DIG Bimshani was officially removed
from her duties as the DIG in charge, this news threw me off a couple of days
back. I saw a lot of memes on about a low Sri Lankan mindset and mentality. Is patriarchy
in the workplace common in other countries or it is just Sri Lanka. A leading conglomerate
appointed a female CEO a year back, we had the first female prime minister,
however Sri Lanka currently stands 116 out of 156 in the global gender gap
report in 2021. We are not doing good, but what are we doing to change it?
I have always believed that skills,
talent and competencies should trump race, sex or religion in the workplace. No
I’m not a feminist, I never have been, but I’m grateful to them for fighting
for equal opportunity. Lord Buddha didn’t allow ordination of women for
multiple reasons, but for the first time in the history of any religion, he declared
that men and women are equal on spiritual grounds, stating that women were
capable of attaining spiritual enlightenment being a human despite race, cast
or gender. Starting from ordination, women have forever fought for equality in
opportunity.
I was chatting to two of my closest
friends: a hot shot sales manager in Melbourne and the other being a tech
manager in a global company in the UK. I realized it is a very common,
unresolved problem. They admitted with examples how difficult it is for women
to climb up the corporate ladder and how tough it is to get that absolutely deserving
promotion. Bullying women in a workplace more than men is true, no equal pay
for women is a fact.
Many women say ‘I
prefer working for men’, ‘women bosses are so difficult to work with’. Why is
that? There are lesser women in senior management and the workplace has become
a male oriented culture. Because of this toxic masculinity, women unconsciously
tend to copy men who are in a powerful place, women tend to uphold to the
persona that was built, women have become ruthless and demanding. It is important
to be empowered believe in your potential and avoid personifying and living the
persona drastic changes could happen.
Women are built
with nurturing hormones and maternal instincts. Unfortunately, this beautiful
innate quality becomes a curse in the workplace. A woman can be labeled as ‘too
emotional’ or ‘dramatic’ when they tend to speak up or bring in a completely
different opinion to the table. Women are empathetic by nature and tend to care
about coworkers and that has become a key differentiator for an employer, especially
during the pandemic, it was important to be empathetic leaders. Research has
shown that having women at top positions and diversity has brought in higher
employment and better bottom-line.
“A McKinsey Global Institute report finds that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women's equality.”
In Sri Lanka,
women might not bond with male superiors over a smoke neither join drinks in a dingy
joint after work. Respecting that choice, respecting that she is going home to
her husband and children is important in selecting your next employer.
Ladies, if you
are a woman with power in your hand in an organisation, use that to make a
change. Women are multi-taskers by nature, let’s use it to empower our female
colleagues, we are caring, let’s use it to mentor great leads, and we are
emotionally intelligent, let’s use it to be more empathetic. Let’s use it to
fight patriarchal mindset in a workplace, let’s fight to bring in that equality
for a colleague who is scared to fight for herself.
