Success Strategies of Women Leaders

Networking, image management, communication strategies and many more approaches of established and successful Women Leaders (>50) have been collected and documented in qualitative and quantitative research.

Women Leaders having proved their mettle in the industry by climbing the ladders of success, share their experiences to guide the younger generation of women workforce and to document their success strategies.

Ms. Kashmira Mewawala, Chairperson CII – Indian Women Network (IWN) – Western region shares how we would like to see more women not just enter the workforce but take on responsible leadership roles – leading with passion and purpose, leading with strength and empathy, leading to create a balanced, fair and happy workplace – leading to succeed.

Kalpana Unadkat, Chairperson CII – Indian Women Network (IWN) Maharashtra Chapter advises young women executives to have goals in life otherwise they will end up working for people who have goals.

Dr. Aneeta Madhok, Vice Chairperson CII-Indian Women Network (IWN) Maharashtra Chapter says that it is only when we share stories of successful women leaders we realise we are not alone and this thought is empowering indeed.

Most Women Leaders acknowledged that they give a great deal of importance to networking activities in their everyday schedules. A rating of 7.79 out of a maximum of 10 was given. The most preferred modes of networking were participation in professional bodies and networking events (34.17%) and establishing collaborative relationships at work (33.79%).

In keeping with global trends, 42.86% of Women Leaders have taken a career break, 33.33% for maternity and 25% for childcare, followed by 16.67% for spouse relocation and the same number for sabbatical. Eldercare (8.33%) was the second lowest reported reason for career break and 0% for educational reasons. 66.67% of the career breaks were for 1-2 years, 25% for 2-5 years and 8.33% for more than 5 years. Re-entry was largely for coming back to full time jobs (69.23%) and 23.08% looks for flexi-time, women friendly jobs. Only 7.69% started their own business so they could be in charge of their time allocation.

The survey report reveals that C-suite women demonstrate their authenticity with a strong preference for direct and clear communication and say it like it is, and sometimes make situational adjustments in tone and content of communication. A few avoid negativity and the least preferred style was to be indirect and use softeners and frequent smiles and nods.

Women Leaders gave maximum importance to their reputation and image being cultivated through hard work and conscious effort. It is highly important too, to follow business etiquette and codes of professional conduct and to take care over dress and appearance. They do not much like to invest in expensive branded apparel and give low priority to presence on social media.

All respondents acknowledged that that subtle forms of gender bias and cultural misogyny does exist, ignoring women and in a very imperceptible manner, inhibiting their growth. They acknowledged the presence of glass ceilings that prevent women from reaching the top. Minimum challenge was experienced on account of glass walls or women given stereotyped women-friendly jobs and most did not own up any significant form of sexual harassment and sexism.

A top strategy to create work-life balance and help manage things with a network of family and paid help. The second priority for achieving work-life balance is to have flexible work options to provide time for family, work and leisure commitments. A large chunk of women have reported that they do not like to work late hours because it does not help with family commitments, and they always felt that they have given priority to family life at the cost of career.

A huge majority of Women Leaders (56.67%) reported that they plan their finances and financial futures independent of other members in the family. 38.71% took all financial decisions jointly with spouse/father/partners, and only 6.45% contributed towards family earnings and allowed their money to be managed by the spouse/father/partner.

Women Leaders tend to adopt more transformational leadership styles and empower teams to take independent decisions or create democratic participative decision-making by consensus. They also liked to delegate activities and hold team members accountable. The least preferred leadership style was direct control and supervision, which is more transaction and control oriented.

Our research reveals that women derive power from passion action and results, having knowledge, skills and capability, and, ability to influence others. They do not believe that power is about enjoying position and status. Influencing others is about being a role model, causing changes without direct force, ability to impact other person’s actions and getting others to agree on a point of view and course of action.

90% of our sample of Women Leaders gives time towards working for the cause of other women by mentoring, coaching, and counseling to inspire those who need, and many initiatives taken by them to create women-friendly policies in their organizations.

There are many revelations within this piece of research. Nuggets of insights that each woman executive can relate to and draw from. Open Spaces Consulting is the Knowledge Partner for this project with CII - Indian Women Network (IWN).

YouTube video of report presentation:

For a copy of the detailed report , write in to [email protected] or inbox me

Aneeta Madhok PhD. Managing Director - Open Spaces Consulting (P) Ltd, Mumbai