“Make poverty history”
.But suddenly ring of my mobile caught my attention and I stopped car to a side.
There were two messages. Like drinking and driving, I don’t mix mobiles with automobiles. One was brief, other was slightly long. After reading, I stretched my limbs took a yawn and started again. Moon has parted clouds and moonlight was filtering out from some stray clouds, hovering in the sky. Rain has stopped and long tamarind trees were lining the road. Traffic was almost zero. I started again.
I was looking at the road ahead.
I had sent an article about ‘feminine approach’…it was basically in reference to “Make poverty history”.
I had suggested a three fold approach to this issue.
First was that defense spending,
it is 2.5 % of GDP and more over the way it is increasing…touching, 1204 billion dollars in 06, US spending more money than any other country, and its defense budget which was 300 Billion dollars in 2001 is now crossing 700 Billion dollar. If we can divert most of it to development….and shutting down of defense conglomerates will not only release financial capital but human capital, scientists administrators, managers…it will unleash huge amount of human capital.
And then the issue of environment most important global concern now, In 2006, the US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan burned about 16 gallons of fuel per soldier on average per day , almost twice as much as the year before. The US Air Force spends about $5 billion a year on fuel, mostly to support flight operations. The Navy and Army are close behind. But the big issue was how…peaceniks are talking about since centuries, but business interests all over the world favors things other wise.
And that was second corner stone of my paper, don’t do charity for poor. Involve them in business process.
What is euphemistically called, Bottom of Pyramid (BOP)…this is the 4 billion people living on less than 2$ a day… untapped emerging market (EM) potential…one need not have a rich imagination to visualize how much market base it will expand. Only thing is, even poor have needs, so companies will design products keeping them in mind and with base of economy increasing their capacity will also increase to pay.
But the question of influencing decision comes next and that was the third corner stone, where ‘feminine approach’ came.
Enron, Taliban and Roman ******Church have one thing in common, they never permitted women to go on top, and we know where they are now.
I presented a study of 50 companies led by business women and compared it to those where strong masculine culture is prevalent, and indicated that how growth is faster and smother in first category. My focus was not on gender issues, but attitudes and value systems which define its organizational culture. It was typically Athenian vs Spartan,
Athenian loved to love, enjoy and discuss poetry, focused on softer aspects of life and in Sparta; they knew how to fight and liked to fight. My contention was that in post competitive, post modern world, War is obsolete. We should show care, cooperation and instead of wasting time in fighting, we must learn to show compassion, karuna.
And women innately have that characteristic, that cashmere glove approach.
Contemporary successful women leaders do it their way, utilizing the positive feminine characteristics in a visible and conscious way that helps, instead of hinders their careers.
And they are by nature opposed to wars and violence as well evidenced in Lysistarta project which declares that ‘The Lysistrata Project' recognizes that in the widening spiral of escalation now gripping our world, each act of violence, blamed on the previous one, necessarily begets another.
"An eye for an eye," Gandhi said, "leaves the whole world blind.”
My paper had a lot of practical suggestions too, apart from bringing more women to decision making arena, it suggested on focusing more on EQ rather than IQ, along with process, focus on attitudes and cultural issues and went into lot of details.
Like it had a suggestion that weekends should be extended to 4 days, where for one and half days people will telecommute, work from home and company will share their household infra expenses as house will be an extension of office.
It will save power, maintenance staff, support staff and moreover, commuting hours…on Fridays there will be club afternoons where apart from meeting socially managers can sort our issues in more relaxed atmosphere. Unknown me, they had sent the paper to four persons for referral which included two women CEOS.
One of them was Eugene, CEO of MNC, where, he was working. She got my mail, we started chatting and only much later I came to know that who is she. One of the messages was from her.
She was insisting that I join her in some capacity. And I had agreed to work as part time consultant only on the condition that she will not tell anybody that we know each other. She has confirmed our arrangement and said that message has been sent to Mr Khanna, their VP (and boss of my hubby) about the new arrangement and he has also been told to keep it at the VP level. I have to go and meet them tomorrow. She had also congratulated me for acceptance of my article for journal.
Second message was from Ms. Khanna, checking when I am landing up and passing on request of Mr. Khanaa to meet him tomorrow in office at 11.
