Ficci ladies launch ‘30 Women In Power’ book

Author Naina Lal Kidwai, India director for HSBC-Asia Pacific, said the book isn’t meant just for women. “It is also for men who have a working wife, parents who want their daughters to achieve,” Ms Kidwai said.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on the sidelines of the event, Debjani Ghosh, Intel V-P for sales and marketing, said that the onus of getting women to the top lay with both men and women.

“That whole culture will change when male CEOs start hiring people for their talent, for what they bring to the table, for their skills. The other part of it is building

confidence in women, from schools right up to the time they are in a career to aspire for that top job,” she said.

Shanti Ekambaram, president, corporate and investment banking at Kotak Mahindra said education was the real key. “Before aspiration, there’s still lot of work that needs to be done about girl child education,” she said, “At least in the metros, there are equal opportunities, but in the rural areas, education is what will make an impact.”

At the panel discussion with other members of Ficci Ladies Organisation, almost all panellists agreed that women were superior to men in many ways because they balanced work and personal growth more efficiently. They also said that having an emotional support system around them in place helped keep things calm.

“I had the opportunity to meet Sheryl Sandberg (Chief Operating Officer of Facebook) and she told me that choosing a husband is the most important career decision you will ever make,” Ms Ghosh said. “A support system happens through dialogue and negotiation. You have to tell people that this is what you want to do,” she said.

The importance of having role models inspired Ms Kidwai to compile the book. “There are more CEOs in India in the tech space than in America. It always helps me to know that other women in the corporate world have made it. You need that role model, to be able to look up to someone and say, ‘This is who I want to be’,” she said.