Money that goes into a woman’s hands goes into building the country, said Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals. She was speaking on the topic ‘Women as leaders: Why we need more of them’ at the second and final day of the ThinkEdu Conclave 2020, held in the city on Thursday.
“If you look at the percentage of women graduates, it is 40% and southern states have closer to 50%, but the percentage of women in the workforce drops acutely to 24%,” she noted. It is a great disservice to the country and its economy and not just their own family when women are asked to play a ‘half game’, she averred.
“Companies with women leaders perform better in the stock market and in the Fortune 500 list, companies where significant number of women were in leadership positions over a 10-year horizon, had the best performance indices,” she added.
Women intuitively understand conflict resolution and the importance of working towards an environment-friendly and secular future better, stated Reddy, in the discussion that was chaired by senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai.
“It is important for society that decision-making is balanced between the two sexes,” she added. As far as family is concerned, it is important for a woman to find a partner who understands and appreciates her career and the fact that she is ambitious.
“I would ask women not to look for favours but use the environment to play to their strengths — they have the strength of knowledge, of communication, of staying in touch, which they can do even from home. If you want to capture both horizons, find ways to do it,” she said on women retaining control of their careers and keeping the onus on themselves.
On her own experiences of keeping family bonds from crumbling under the weight of business decisions, she said, “I cannot say that we did not fight but we were taught not to dwell on a fight and that the company comes before you. Considering the type of work that we do, your own aspirations seem small compared to the universal good."
While acknowledging that it is a business, it is also about carrying forward a legacy and a responsibility, she said. She also commented that the wage gap of around 17% should be closed while leading by example — paying men and women working in their own households and organisations equally.
