Women’s Leadership

by Abhi Ganapathy

Growing up, there were many things I was told a woman could not be. We couldn’t be loud, disorganized, and God forbid we made a mistake. As I went through school I often questioned why my male counterparts could get away with mistakes that I was shamed to make. In this society, women are constantly surrounded by toxic standards which attempt to hold us back in what we can achieve. When I joined 50/50 Leadership I knew that I would be able to take the first step into promoting equal rights and treatment of women in various industries and in our society. When my mentor, Pauline, tasked me with finding 3 influential women in the corporate world, my mind immediately started to wander. Just 3 women? There were so many to choose from. It was like letting a child loose in a toy factory, I didn’t know where to start or whom to choose. 

After countless searches through Fortune and Forbes magazines, I delivered a list of 3 women: Jodie Poirier, Julie Sweet, and Indra Nooyi. Jodie Poirier, executive managing director of Colliers, caught my attention after a short article she published in the Los Angeles Business Journal. In her article, she discusses how she dealt with being treated as a “diversity hire” due to her gender and how she went from being a simple “diversity hire” to executive managing director. In this article, she also emphasizes how a woman’s choice to have children should not affect the decision to hire her, a problem many women have faced. She ends the article with this bold statement: “And finally, hire her because she is the strongest candidate for the role--and tell her that and anyone who may claim otherwise.” Poirier’s call for change about the different discrimination women face in the workplace inspires me to persevere through any hardship I may face and remember that I am also part of that change. 

Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, has made many strides to empower women and abolish the toxic standards held against women. She has created a diverse population in her workplace, and expects to equal staff representation, represented by men and women in the year 2025. In an interview she conducted with the New York Times. Sweet discusses how if businesses made gender equality a priority, we would be in a different world today. However, she underlines that as the problem. Many businesses do not make an effort to mend the gender gap, leading to the issues we see today. Sweet’s story inspires me, as she discusses how no matter what area of work she was in her life, whether it was during her career as a lawyer or business woman, she constantly pushed for change and later, became that change. 

As a South Asian woman myself, Indra Nooyi’s story gave me confidence that someone similar to me can make change and be successful. Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, strongly advocates for equal treatment and chances despite race or gender. An interview done by CNBC

showcases her popularity amongst the workers due to the morals she upheld in her office. In return for her fair treatment and advocacy for fair treatment, Pepsico’s shareholder return was 162%. The change she was able to make as CEO inspires me to promote those same values in my place of work and reassures me that I am all I need to make change.

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Advice: Women Entering the Workplace for the First Time