In this day and age, so many women all across the world have proven that they were made to be more than just a homemaker. They are the testament that women, too, are destined for greatness, and just capable as men in any industries — STEM, business, and even as world leaders.
There’s no question that these women can do their jobs amazingly well… Even when most people underestimate and does not appreciate them, they stand tall and prove them wrong. As I make that statement, a lot of people would view them as a biased opinion and might even say,
“No, a lot of women nowadays have been appreciated”
“Don’t be so dramatic… A lot of people, even men, has already acknowledged that women are just as capable”
Well, let’s take a look at some research and study in the matter of women leadership… According to a new study by Heidrick & Struggles, Asian women leaders at multinational corporations still feel trapped in regional roles. The study found that 90% of Asian female senior leaders aspire to be in global roles, and only 36% that are confident that they will be granted the opportunity.
The sad thing is, there are still quite a concerning number of women who feel… “inadequate”, so to speak. In this case, nearly half of them feel that gender is the main obstacle, while 19% felt that it is not culturally acceptable for women to be too ambitious, or that they would be regarded as culturally unfit by colleagues in terms of communication styles. At the same time, 48% of women felt that the headquarters’ leaders do not pay enough attention to developing Asian women. See?
Reasons Why Women Make Great Leaders
Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? There’s a reason (actually, a lot) why so many women nowadays have managed to succeed in proving the world that they are more than what most society assume they’re capable of. Here’s some of them…
- They value work-life balance, where as a leader they would say “I care about my team and their well-being” which leads to the team’s performance and their work-life balance as well.
- They are empathetic, so they value relationships which enables them to have strong understanding of what drives and motivates people, as well as to acknowledge different people for their performance.
- They are nurturing, which is only natural for women, therefore as a leader they can help the team members succeed in developing their own skills and strength.
- They are Strong Communicators, and they know how to use this skill well, where they would be able to communicate regularly, clearly and openly in executing roles and responsibilities.
- They handle crisis situations well, because they’re trained as caretakers — So, they’ll be well prepared to deal with crisis with compassion and patience.
- They have high emotional intelligence, which is critical and considered to be an essential leadership behaviour needed to create a great place to work and to get the best out of employees.
- They defy the odds, as women are the underdog when it comes to lead, they learn that it takes an extra push to get to the top. And those who emerge on top are extraordinarily strong and capable leaders!
The Role Models of Women Leadership in Southeast Asia
Of all the lady bosses in Southeast Asia, there are three women that, in my opinion, really show how much women can excel in leadership.
The first one would be Aung San Suu Kyi who’s ranked as the highest among her Southeast Asian counterparts. She has been elected to the Burmese parliament and has become the leader of the biggest opposition party in Myanmar in 2018. In the same year, she also were given the opportunity to give her acceptance speech for her Nobel Peace prize which had been awarded to her back in 1991.
Next up is Yingluck Shinwatra, the Thai Prime Minister who was a businesswoman before entering politics in 2011. Her courage and qualities as a leader shown by her initiation of various flood prevention and control measures in response to Thailand’s worst flood in 50 years.
Finally, the third most powerful Southeast Asian woman leader is Sri Mulyani Indrawati from Indonesia who has been the managing director of the World Bank since 2010. In doing so, she oversees operations and loans in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and pays particular attention to middle-income countries such as Indonesia and the BRIC nations. During her tenure as Indonesian Minister of Finance, she cuts the country’s debt in half and helped the reserves reach an unprecedented high of $50 billion.