Good physical and mental health, organisational support needed for women to ‘level up’ in their professions: experts

Justice S. Srimathy and Nirmala Lakshman discuss empowering women in leadership roles at MMA Women Managers’ Convention 2024.

Women bring a unique blend of empathetic leadership and strategic vision, fostering an inclusive workplace where diverse values are heard and valued, said Justice S. Srimathy of the Madras High Court, at the Madras Management Association’s (MMA) Women Managers’ Convention 2024, held in Chennai on Saturday, March 16, 2024.

In her keynote address, Justice Srimathy said it was important for women in the male-dominated law profession to have support from one’s family and the physical and mental wellbeing required to level up and reach prominence.

Sharing a snippet from her own career on the importance of choosing the right path, Justice Srimathy said, “The general perspective is, women lawyers are good at family matters alone. In order to break this myth, I refrained from taking any family discourse and concentrated on other fields of law. I started specialising in fields like municipal laws, electricity laws, income tax laws, customs and excise. Choosing the right specialisation in your field is another factor for development.”

Nirmala Lakshman, chairperson, The Hindu Group, delivering the special address, said, “Levelling up for women also implies a special organisational effort to help upskill women especially in areas like new technology which will help foster better productivity for companies. It means allowing women in organisations to grow, to support their specific issues, to allow them to move beyond comfort zones and to provide them with the instruments and tools they need to progress.”

Ms. Lakshman also stressed on the need for men also to level up in terms of positive attitudes and greater sensitivity to women in their organisations.

Chitra Thiyagarajan, Indian Railways Accounts Service, was conferred the MMA Outstanding Woman Manager of the Year Award on the occasion. Mridula Ramesh, the Convention’s chairperson and CEO, Sundaram Climate Institute; Mahalingam K., president, MMA; Gp Capt. R Vijayakumar (Retd), executive director, MMA and Shankar V. senior vice president, MMA, also participated.