Conducive company imperative for career growth: Book

Woman can only be empowered if they have a conducive work empowerment and the passion to pursue their dreams, according to a new book edited by business leader Naina Lal Kidwai.
Kidwai, executive director on board of HSBC Asia-Pacific and chairman of HSBC India has put together a narrative of 30 of India's greatest women achievers in the book titled "30 Women in Power," which was launched at a function here last evening.
Published by Rupa and told up close and personal, the book provides guiding principles that have held the women leaders in good stead.
"I believe it is incumbent on organisations to make a woman's passage easier. In my own career at HSBC in India, when I was the deputy CEO, I was asked to head the diversity initiative - enhance diversity in the work place, and encourage women to join bus and rise to senior positions," says Kidwai in her story in the book.

Hailing from all walks of life some of the empowered women said that throughout their lives they had to prove their worth everyday.
"I feel the need to prove my worth everyday. In the competitive field of TV journalism you need to find your own voice and carve out a niche for yourself to stand out among your colleagues," says Shereen Bhan, journalist and Managing Editor of TV channel CNBC-TV 18, who was among panelists who discussed the book.

Bhan writes, "I agree with Sheryl Sandberg's argument that women need to lean in a lot more. But equally, organisations need to empower women so they feel encouraged as decision makers." Bhan was referring to the bestselling book 'Lean In" by Sandberg, the Chief Operating officer of Facebook.

She emphasised that Indian companies should consider flexi working hours not only for women but even for men to enable a work life balance.
"The mindset of corporate organisation is the most important aspect of a women's professional growth. Flexi hours for working, providing creche facility for toddlers, maternity leave and working from home facilities need to be provided by companies," says Pallavi Shroff, a senior partner who heads litigation and competition law practices at Amarchand and Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff & Co, a corporate law firm.