Allyship and education are the most important aspects of ensuring that our organization is diverse and inclusive. It goes beyond the mere numerical representation of women in senior leadership roles or across various levels. It's about ensuring that women team members feel empowered, comfortable, and valued as they contribute to our collective objectives and challenge existing norms. Unfortunately, in many cases, they don't. This is where allyship and education play crucial roles. The first step is acknowledging the hesitancy many female coworkers face in assuming challenging roles and understanding the underlying reasons. The next step is to try to help alleviate these reasons. However, perhaps most importantly, we need empathy—the ability to understand and resonate with their experiences.

Yet, it's precisely at this juncture that empathy often takes a back seat, overshadowed by the demands of modern work culture and the relentless pursuit of short-term objectives.

Interestingly, women who push themselves and take on leadership roles frequently adopt male behaviors and demonstrate a lack of empathy for their gender. Being a confident leader does not imply imitating male behaviors. In fact, many successful male leaders who lead a large and diverse female team exhibit intrinsic qualities that are typically associated with women. These qualities include the ability to listen, empathize, nurture, show humility, compassion, and accept one's flaws, among others.

Regardless of gender, think back to when you were working your way up the ladder. Which bosses do you hold in the highest regard? There would have been bosses who helped you hone your craft but think beyond just the craft. There will also be bosses who would have demonstrated several of the above qualities.

A key to being a good boss is accepting the diversity and varied perspectives that diverse individuals bring to the table. A world shaped with a unidimensional view is a boring one to live in. Just as we love to travel to see different places and experience different cultures because it makes us interesting human beings, think of the workspace as one such exciting new place to be explored and embraced.

(Rajni Menon, Chief Analytics & Outcomes Officer, dentsu India)