New Straits Times, August 23 2008

Women don’t have to adopt male traits to show they are competent and able to lead, says talent management consultant Rhea Duttagupta

 

DROP the manly handshake, wear more colours, and let your hair down instead.

That was what talent consultant Rhea Duttagupta did three years ago when she decided to break out of the corporate mould and be her own boss.

“Ten years ago, I would always wear dark suits, wear thick, dark glasses, bun my hair up, try not to look attractive, and shake hands like a man,” says Rhea.

“I did all these things, and they were such a waste of time.”
She was one of the speakers at the summit who shared her experiences in scaling the corporate ladder and making it big.

She made it so big that she became the youngest female director at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, London, at the age of 31.

Years of working with men at the professional services firm allowed Rhea to learn not just the consulting trade, but also the trick in dealing with male counterparts.

It took her a long time, but she finally realisedshe didn’t have to ‘be one of them’ in order to work effectively.

Instead, all it took was forging strategic partnerships.

Rhea, however, wasn’t one to stay put at where success deems her to be.

Two years later, in an ‘unthinkable’ move, she left the firm to set up her own consultancy, CorporateDNA Consulting Ltd.

“People thought I had lost my mind. Some friends even suggested that I see the doctor because I didn’t make sense.”

But Rhea realised that a lot of tasks in the corporate world were limiting her time in meeting clients, something she enjoys tremendously.

Today, the 34-year-old British-Indian runs a successful leadership, high performance and talent management business for a global clientele.

“I work in Japan, Saudi Arabia, UK, Greece. Never had a problem with male management board. I’ve been known to be bold and direct. I’ve asked men to leave the room when they were being difficult.”

Women sometimes can be the biggest blocks to their own success because they suffer from low self-esteem or self-doubt, says Rhea.

For one, women are far too modest compared to men.

A research shows that seven out of 10 women rate their performance as the same as their co-workers, while seven out of 10 men rate themselves as much higher.

Women have also been found to have lower ambitions.

“If men have half the skills, they would go for 100 per cent of their vision. If women have 80 per cent of the skills, they wouldn’t do anything until they have the remaining 20,” says Rhea.

“We want to be too perfect before we become big. That’s not good.”

Another common trait amongst women is a conservative career drive.

The number of men who want to move up the ranks almost doubles that of women, research shows.

Women also spend too much time building comfortable relationships, which are mutually supportive.

“It’s important to take risks and start investing in some strategic relationships with someone we know who doesn’t rate us well or doesn’t hold a high opinion of us.

“How can we build a relationship and change that person? Lets get out of our comfort zone. Build more strategic, partnership type of relationships which can be a difficult start but have a great ending.”

THERE are 8.5 million women in Malaysia in the productive age of between 15 and 64. Less than half work. Only 45 per cent, or 3.8 million, are in the workforce.

In Sweden, the figure is 78 per cent, Denmark 77 per cent, and the UK 70 per cent.

> In government-linked companies, women make up 14 per cent of the board of directors. It’s only 5 per cent in the private sector. The government’s target is to have 30 per cent of women in the highest level of policy making.

> A little less than half of 73 million active entrepreneurs spanning across 34 nations are women.

> About half of all businesses are owned by women, with a success rate of 75 per cent.

> In Southeast Asia, 18 to 30 per cent of self-employed workers are women. In Malaysia, some 60,000 women-owned businesses are registered each year.

> Women in micro credit lending have a success factor of beyond 95 per cent.

> Corporations and countries will need more than 3.5 billion people by 2010 to fill knowledge positions, and 4 billion by 2020, according to Accenture data. There will be a shortage of 32 to 39 million people.

> A total of 1,300 companies have set up an internal mechanism to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace since the introduction of the Code of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment about a decade ago. The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is rallying to make it a law instead of a recommendation.

Rhea’s 19 laws for women navigating the leadership maze

> Political savvy: Accept that politics is there. Positive politics can be a good thing as long as ethics and values are not compromised.

> Being authentic: Value judgements – women are feminine and soft – make it hard for most women to be authentic. It’s all right to use
intuition in the world of business.

> Teaming with men: The more women see men as us versus them, the harder it is to reach solutions. Understand them and get them to
understand you.

> Building your PR: PR is about visibility.

> Perfectionism — no! Women are too focused on the details that they
lose sight of the big picture.

