It is said that ?a man who thinks he knows about women is either a psychiatrist or in need of one.?
I admit that women, more often than not, perplex me, that aside, had it not been for my mother who gave up her career to be a home maker and now my wife who with a smile has hopped cities to support me in my endeavours I would not have reached where I have in my career.??..and the story continues in the office as well. And this set me thinking about the roles that women have played and continue to do; so splendidly.
There are studies which say that organizations with highest proportion of women on their executive committee performed better in terms of return on equity and earnings margin than those which had no women at that level and I agree?
Speaking from my experience in the real estate sector, attracting talent hasn?t exactly been easy, especially with the prejudices associated with the real estate industry. I would like to narrate an experience, a very smart young lady joined our firm, reporting into me, from one of the premier institutes. Before she moved in to Bangalore, I was summoned to our cafeteria where I was introduced to her father, brother, local guardian and her mother. Then there was a flurry of questions but I distinctly remember these questions:
- “Are you married?”
- “Would your wife work in this company?”
Though for a moment I was taken aback, I realized that the question held a mirror to the social perception to women being employed in real estate sector. Though we have come a long way, this experience really helped me appreciate some of the hurdles that the women joining our work force have to overcome.
Throughout my career, I was fortunate to work with very smart women colleagues where they have thrived in an extremely competitive field where you blink and you lose a client. Commercial Market transactions is deemed to be one of the male dominated field in real estate ?? My women colleagues have been successful in shattering? this clich? quite magnificently.
On the occasion of women?s day, I would like to share some musings, based purely on my interaction with the women world and I do not have the right answers?. And I certainly am not saying that staying in the workforce or having a professional career is the right thing or the wrong thing, it is ultimately an individual choice.
Double Burden Syndrome
In my first job where I was working as an executive assistant to senior vice president?.he called for a leadership meet where senior folks had come in from all over the country. ?Sunita? who was now over 5 years with the firm and amongst the most successful area sales manager was quiet and removed from the interaction. The next day? she walks in with sweet box and announced her engagement and she shared that her marriage would be a year later.
The reason she was quiet during the meet was that she felt, in a year?s time she would not be able to contribute ?. This was probably her way of being honest to the firm. Her honesty led her to step back and in her own way starting to prepare for a life after marriage.
We are luckier than the earlier generations where our mothers or grandmothers did not get the same opportunities which we are presented with. Women start their careers in business and other professions with the same level of intelligence, education, and commitment as men, yet comparatively few reach the top ranks.
I believe this happens because they mentally take a back seat to prepare for the roles that they would play. Also known as the Double Burden Syndrome, where, they more often than not, give up on potential opportunities in career progression before they actually should.
You may be alone in the room!
A few years back, the Corporate Real Estate head of a major IT firm was at a juncture to select their real estate service provider for their campus consolidation. Our team consisting of my lady colleague with another colleague made a visit to the client?s office. The following hour I received a call from the client, ?If you are not serious about us please say so??.?On asking what had perturbed him, his response was ?Your best bet is a woman? Who will negotiate with developers??? The discussion went on and I was able to convince him; we followed it with a presentation to a larger audience comprising the India board of the firm. I remember distinctly that my colleague was the only woman amongst a gathering of 14. ?Rest is history; not only did we win the account, it was the start of a long term client relationship.
More often than not you may find yourself as the only woman in the room, be it presentation to the C suite, CRE teams, procurement teams, etc??this can be unnerving and lonely and can undermine confidence and assertiveness. It can get lonely, but the silver lining is scarcity is remembered and abundance is not..
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Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to me and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that I may be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated.
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