How to Retain and Develop Asian Women Leaders

Women need to put their footprint on the corporation and a handprint on their work. Training must stress speaking up and being assertive

By Jane Horan

Business leaders should be acutely aware of the seminal shift taking place in the global corporate balance of power. In the next 40 years, more than 1 billion people will relocate from rural areas of India and China, creating 59 megacities with populations of 5 million or more. To harness this talent migration—and serve these customers—multinational corporations need a radical shift in thinking about leadership—their own and their competitors'.

Finding and retaining talent in Asia is tethered to one resource: women. The worldwide increase in female employment continues to drive business growth. The demographics reveal a substantial number of women in entry and middle management positions with multinationals in Asia Pacific. Many are well-educated, multilingual, and assuredly driven. Having women in middle management bodes well for multinationals, as it will provide their future leadership.

Women, whether because of nature or nurture, are more likely to be transformational leaders, and organizations with transformational leaders often outperform others in profit, revenue, and strategy. Transformational leaders are able to build solid, committed teams that drive extraordinary performance and support collective concerns.

Overcoming Roadblocks

There is already a sizable number of women in senior management (many of whom could be defined as transformational), but most lag behind in pay, are still passed over for promotions, and often drop out of work for various reasons. The list of reasons given for not promoting women is endless. They're too assertive, passive, emotional, strategic, detailed, humble, or driven. One year, a female manager can be "too strategic and not operational" and the next year, she's "too operational and not strategic."

In order for multinationals to retain senior Asian talent, they must now accept leadership differences of culture and gender, and better understand the needs of this highly educated, urban, professional group of female executives.

In turn, these women must make small shifts in what they do or don't do. Women use a much more indirect communication style. Asian women in particular have a tendency to be humble and not talk openly about their accomplishments. To illustrate this point: A few months ago I was called to help a senior executive reengage with the company. A highly educated R&D executive with strong insight into the China market, she created a strategy to revitalize an old brand into a multimillion-dollar private-label product for the company.

Her French boss was charismatic, well-regarded, demanding, and ambitious. Under his leadership, she became invisible. She was unfortunately a perfectionist, paying attention to minute details on contracts and packaging, and missed the opportunities to share her knowledge and accomplishments with key members of the senior team. At the talent-planning session, she was considered a brilliant thinker and a detailed perfectionist but someone who lacked leadership potential. At the end of what should have been her crowning year, she was passed over for a large promotion.

Perspective on Talent

Women—as this story illustrates—need to find ways to put their footprints on their organizations and handprints on their work. Speak up and tell people what you do or run the risk of being an unknown, having ideas stolen, and a career derailed. This is not easy, particularly when you're brought up to be modest and believe your accomplishments speak for themselves.

Without sponsorship at talent meetings, women fall off the lists, viewed as unknown or lacking leadership presence. The label often sticks, and circular reasoning sets in. Is it gender discrimination or the glass ceiling? Or neither? From an organizational perspective, it's more likely to be a misunderstanding of what talent today looks like across genders and cultures. Multinationals need to adjust their lens and consider a different perspective on talent.

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