Playing with the boys
By S. Indramalar
Women need to make male colleagues their allies.
WHEN she conceded defeat to Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential nomination last June, Hillary Clinton addressed the millions of women who had backed her and said: “You can be proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.”
Hillary Clinton’s near success of becoming commander-in-chief shows us that the proverbial “glass ceiling” has been penetrated.
Rhea Duttagupta, a boardroom consultant believes ‘the glass ceiling doesn’t exist any more’. This is not to say that the battle for women in the workplace is over.
Rhea Duttagupta, a boardroom consultant based in Britain, said: “I think the glass ceiling doesn’t exist any more. It’s not about ‘women against men’ and we shouldn’t be saying that we are victims of a male-dominated corporate world.
“What we have to address is how we can make men our allies, our coaches, our mentors and learn from them, and at the same time teach them how women work. Show them how stupid they can sometimes be in the way they view women.”
Duttagupta was one of the speakers at the sixth Women’s Summit organised by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry recently.
Born in London, schooled in India and now settled in London, Duttagupta was only 32 when she became director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. However, Duttagupta shocked her family and friends when she decided to leave her illustrious career to start her own consultancy, Corporate DNA Consulting.
“They all thought I had gone mad but it was something I had to do. While it was great to get the directorship, it was just so hard fighting the struggle, playing the politics and the games that were going on. You know, the male club thing. There was no glass ceiling but I felt like I was in an aquarium,” she explained.
Though boardrooms are still predominantly a male domain, Duttagupta felt more and more women are being given places in boardrooms of big corporations.
“But, it is not merely because of the softness of their (men’s) hearts. They need us economically.”
More women, more money
Duttagupta cites recent findings which reveal that companies with three or more women in top management score higher on organisation culture and companies with a higher proportion of women in their top management perform better financially.
Catalyst, a global non-profit organisation that works with businesses to build inclusive work places and expand opportunities for women and business, revealed in its study The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity that Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentages of women corporate officers experienced, on average, a 35.1% higher return on equity and 34% higher total return to shareholders than those with the lowest percentages of women corporate officers.
These findings suggest that companies that recruit, develop and advance women in an effort to diversify their leadership make better decisions, produce better products and have several key business advantages over more male-dominated companies.
According to its data, the number of companies with more than 25% women in leadership positions more than doubled from 30 in 2001 to 68 in 2007.
Also speaking at the summit was deputy chief executive of CIMB Investment Bank, Datuk Charon Mokhzani, who cited CIMB as an example of a successful financial organisation that had many women in top positions.
He asserted that it was complete fallacy that women cannot face confrontations, citing Britain’s first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher; the late Benazir Bhutto, female prime minister of Pakistan; and former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia as examples to drive home his point.
“As boys, we learn from a very young age not to push too far or it might result in going outside for a fist fight.
“Women don’t know about this because they have never had to face this situation. So, they push and they push and push.” said Charon to the amusement of his audience.
Playing the game
The mistake many women make, said Duttagupta, is to assume they have to make themselves more masculine, both in terms of dress and demeanour to get in (or stay in) the boardroom.
“I used to wear dark navy pinstripe suits, pull my hair back in a bun and have a firm, manly handshake. But really, it was all a waste of time. We don’t realise it but women have more personal power than men. Ironically, most are too scared to use it.
“Women have to have political savvy and authentic leadership … be yourself but be compelling,” she said.
Though it was scary, the 34-year-old is pleased with her decision to start her own consultancy.
“I have learned so much in the last two years … CorporateDNA has given me so much more than I got in my 12 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers.”
As a management consultant, Duttagupta travels the world to advise and assist clients with their various challenges, such as developing talent management strategies, succession plans and leadership development.
One thing women can take from their male counterparts, she said, is confidence in their ability.
“Women are too modest and insecure. Often, what stops them is the fear factor … fear of failure or that they are not good enough.
“We have found that 70% of women rate their own performance as equivalent to that of their co-workers, while 70% of men rate themselves higher than their co-workers. And on a same project, you will find that men demonstrate 100% ambition even if they only have 50% of the required skills. Women tend to play by rules and build comfortable relationships to prevent uneasiness at the workplace.”
Duttagupta however feels women need to learn that it is alright to be selfish, sometimes.
“Do you know what all successful women have in common?” asked Duttagupta. “They don’t conform, they don’t always comply and they have never compromised on their purpose. Don’t get caught up with the rules. As long as it does not compromise your core values, you should learn to play these political and boardroom games too.”
Much as it is a cliché, you need two hands to clap. As much as women need to ready themselves for leadership, men need to realise what equal opportunities at the workplace really means.
Highly qualified women are still finding it hard getting their male bosses to see them as capable leaders and not capable women leaders.
In closing his presentation at the panel discussion, Charon unwittingly revealed the general mindset of male bosses.
“I have a quandary which I hope you (the audience) can help me solve. Do we treat women and men as complete equals? If I have a job in a remote and unsafe area, do I send a woman? Or if I have a job that requires working late all the time, do I offer it to a woman … what about her family?” he asked.
Though he was trying to be considerate, Charon’s innocent question highlighted what the struggle for equal opportunity was all about. Give women the choice. Don’t decide for them.
The answer, according to Duttagupta, is for women to work on the male psyche and working alongside them.
“Stop saying that you are victims in a male corporate world. Women have great strengths. Team up with the men and show them your strengths while learning from theirs.”
To quote Hillary Clinton: “There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st Century.”
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