2 topics first is the struggle of women in leadership

2nd is the emerging women as leaders and their efficiency

Good afternoon LCians. Thank you for this opportunity to celebrate with you. To
the Lex Circle for inviting me to be part of this great initiative to amplify more the
voices of our women, Maraming Salamat po.
So for this Women’s month celebration, we will divulge an in depth perspective of
Women in leadership: achieving an equal future
You may wonder why are we celebrating women’s month only and not men’s
month when we actually aspire for gender equality ,well for obvious reasons that
the everyday struggle of women leaders is still evident in the current status quo,
because even in this modern era, patriarchal society is still the norm and this
culture has not been totally eradicated yet.
You see, the society still expects women to be the more communal sex—you
know the warm, supportive, nurturing and kind— while on the other hand , men/
they are perceive to be the more agentic sex—assertive, dominant, authoritative
and decisive, which is why we have more men leaders worldwide than women.
What we actually need to know, and what we need to let the younger generation
know is that, leadership is not measured by sex, and we have to let it really sink
in, because what is happening, is that although society acknowledges or
recognizes that women is capable of doing all things men can, more often than
not, society also thinks that its more fitting if a man would do it.
See, that is just one of the reasons why we still continue to fight for women
empowerment and why we are still celebrating women, because the truth is,
there is no genuine equality between the two sexes. We have to repeat over and
over again that, things like leadership is measured by the ability of the person.
Period.
Siguro yes, Sure enough, in the ancient times, most leaders were men because
physical strength was an advantage at war and there were no over-populace so
women’s main purpose was to actually reproduce and reproduce so every
“kingdom” can have more manpower. And they were just left at home, nurturing
children at taking care of the household while men were out in the open, fighting
wars, or making a living through hard labor.
But gone are those days, we live in a different era today, we are in a modern and
civilized society, where survival is not only for the fittest. Innovations of
technologies are everywhere. And along with all these advancements in our
lives, I believe we also need to advance our mindset that women are the weaker
sex. Not to say that women should be the more powerful sex because that would
definitely be discrimination against men naman, but just to say that both sexes
need to have equal opportunities in all aspects, as well as in leadership.

Overtime, we are doing some progress, thanks to our women in the past who
never gave up in fighting for our rights, and for the continued programs for
women that we are doing today. The changes are not drastic of course because,
we do not expect toxic culture to change overnight, but we are making progress
and that what matters.
So according to statistics, since 2015 the number of women in senior leadership
has grown, particularly in the C-suite where the representation of women has
increased from 17% to 21%. Today, 44% of companies have three or more
women in their C-suite, up from 29% of companies in 2015. Corporate America
scores much lower than France or Norway, where businesses average more
than 40% female representation on a board of directors.
This is not shocking after all, as we all know, America’s leaders are mostly men,
wala pa silang Female president in the history, right? Actually worldwide, It is still
more difficult for society to trust women political leaders, than in the business
industries.
On a lighter note, it is good that the number of women in senior leadership in
businesses have grown, also , evolving job are empowering women and levelling
the playing field. A very good example are evolving technology companies, e-
commerce and the like, see, the new service economy doesn’t rely on physical
strength but skills that come easily to women, such as determination, attention to
detail and measured thinking. Science says that the female brain is naturally
wired for long-term strategic vision and community building.
The emergence of female leaders can become an outward-developing force for
the good in the world. Now, we are seeing examples of female leaders emerging
from across the generations to drive for change. Jacinda Ardern, prime minister
of New Zealand for example, which country has zero covid cases now? New
Zealand, a country with a female leader. In the business industry in the
Philippines, who is the CEO to disrupt transportation services by introducing the
ANGKAS mobile app, Ms. Angeline Tham. Its even more ironic if you think of it
because the work industry is mostly used by men. it is exciting that in our
modernized society there are more evolved and diversified jobs, which could
allow both sexes to excel.
As for my own experience, I have my fair share of struggles of being a woman in
the c-suite, when I was working for companies in the past, I would find myself
sitting in a four corner room where all my associates were men. Not just men, but
men who were way older than I was. Imagine the horror of conventional thinking
that women is the weaker sex. They would casually throw jokes that I am not
comfortable with, so I have to act as firm as I could so they will treat me as an
equal. Its should not be that way, no one should feel threatened for being a
woman leader in a group full of men.

I mean, I know this change that we are seeking will not happen in an instance,
but It’s high time for the world to recognize more the benefits of women in
leadership. With all of us working together, we can change the narrative on
women in leadership, and confront socio-cultural drivers of gender inequality, so
we can commit to placing even more women in positions of power/ not just in
businesses but more so in the government and communities.