To Lead: Create A Shared Vison

When men pose challenges to women, then women should take it as an invitation to come up and dominate, rather than feel suppressed. Whenever you feel suppressed, you feel disempowered, and you expect someone else to empower you.

In Chinese, the word for opportunity and crisis is the same. So if you think men are not allowing women to come up, then that is all the more reason for women to take it as a challenge to come up. I feel women have the ability to do so.

I think at home men are already being dominated. So perhaps at the work place, at least, men want to preserve their dominance. My advice to men is to treat women at par. Gone are those days when women were subservient to men.

In India, the tradition is to address the woman first, and then the man. We say Shrimati (Mrs.) and then Shri (Mr.), and not Mr. and Mrs. So, women should be given their due place.

Everyone pursues their own vision, but if there is a shared vision, then everyone joins together, and that is how a movement begins. A leader should give a shared vision, then step back and allow people to move forward. He or she should not assert their leadership, but facilitate people to move forward and, take responsibility, and empower them in areas of their interest.

When someone comes up to me saying, "I would like to work on solar lighting, or organic farming, or do a campaign educating people to do away with female feticide", I encourage them. When people on the ground level come up with a vision, they have a sense of belongingness to the project, and they feel empowered. In this way, corruption also goes out, since you can be corrupt only with people who you think don’t belong to you. A sense of belongingness can bring people together.

You also need a few men here and there, as women fight amongst themselves. The worst enemy of women is not men, but women themselves. It is not a generalized statement, but what have we found in many areas is intense feelings of jealousy. You find women pulling each other in different directions. Wherever you have small areas with groups of women, it functions to teach people, whether men or women, to accept diversity. Learn to accept other people’s point of view, and above all this, be patient, as no endeavor will be successful without patience.

I am very inexperienced in this field (laughter!).
First, never step on the emotions of a woman.
Second, encourage womenfolk to step out of their routine and comfort zone.
Third, encourage some creativity and some acts of kindness.
Four, let them take some time off to be quiet, and observe nature. We all take time off and go on vacation, but talking too much and talking all the time spoils the whole vacation. You come back tired, tanned and tired. Sometimes, one needs to take some time off to be quiet and spend a few moments in silence; meditate, and be with nature.

Trafficking of women is an issue in Indonesia, India, Nepal, Mauritius and Sri Lanka; almost all of South East Asia. The issue needs to be tackled by the Children and Women’s Department. A thorough research or study needs to be conducted to assess if it is done for economic reasons. I don’t think it is done by choice. If they are doing it as a compulsion for livelihood, then it has to be attended to immediately. If it is happening as a lack of culture or training, then education may help. I am not qualified to comment on it. Someone who is a sociologist could present a research paper. From our end, we can provide some skills training, and empower them so they can honor themselves and womanhood.