leadership has no gender?...

Hmm..so it seems...yup. That's what YBhg Datuk Bridget Lai said today at MAICSA's inaugural Business Luncheon Series Lecture at the Boulevard Hotel, Midvalley City. It was a tough topic alright...hahaha poor Datuk...cornered, as she qualifyingly stated and if I may say so, politically-correctly delivered too...hahaha. I was there for many reasons, first because Datuk Bridget is a fellow Hull alumnus and that Philip (MAICSA CEO) is also a Hull alumnus, second because I am still a company secretary and I try to support MAICSA wherever I can, and thirdly...how can I miss listening to a male-bashing session? It turned out that it wasn't so much of a bashing eventually...hmmm what a dissapointment...and to think that Datuk started her lecture by acknowledging the 'brave men' who dared attend today's controversial topic...'leadership has no gender'? Ya, actually there were less than 10% men at the 300 odd attendees...hahaha.

I was actually waiting to give my piece after Datuk' Bridget's 'illuminating' talk. Somewhere in her speech she actually admitted at some point of her corporate career she cried. You know what I was going to stand up and say? (but alas...no comments or questions were forthwith...everyone zoom straight to the buffet! hahaha). Yes, Yes...If I was allowed to speak then, I would have these to say to YBhg Datuk Bridget Lai: '....Its ok to cry Datuk...for there is a sacredness in tears...if you do not already know. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power...as you are now experiencing. Tears, they speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love...'

It would have been an interesting debate...first I would start off by a very provocative remark...that 'women are their own worst enemy!' Hahaha...I have randomly asked many women in my 30-year worklife...and 8 out of 10 prefer men as their bosses! How many women leaders actually groom or prepare succession plans for their fellow women? (hmmm think about it again hehe). Were it not the men who gave women a chance to lead? The poor menfolk...as if not enough stress and pressure to compete with fellow men, now have to compete with women too? hahaha...lets wave a truce flag here shall we? (doesn't matter if its black or white hehe). Do we not realise that more than 60% of undergrads are women?

So, my take is that...yes, eventually..not in too distant a future...leadership will eventually be gender-less. I have been supporting and propagating the idea that women are better managers/leaders because their positive traits (from extensive studies that I read) far outmatch the men, and I have genuinely said this in some of my MBA classes just to encourage the female students not to worry too much about the glass ceiling. It works both ways, for women as well as for men too. But then again, as Datuk Bridget aptly crystallised, culture and stereotyping has not helped much in improving the situation. Remember what happened to Larry Summers, President & CEO of Harvard University...when he made a gender-bias remark? He lost his job at Harvard...hahaha. Well? Any violent objections to my views? I rest my case...for now...