

Strategic Move During to Create Stable & Secure Work Environment

‘Exigency Leadership’ during the harrowing Covid phase, for which I was conferred with the notable ‘ET Digital Warrior Award for Best Transitions during Pandemic’. I was CGM & Global Head (IT _Channels & Ops) at Global IT Centre (GITC) of an enormous financial conglomerate of the country.

The challenges acquired a much complex dimension when in March 2020, amid the Covid outbreak and the nationwide lockdown, GITC had to ensure that Bank’s over 48 crore customers continue to be served uninterruptedly through branches and 24x7 tech channels. Under such circumstances, a completely different role had to be acquired by IT-HR, Facilities, Office Administration, Tech Channels and Foreign Office Operations. Apart from resilience, agility, use of virtual tech to the maximum, special strategy for BCCP (Business Continuity and Change Plan), it was empathy & communication with the employees that was of utmost importance. The goal was to ensure that our people get a stable & secure work environment and also feel connected & informed in these difficult times.

Advice For Aspiring Women Leaders

Upskill yourself continuously. Women can build upon their natural strengths like adaptability, empathy, learning from self-reflection towards providing good leadership, and there is no need to put on a “men-like leadership style”.