Women
Why Firms Need To Employ More Women As Leaders
Having more women in decision-making roles has been found to generate stronger market returns, superior profits and reduce sexual harassment.
“You’re too accessible.” That is what Susan Zirinsky, the new head of CBSNews, was told early in her career because she was seemingly everywhere at once. It was during that era that she agreed to meet a young woman named Hannah Yang, who was on the verge of quitting what she had thought would be her dream job, working for talk show host Charlie Rose. She was troubled by the workplace environment and had decided to leave, but was convinced her career in journalism would be over.
Yang had only briefly met Zirinsky, then executive producer at 48 Hours, but decided to ask for a meeting. She expected Zirinsky to say no. Instead, Zirinsky ended up giving her the most valuable advice of her career: to pursue the business side of media.
Eighteen years later, Zirinsky, known to many as “Z”, is president of CBS News, brought in to run the news division following a massive company crisis over sexual misconduct that included the firing of the company’s chief executive, Les Moonves, and Rose. She is the first woman to hold that job. Yang is a business executive at The New York Times, who says she now makes a point of making herself accessible, too.
For a long time, women were taught to “act like men” to get ahead at work. They donned shoulder pads and boxy suits, played by the rules, and acted out qualities that seemed to make for successful leaders, authority, decisiveness, not being “too accessible”.
But a new breed of women leaders like Zirinsky is upending those old rules, embracing traits like empathy and collaboration to get things done, and refusing to suppress the qualities that make them who they are. (Some may call these “feminine” qualities, but others prefer to call them the traits of well-rounded leaders.)
Think JacindaArdern, prime minister of New Zealand (and one of the few world leaders to give birth while in office), who spoke onstage at the first New Rules Summit last year. Ardern drew international praise for her ability to mix compassion with concrete action in the wake of a recent mass shooting in her country. In the hours after, Ardern, the youngest female leader in the world at 38, wore a black headscarf and grieved alongside victims’ families. “We are one, they are us”.
She also took swift action, banning military-style semi-automatic weapons within days of the shooting. “It takes strength to be an empathetic leader.”
But that can also be a tricky line to walk for women. Research has found that when women exhibit character traits typically associated with male leadership traits like decisiveness, authority or assertion, they are likely to be viewed as bossy, pushy or too aggressive, and some people reel at their behaviour.
And yet when women turn around and exhibit the qualities traditionally expected of women like niceness, nurturing and warmth, they tend to be perceived as pushovers, too soft or not “tough enough” to do the job. It is a double bind, as sociologists have put it, a situation where you are “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”, as Joan C Williams, a law professor and workplace scholar, has said.
And yet there is also a body of work, including research by a Harvard Business School professor, Amy Cuddy, and colleagues, which found that women can offset that bias by combining these characteristics essentially, conveying warmth along with competence.
The good news is, there are simply more styles of leadership on display these days. Of more than 200 men fired according to an analysis by The Times last year, nearly half were replaced by women including Jennifer Salke at Amazon Studios, Christiane Amanpour at PBS and Zirinsky at CBS.
Today, for the first time, women hold the top jobs at the New York Stock Exchange and at Nasdaq. There is a female speaker of the US House of Representatives who is a mother of five and grandmother of nine. There are a record number of women in the US congress, including young rule breakers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are leading with a level of camaraderie and transparency perhaps never before seen. And, of course, more women than ever are running for the Democratic nomination for president.
None of which is to say that women are innately better leaders. “That’s not necessarily the case,” says Marianne Cooper, a sociologist at Stanford University who studies gender and leadership. But there are certain things that women learn from a lifetime of operating in male-dominated spaces, things like patience, compassion and calm that may be assets.
“Women’s experiences at work are undeniably different,” Cooper, the sociologist, says. “As a result, they may develop a lens on the world that can lead to different thoughts about leadership, different priorities, different ways of interacting. I think certainly all these women in power can open up definitions of who’s a leader.”
There’s a theory in social science, coined by Michelle K Ryan and S Alexander Haslam as the “glass cliff”, that explains how women are more likely to be put into leadership roles during times of crisis. This can end up well if they are successful, but be damaging if they are not because the failure tends to be viewed not as indicative of the circumstances, but as indicative of the person’s race or gender.
The way to break that cycle, researchers say, is to have more women in power so that one woman’s experience does not represent that of all women. (Having more women in decision-making roles has also been found to generate stronger market returns and superior profits for companies. And having more women employees, particularly in leadership roles, can reduce the incidence of sexual harassment, too.)
Benett is of the Independent Newspaper. UK.
Jessica Benett
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Cooking And Its Importance To Women
Cooking is the process of preparing food by using heat. It involves a variety of techniques and methods, such as grilling, baking, boiling, frying, and steaming. Cooking also requires ingredients, utensils, and appliances to create delicious and nutritious meals. Cooking is for all irrespective of sex.
