Girl, uninterrupted

Asia's female leaders exhibit a blend of tenacity and modesty. Women leaders throughout Asia have demonstrated the capacity to juggle these ostensibly opposing styles, writes Aarti Kelshikar

Aarti Kelshikar

Dr Susan P Chen spent four years working in human resources for Indonesia’s largest ride-hailing unicorn. Susan, who is Taiwanese by birth, lived and worked in Europe before returning to Asia. Despite having a pan-European education and extensive international experience, she found it quite difficult to affect outcomes in Indonesia. In her own words: “I remember experiencing some culture shock as to how to work and influence when I first arrived in Indonesia. Because I was assertive and considered impacting change in the field of enterprise transformation in a linear or unidimensional approach, I was perceived differently. There is far more strain on how you can influence the organisation as a woman in Indonesia in a less senior position. I noticed that the situation was different for the men who frequently approached the CEO personally to obtain approval. Women leaders, on the other hand, would use their influence among their peers to communicate with the CEO and subsequently promote change.

Susan claims that throughout her career, the fact that she is a woman has played less of a role than whether or not her appearance and age accurately reflect her level of expertise and seniority. Her little stature didn’t exactly contribute to the impression of experience or age-related seniority. Such incidents are not unusual when it comes to how women managers or leaders are seen. Women frequently have to exert more effort to be seen, heard, and given credit where it is due. This is true everywhere, particularly in Asia, elements like the deeply engrained patriarchy have an impact on how women are seen in terms of their ability to communicate, be credible, and pursue careers.

External stakeholders frequently questioned an Indian woman leader who worked in the liquor industry about her alcohol consumption. In an initial meeting, she questioned the significance of this topic and pondered whether a guy in her position would be asked the same question. Even though it’s not always harder for women, it’s also not always simpler. This does not imply that women cannot succeed or do so. Contrarily, effective female managers and leaders have figured out how to sidestep many of these stereotypes in order to advance.

Being a woman in a man’s world

Many working women have at some point in their careers felt like they were a woman in a man’s world. I’ve talked to women in India, Singapore, China, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and I’ve heard interesting, varying accounts about how they’ve dealt with these circumstances. A banker from Southeast Asia who worked alone on the trading desk in New York had to forge a tough exterior to deal with the chitchat and language of her male co-workers. An Indian concentrated largely on developing her expertise in a specialised field while working as the sole female PhD cohort member and afterwards at a global hedge fund.

A top leader and director in Thailand named Sunsanee Supatravanij shares an amusing anecdote about her time as an Asian woman leader in the UK: I attended a product meeting for Unilever in London with the top global managers. We were talking about ways to increase the sales of hair care items. I turned to glance around and saw some older, white men with little to no hair sitting around the table discussing hair innovations for Asian ladies. I saw that being the only Asian woman in the room, I was the only one who truly understood the hair-related issues we were debating.

About 20 to 30 years ago, Unilever’s senior management was a huge boys’ club. I initially strived to fit in, but eventually, I came to the conclusion that I would never genuinely belong in the boys’ club. With time, I came to realise that it was more important to be at ease and confident in your own skin than it was to blend in with them.

Women who have experienced similar circumstances, watch and comprehend the norms of engagement and adjust in a way that feels true. Balancing strength and humility in harmony, Japan’s Kumi Ito serves as a director on a number of boards. Her male co-worker sums up her leadership style thus: “She is highly thoughtful about others around her and is willing to make bold decisions at times. She possesses a pretty extraordinary talent for naturally enlisting guys as her allies. Because of their empathy for her humane and rational storytelling, even guys who first didn’t think highly of her often turned out to be her fans. She thoroughly justifies her actions when she takes them, which helps others empathise with her when she makes big choices. She has a great ability to communicate her thoughts to anyone, including her superiors, co-workers, and subordinates.”

This insight shows that Kumi possesses both a strong decision-making style and the capacity to establish a warm and humane connection with others.

Getting a seat at the table

Women must speak up and be seen. There has been a lot of study and discussion on this subject encouraging women to establish their brands and make a statement. It was fascinating to me that executives all throughout Asia emphasised the need for women to approach their positions more strategically as they advance in the workplace. They must evaluate their performance and determine what might be their team’s, the organisation’s, and their own potential future moves.

Sometimes it’s vital to step outside of their comfort zone. They need to speak up for opportunities that will help them develop, volunteer for challenging tasks, and be seen and heard in the workplace. They should make an investment in developing relationships both inside and beyond the organisation. Of course, effort, perseverance, and having the right content and substance are indispensable. They are unavoidable. Yet instead of waiting to be noticed or acknowledged, women need to actively take command of their professions. Women may and do sit at the table in a variety of ways, including these ones. Having a place at the table, nevertheless, also entails having one’s voice heard. It cannot be disputed that the ecosystem contributes to and facilitates their success.

Women can and do fit in and stand out, though, by putting less emphasis on the outside elements and more on growing their strengths, utilising their talents, and finding their voices.

(The author recently published her book How Women Work with HarperCollins India.)