| | APRIL 20199to be patronizing in our tone, while we publicize their inclusion. It saddens me that we are still using this as a branding gimmick highlighting the rare occasions when a woman `reaches the apex of her career'. Last year, just like any other year, one woman made to the top and social media addressed it more as `Indian born female makes her way to top'. I feel this need to change to `Indian makes it to the top'. Yes, today it is not new; we are leading and we are no different from men. So, why call-out the gender.While I understand that there are a lot of girls in the country who are still struggling to get basic education and equal rights, let us not undermine the achievements of the women who not only have a seat at the table, but have now stated making their own tables if they are denied the seats. The more we normalize the idea of women leaders and look at it as the norm and not an aberration, the easier it will be for female employees to aspire for the top just as much as a man does. We also need to change the culture from within where we presume that a woman at the top of her game at work must be cutting slack in her personal life. We have umpteen examples of both men and women who know how to strike a balance, and we need to stop criminalizing the idea of an ambitious woman. Ambition and achievement needs to be celebrated irrespective of gender. WE HAVE UMPTEEN EXAMPLES OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN WHO KNOW HOW TO STRIKE A BALANCE AND WE NEED TO STOP CRIMINALIZING THE IDEA OF AN AMBITIOUS WOMAN. AMBITION AND ACHIEVEMENT NEEDS TO BE CELEBRATED IRRESPECTIVE OF GENDER
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