Women are playing increasingly important roles as corporate leaders around the world. The barriers to unlocking their potential are falling, but in some cases women’s own belief in their potential still holds some back.
Participative decision-making is a strength of women, says Tidarat Kanchanawat of Adecco.
Suphajee Suthumpun, the CEO of the satellite operator Thaicom Plc, says communication technology is one factor that has helped more women in the workplace. People can now work from other locations or from home if they have other responsibilities including child care.
Ms Suphajee speaks from long experience, having been appointed general manager of IBM Thailand in 2000, when she was 37. Senior female executives were rare in Thailand at that time, she said. But success breeds success, and many more women are now playing leadership roles in the IT field and other industries.
“Women now have lots of motivation to be leaders,” she said.
In her view, women bring a different style of leadership to the table because they have “multi-track minds”, while men tend to have more of a single-track focus. This is the strength of women at the top.
“From my experience, the barrier to women reaching top management positions is themselves. It is not other factors,” said Ms Suphajee. “The negative belief that they can’t do something will obstruct them from pursuing further success in their careers.”
Decision-making is another area in which men and women differ, observes Tidarat Kanchanawat, regional director for Thailand and Vietnam with Adecco Consulting, the Thai branch of the Switzerland-based human resource services group.
Men seem to be more individualistic decision makers, whereas women are more likely to be participative decision makers, seeking input from more people. In some situations, corporations need this female strength.
“The balance between male and female leaders tends to lead organisations to more sustainable operations,” she said.
However, cultural and family background can still have a bearing on whether a woman feels she has she support to pursue a career, said Panchalee Weeratammawat, a partner with Heidrick & Struggles, an international executive search firm.
“I don’t think it is religious but there can be cultural and family expectations,” she said.
Ms Panchalee draws from her own experience working as an executive in a Japanese company, where it took her some time before she was able to go into the boardroom.
“My title allowed me to voice my opinion. But because of the cultural environment, there was a lot of pushback. I was also told, ‘Please don’t say anything when you’re in the meeting.’ And If I have anything that I don’t agree with, I should pass it back to the president later.”
In regard to women’s strengths, she said one quality what women can bring to the table is perspective. Women are more sensitive to situations. They also tend to be more collaborative and strive for harmony. These qualities combined with assertiveness can be very beneficial. Typically, men tend to be more aggressive, but women can benefit from being more assertive.
“Once you are assertive, you know what you want to say, when and how to step in — you can neutralise your thoughts and analyse your ideas with your peers,” she said.