> Making your words count: Deliver as promised. Choose language
wisely.

> Managing your emotions: Know when to let go and not bear grudges.

> Knowing what you want: Be clear of your goals.

> Being comfortable with power: Power is not about control or structure, it’s how one influences another.

> Focus on your strengths: Focus on strengths instead of
weaknesses. Soon, you’ll realise your weaknesses don’t matter
anymore.

> Courage & risks: Women need to follow their gut instincts and be more open to taking risks

> Embrace conflict: Manage conflicts instead of letting conflicts scare you.

> Think success: Have a positive mindset.

> Different is good! The more you celebrate differences, the more creative the organisation will be.

> Learning to say NO: Women are too accommodating. Before you take on more requests on your plate, consider saying no.

> 60/40 rule: Being smart is 60 per cent interpretation and 40 per cent information.

> Lead with integrity and truth telling: Have the courage to voice up when something is not right.

> Make mistakes: The more mistakes you make, the faster you learn. Move on.

> Ask for help: It takes humility to do this, but it’s one of the best ways to team up with men.

breaking the glass ceiling, CorporateDNA Consulting, Rhea Duttagupta, Teaming Up to Make a Difference

By Patsy Kam The Star, August 7 2008

THEY say if the woman of the house is happy, then so is everyone else. The same rules probably apply to the workplace.

This key idea has emerged at the Women’s Summit over the past five years. Speakers from international businesses in Malaysia and around the world have vouched for the value of gender, and inclusiveness policies to retain the best talent and gain a competitive advantage.

The issue of work-life balance for both men and women cannot be underplayed as there’s a real need for provisions that enable them to be actively involved as parents while remaining committed and effective workers.

The Sixth Women’s Summit will be held at the Sime Darby Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 21, with the theme Teaming Up to Make a Difference.

Speakers with firsthand experience at being “change-makers” will provide their views on how working together can bring about positive changes at the workplace and in the larger community.

There will also be a summit roundtable session to discuss the trends and challenges at the workplace today, adjustments that can be made to enhance productivity as well as employee satisfaction, and how to stay competitive.

Learning Labs will cover topics that include financial management and taking on the challenges of leadership.

The summit is targeted at NGOs, those involved in human resource, young entrepreneurs, or anyone interested in workplace issues.

For details, call the Women’s Summit secretariat (03-7954 7030) or register online at thewomenssummit.org.

Teaming Up to Make a Difference, The Womens Summit 2008

 

The following is a 2006 interview with Rhea when she was a Director at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, London. She has now started her own consultancy - Corporate DNA Consulting. The interview was handled by Nishma Gosrani for the news feature Crème De La Crème.

Rhea Duttagupta is a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. Born in London, she grew up in India before settling back in the UK. A lead practitioner on talent management and organisation development, Rhea dedicates her professional success to over ten years of international management consulting experience in cross cultural contexts (US, Middle East, East Asia, Japan, Europe, UK and India). Her clients include UK and US corporates and others including His Highness, the Crowne Prince of Dubai. She is known for her trusted advisor status with management boards, women in leadership roles and senior management teams.

A regular commentator and speaker, Rhea has featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and The Conference Board. A keen writer, her first book on leadership is underway in 2007.

Featured in the 100 must inspirational women of the year, Rhea is involved in a number of humanist activities –Champions for Change by the List foundation, Asian Women’s achievements, Arab Women’s Network, and others. She has recently given twelve international scholars from the London School of Economics, an excellent insight of the UK corporate world from a female-leader perspective.

What first attracted you to the field of talent management?
The word talent has meant something for me right from childhood. It is a word I often heard at home and school. It was associated with “passion”, “not being more of the same”, “being different”. And then, unusual as it might sound my interest in art inspired me more on talent. Most paintings are more of the same; it took real talent for a masterpiece to stand out. Organisations are no different. There is a plethora of mediocrity and that can help to play the game, but to win the game you need talent, people who are “more than” and “better of” and “truly different”. Yet there was hardly anything to identify and nurture these scarce resources. I wanted to do something on shaping talent management with a real edge - that was my drive.

Is there any one personal characteristic or opportunity that you feel has opened the most doors for you?
At home, it’s been my mother and my upbringing. Striving to give me a privileged childhood while being separated from her husband in the 70s/80s was not easy. But she always encouraged me to excel in school, and nurture my interests in art, dance, and writing. She put up this wonderful poster in my room which inspired me over the years “You only live once, but if you live right, once is enough”. So that was a great starting point.

