A640.8.2.RB – WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

For generations, women have been construed as a secondary member of the society, always second to men.  Although women are considered oppress, we can all agree that without women, a family cannot be considered a success.  Mothers give up their profession to take care of their household and most especially their children.  Women have always been born as leaders.  This is the journey that women has chosen.

One of Sandberg’s (2010) messages regarding women’s need to believe in themselves and own their own success by learning to negotiate for themselves speak to me the most.  As a leader, it has been a struggle developing my leadership traits of self-confidence, delegation, and communication.  Northouse (2015) defined self-confidence as the ability to be implicit in one's abilities and competencies including having a sense of self-assurance and self-esteem to make a difference.  There were some incidences where some of my projects were not going where I had envisioned, and my despondency was cognizable to my team.  As a woman leader, I have the obligation and responsibility to stay calm and be confident, especially in times of failures.  I have to remind myself that my team takes their cues from me, and my team needs to know that together, as a team, we will find the resolution and rise from our failures.

There was a time when a female team member made a mistake that caused a delay in a project completion, and I did not handle it well.  Instead of encouraging her to stay calm, I handled the situation differently which caused her to feel inadequate.  As a woman in leadership, I have the responsibility reminding members of my team, men and women alike, that errors are inevitable, and together, we can find resolutions, fix the issues and find ways not to commit the same mistakes.  I have discovered that the team’s morale will always correlate to the team’s productivity, and as a leader, it is my responsibility to promote a culture of positivity with an equal opportunity to lead regardless of gender. 

Sandberg (2010) missed discussing some of the leadership traits that majority of women leaders are undervalued of.  Women are very opportunity-driven that when faced with adversity, they always come up with something learned and always find opportunity in every circumstance.  Women are very passionate in their pursuit of excellence.  That passionate pursuit enables women to become influential in the exploration of enlivened possibilities.  One prominent woman leader comes to mind is Dr. Kek Galabru, President of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).

According to Galabru (n.d.) out of seven million Cambodian, two million died of over-worked, disease, political killings and starvation under the leadership of Khmer Rouge.  Women were the ones who suffered under Rouge’s regime.  Women were coerced to marry the men who committed rape and murder, even men who raped and killed their own children and family.  When Galabru founded LIDHACO, she mandated that the primary focus of the organizations must be on political and civil human rights, ensuring that human rights violation in Cambodia, Galabru’s native country, should never happen again. 

Cambodia as a country is a beautiful country with lots of natural resources.  Unfortunately, its corrupt politicians and government cause the citizens of the country especially women and their young children suffered in starvation, marrying men who have no qualms about taking another person’s life and the worst, suffer from the ugliness of being a rape victim.  But thanks heaven for human rights activists like Kek Galabru, President, and Founder of LICADHO, who never ceased to exist until their voices are heard.  Passionate women leaders like Galabru will bring humanity back in Cambodia.  Her group will not stop in fighting to decrease if not eliminate pervasive corruptions within the Cambodian governments and business organizations and equality between men and women.

            When corruptions, drug and human trafficking that undermine democracy are resolved or eventually decrease, Cambodia will enjoy economic and labor developments.  International markets will open up and will potentially gain liberalized labor market.  Eventually, LICADHO’s vision of a successful promotion of human rights and stop the violations of human rights will be the success of the Cambodian people and their country’s economy.  By opening international market and enticing global business organizations to either partner with local organizations or open new business operations locally, it will create and increase Cambodia’s  labor workforce.

Women of leadership must have patience and stay committed to keeping on fighting for what they believe and stand for until they see the outcome.  Great women leaders are defined and are not discouraged by their failures or setbacks.  They do not easily give up for anything that causes a delay for the outcome of their work.  Women leaders stay on their feet, they take a step back, assess the situation and then take a step forward to keep on walking towards their journey.  Women have a platform from which to lead – in reality, women can be a leader wherever they are.  In short, women do not have to be a member of a multi-national corporation to affect or lead change.  They can be of significant influence, however, small the act or deed is.  All start with a small dosage of good deeds, and good leadership and opportunity are just waiting to be seized.  Women continually seek the chance to make a change, and they need to take a leap of faith, having the confidence in taking opportunities to make a difference and facing new challenges. 

References:

Galabru, Kek (1992). The Slow Birth of Civil Society: Cambodia's Struggle For Democracy

Retrieved from: http://www.international-alert.org/women/new6.html

Northouse, Peter (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7^th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage

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Sandberg, Sheryl (2010). Why we have too few women leaders. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders/transcript?language=en