Just a few days back, my dad had gone for a meeting with the
CEO of a company. The name of that person he was supposed to meet was L. N.
Chandra. As he waited in the reception area, he looked around. There was a buzz
of activity all around him. Everyone wanted to be involved in friendly
discussions, with a lot of smiles thrown around. My dad imagined that the CEO
occupying the seat in the cabin to be a benign, suited booted gentleman with
effective managerial skills. Very soon he was ushered in. Not to his very great
surprise, he saw a diminutive woman welcoming him to have a seat. She seemed o
be a bundle of energy, caught in a flurry of activity. She gave equal attention
to what he had to say, she answered queries on the phone calmly and
knowledgeably and my dad didn’t saw even a frown on her face in spite of the
harrowing day she seemed to be having. After sharing this incident with me, he
asked me, "Why did I imagine that I would be meeting a male CEO?”
Simply because the stereotypical image of a CEO in the media
is that of a male! And the other reason being that there are very few female
CEOs around. Yes, the glass ceiling does exist and, for whatever reasons there
may be (including the clichéd one like women take time off to start and nurture
a family), women CEOs are a very small breed not just in India but also all
over the world. We can go on and on about how women are no longer shackled to
home and hearth. Every time we talk about women in the workforce, the standard
argument is, “Oh, but we have women President
and women astronauts and that goes to show that women have equal
opportunities!” But we rarely mention that there is something called gender
bias, sexual harassment in the workplace and several other problems that men
generally do not face. And if a woman is powerful enough to combat and overcome
all of these, the troubles are just beginning, because everything she does is
held under minute scrutiny, not because she is inept but because she is female!
So, then comes the ubiquitous question, “ Is she better than a male CEO?” Why
doesn’t anyone ask, “Is she better qualified than the males in that office?”
“Is she more effective as a manager vis-à-vis her male counterparts?” “Does she
bring any special skills to the table that, perhaps, a male CEO would lack?”
These questions are rarely asked because a woman CEO is often a threat to the
male ego. So, what happens? The rumour mills run overtime and everything that
she does becomes a grist for gossip. If the woman CEO is made of sterner stuff,
she weathers the storm; and if she can’t take it, she resigns….So, we are back
to where we started – why are there such few female CEOs around?
To my mind, there are two sharply contrasting styles of
management : Autocratic and Permissive. Each style has its own characteristics.
In the autocratic style, the CEO makes all the decisions by himself. In the
permissive style, the CEO encourages subordinates to take part in the decision
making process, the CEO consults the subordinates before making any decision. While the first style is directive in nature,
the second one is more democratic. Women are more prone to the second style
because that is what they have been conditioned to do. They have to negotiate
their way out in every situation. Perhaps, that is why they are perceived as
weak. For them, it is like being caught between the devil and the deep sea. If
they ask for opinions and ideas then “Oh!
She is a woman, she doesn’t know much and therefore, she has to ask the
world before she takes a decision.” And if she is autocratic, then the common
refrain is, “Oh! She feels constantly threatened by men in the office and
therefore she never listens to anyone…How typically female!” So, for the woman
CEO, it is often a no-win situation.
And now, if you think that the writer of this blog is biased
in favour of women….you are absolutely right!!! I would say categorically that
women CEOs are no better or no worse than their male counterparts. There are
inefficient and inept CEOs everywhere just as there are good and effective CEOs
all around the world. If Chanda Kochchar is a good CEO, it is not because she
is a woman, but because she has certain managerial skills that, maybe, other
men and women in ICICI, lack. Or, maybe, she is just good. If Steve Jobs is
considered as the best, it isn’t because he is male but because his IQ is
higher than average.
Well known international companies want their CEOs to be the
people who have high levels of optimism, are better able to control their
feelings ( not repress them) and are excellent stress managers…They should be
the one who are more proactive and have better interpersonal skills. All these
factors play a very crucial role in determining the growth and progress of
individuals both professionally as well as personally. If a man has these
qualities, then he is chosen to fill in the haloed position of a CEO and if an
EQ test shows that it is a woman who has all these qualities, then it is She
who wins he corporate war! It is as simple as that…Isn’t it???