Professionally, in the last decade of my consulting career, I have been extremely fortunate to be exposed to an extraordinary range of boardroom and leadership experiences across cultures. Above all being around very senior leaders (clients and colleagues) who have genuinely invested their personal time and energy, and acted as mentors, inspiring me and allowing me to make mistakes, and learning from them.
As for personal characteristics, there is a relentless hunger in me to make the most of life, a heartfelt curiosity, and to lead and push the boundaries – I am glad I was born that way! Sometimes it can be rather frustrating, because it makes you restless, but it is also the one trait that opens endless possibilities for me.

Do you believe women find being a leader harder than men and does culture, race and nationality play a big part in this?
This is a difficult one because being honestly it’s not something I have experienced personally. At the same time I have seen other women, including close female clients and friends, face challenges. It’s almost something about having to always go that extra mile to prove themselves relative to their male counterparts. So whilst fully empathising with the issue, I would hesitate falling into a stereotype because some men can also be fantastic natural leaders and some women are less able. And vice versa.

Saying that, women need to believe in themselves more. I think it’s very much to a woman’s advantage to make use of the resources she has within (I think we are lucky in having more innate resources than men) to make her mark and be top of the game. It’s about self belief, conviction drive, and humility.

From my perspective, the corporate world is craving for some fresh thinking; some differentiation, some new insights and my gender, culture, race and nationality have always enabled just that! All three elements have created fantastic opportunities for me and the timing couldn’t be better. My advice to all women is to cherish their differences and be proud of what makes them unique.

What was the most difficult decision you have had to make in the course of your career?
Nothing really difficult during my career, except perhaps an early acknowledgement of the journey and what that would entail. I remember I cried on my first day of consulting, ten years ago, it seemed like a mountain to climb. I realised in a complex fast paced world it would be very important for me to define my own path (rather than taking its own course) acknowledging the effort and energy that would take. When I look back, I am happy I acknowledged the journey early on and decided to be persistent and not take my eye off the ball. I am lucky I married this year at 32 after having got my directorship and we don’t have children yet – because when I do, I don’t think I have to compromise on my career (or it will be less of a challenge!). I am so proud of women who can do both at the same time.

What do you believe is the biggest obstacle or barrier to more women reaching the top in business?
Two things – First of all, the old school male-world mindset still exists in some organisations and the historic biases are frozen into the corporate psyche, although it’s rapidly changing and that’s fantastic!

Secondly one of the biggest obstacles to women being on the top is women themselves! Women need to believe more, ask for more and feel less underprivileged. Again my mantra to all high potential women is “Be yourself. Be proud of being a woman”. Sometimes it’s their own perceptions which reinforce the challenge, rather than reality itself, which, from my perspective is rapidly changing!

Where did you experience your greatest challenge in business? What did you learn from the experience?
Two observations. A more serious one first. Traditionally management consultants were seen as business doctors who go and fix a problem. My greatest learning working with senior leaders across different cultures was in recognising early on, consultants and clients work in partnerships to diagnose and solve a problem together. They work in mutual partnership and for mutual favour. That helped me be more successful
A slightly less serious one – many years ago, I was in a boardroom delivering a presentation and one of the male members said “That was good, Rhea, not just a pretty face”! What was seemingly a compliment reinforced the male stereotype I talked about earlier. The comment made me conscious and I became uncomfortable of my looks especially when in a board room. I started wearing dark glasses to impose a harder look! I soon realised this was all in my mind. When you have substance and intellect, appearances don’t matter. The learning was “be who you are and with confidence and style”.

What have you done that you are most proud of in your life, professional and/or personally?
Personally and this may sound insignificant I have struck a better work/life balance after getting married. This wasn’t easy but the results are rewarding.

I have also made the time to start writing a book on my experiences of leadership as a women and blending some themes across cultures. It’s hard to find time but I am disciplined about writing a few pages a week (!)

Professionally I am happy with becoming a director at 32 and consulting with board members, and above all helping men and women get to the top – it provides me with a lot of meaning.

Corporare DNA, Rhea Duttagupta, Teaming Up to Make a Difference, The Womens Summit 2008