It may interest you to know that there are many benefits to cooking at home, including the ability to control the ingredients and portion sizes, save money, and customize dishes to suit individual tastes and dietary restrictions. Cooking also allows for creativity and experimentation in the kitchen, as well as the opportunity to share meals with family and friends.
When you cook, it enables you to know the right ingredients to use for a particular meal. Getting prepared food outside home will not give such opportunity and in fact it is cheaper.
For you to carry out cooking successfully, prepping ingredients ahead of time, is very important. Using the right tools and equipment, adjusting cooking times and temperatures as needed will make one a good cook and tasting and seasoning dishes to ensure they are well-balanced. A good cook should be able to taste and add adequate seasoning to ensure that dishes are consumed without stomach crams.
Cooking can be a fun and rewarding activity, whether you are a novice or experienced chef. It can also be a form of self-care and a way to explore different cuisines and flavors from around the world. Overall, cooking is an essential skill that can help you eat healthier, save money, and enjoy delicious meals at home.
Good chefs earn a living through cooking. Good ones who are opportuned to work in big hotels and smaller eateries make huge sums of money as well as earn free meal at work.
According to experts, cooking involves a wide range of techniques that can be mastered through practice and experience. Some common culinary techniques include sautéing, searing, braising, roasting, marinating, poaching, and blanching. Each technique contributes to the flavor, texture, and appearance of the final dish.
In addition, understanding how different ingredients work together to create a balanced flavor profile is key to successful cooking. This includes experimenting with sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami flavors and learning how to add these flavors in a dish to create depth and complexity. The right ingredients work together to give the right aroma and taste a good cook deserves.
Furthermore, exploring the diverse culinary traditions from around the world can open up a world of new flavors and cooking techniques. Trying out recipes from different cultures can help you broaden your culinary horizons and develop a deeper appreciation for global cuisine.
You may discover that different cultures believe in their own food and meals. Someone from the Eastern part of the country may not be comfortable with the kind of food or meal prepared and consumed in the northern part of the country.
Interestingly, gas cookers are in vogue because they cook faster especially in families with the presence of kids. Having the right tools and equipment in the kitchen can make a big difference in your cooking. From basic essentials like knives, cutting boards, pots and pans to specialized appliances like blenders, food processors, and slow cookers, having the right equipment can help you cook more efficiently and effectively.
In this 21st century, a lot of innovations have actually come into the practice of cooking. The use of wood and stove are gradually going down especially in the urban centres.
Planning your meals ahead of time can save you time, money, and stress in the kitchen. Meal planning involves selecting recipes, creating a shopping list, and preparing ingredients in advance to streamline the cooking process. This can help you eat healthier, reduce food waste, and make the most of your time in the kitchen.
A lot of families plan their meals so as to minimize waste, especially now because of high cost of living.
The safety of the food to be consumed in a home should be the concern of every good cook. Practicing proper food safety and hygiene is essential in cooking to prevent foodborne illnesses. This includes washing hands, utensils, and surfaces regularly, storing food at the correct temperatures, and avoiding cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods.
A cook should ensure that ingredients for a particular meal are properly washed. Food stuffs must be properly preserved if they are not to be used immediately. When it comes to refrigeration, experts should be contacted for proper advise on how long they should be kept.
Some persons due to health challenges are placed on special diets. Medically, some persons are advised to consume food with low salt intake as well as sugar. It is important that a good cook adheres to those instructions. If you or your loved ones have dietary restrictions or preferences, learning how to cook for special diets can be a valuable skill. This may involve accommodating allergies, intolerances, or lifestyle choices such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or low-carb diets.
Moreso, cooking at home allows you to have better control over the ingredients used in your meals, leading to healthier eating habits. By cooking from scratch, you can avoid processed and unhealthy ingredients, reduce the amount of added sugars and preservatives, and increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.
Meals prepared at home obviously may not taste as the one consumed from outside. The food got outside may contain excess spices more than meals prepared at home.
Cooking is deeply intertwined with culture and tradition, and exploring different cuisines can be a great way to learn about different countries and regions. Trying out recipes from various cultures can expand your culinary skills and palate, introducing you to new ingredients, flavors, and cooking techniques.
As peoples culture differs that is how the kind of food they consume also differ. When a chef finds himself or herself in a particular region, it is better to learn the kind of food that is being consumed.
When you talk about cooking, the meal prepared for an adult definitely differs from that of a baby. Excess pepper in meal may not be good for infants.
The use of mutter and pestle is gradually phasing out with the innovation of electrical appliances such as blenders. A good cook should be able to train herself on the usage of such kitchen equipment.
With the use of microwave oven has come to stay as hotels (eateries) and homes use them thereby saving the use of kerosine in stoves and gas.
Odoo-e Precious is a student of Pan African Institute of Management and Technology, Port Harcourt.
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