What makes women better leaders in a crisis? Centuries of resisting domination and combating prejudices have imbued women with immense grit and tenacity, says Nimisha Rana Pathak, the HR country head for global professional services firm Alvarez and Marsal in India By Mamta Sharma
is already broken and where the chances of failure are high. We see this happen frequently enough that it made us wonder, are women in fact more qualified to lead during a crisis? Could that be why they are handed the reins when times are tough?,” says the Harvard Business Review research. In an interaction with People Matters, Nimisha Rana Pathak, the HR country head for global professional services firm Alva-
rez and Marsal in India, shares the top five qualities that women possess, which, according to her, enable them to stand apart – and effective – while managing crises.
# B r e a k T h e B i a s
A
crisis erupts when you least expect it, but also brings opportunity in its wake. Based on analysis of a 360-degree feedback data between March and June 2020 – the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, a research study by Harvard Business Review states that women are natural leaders when dealing with a crisis situation, and were emerged better leaders before and during the pandemic. “When discussing the careers of women leaders, a phenomenon referred to as the “glass cliff" often comes up, denoting how when a company is in trouble, a female leader is put in charge to save it. When women are finally given a chance to prove themselves in a senior position, they are handed something that
Empathy
In the cut-throat world of business, empathy is an important and rare quality, helping to bring people together, understanding them better, and enabling better decision making.
Often, showing emotions and feelings is seen from a negative lens; however, it has been proven to be one of the effective ways of managing people, particularly during a sensitive crisis situation March 2022 |
69
