Indian Institute of Management-Raipur (IIM-Raipur) held the first edition of women leadership confluence, focusing on how women had been leading from the forefront in prominent organisations.
The event, which celebrated womanhood and leadership, saw the presence of some of the most prominent women from corporate India. Smita Nair Jain, chief operating officer at Barclays Technologies, and Usha Ananthasubramanian, chairman and managing director, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, also shared their experiences.
Addressing the gathering of students, Smita Nair Jain began with the disclaimer that she being gender agnostic, was not a person who vociferously defended feminist causes. She said she was always comfortable working with men and women alike. "Being one of the few women in the leadership team, I am often surrounded by men, but I have never found that to be uncomfortable," she said.
"While women are great at multitasking, working with diverse teams and negotiating with people, they lack in areas like networking, mobility and aggression," Ananthasubramanian said.
She said the path that leads her to the top is long, winding and fraught with difficulties.
Though she agreed that there is a greater distribution of males in the high positions and women being the minority have a reluctance to voice their opinions, she maintained that a successful woman should be responsible for her own advancement. The biggest challenge that a working woman has to face is that she has to juggle multiple roles on a daily basis.
The event, which celebrated womanhood and leadership, saw the presence of some of the most prominent women from corporate India. Smita Nair Jain, chief operating officer at Barclays Technologies, and Usha Ananthasubramanian, chairman and managing director, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, also shared their experiences.
Addressing the gathering of students, Smita Nair Jain began with the disclaimer that she being gender agnostic, was not a person who vociferously defended feminist causes. She said she was always comfortable working with men and women alike. "Being one of the few women in the leadership team, I am often surrounded by men, but I have never found that to be uncomfortable," she said.
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She attributed this to her childhood for her leadership quality. Smita recalled that her parents did not confine her to feminine activities only but engaged her in daily chores like fixing bulbs, mixing paint and even cleaning spark plugs at times. This childhood training had helped her to not depend on male labourers to get things done.
"While women are great at multitasking, working with diverse teams and negotiating with people, they lack in areas like networking, mobility and aggression," Ananthasubramanian said.
She said the path that leads her to the top is long, winding and fraught with difficulties.
Though she agreed that there is a greater distribution of males in the high positions and women being the minority have a reluctance to voice their opinions, she maintained that a successful woman should be responsible for her own advancement. The biggest challenge that a working woman has to face is that she has to juggle multiple roles on a daily basis.