Rewards Of Taking The Risk Of Empowerment

Written by Devika Brendon
Published in Ceylon Today

From September 24th-27th, members of Women In Management embarked on a voyage to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where we attended the International Workshop On Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship at SSM College, in Komarapalayam. This Workshop was organised by Women In Management as part of the programmes WIM initiates annually for the professional development of its members. The awareness, methods and practices learned at seminars and conferences such as this can then be incorporated and implemented in our professional practices in Sri Lanka.

SM College's School of Management and academics from the Business Faculty were the main organisers of this event. Our host, 'Cavalier' Dr. M.S. Mathivaanan, Chairman of the SSM Group of Institutions, is an organisational genius, and a progressive spirit, and his generosity was reflected in both the programme his staff offered us, and the benevolence with which we were welcomed and made to feel 'at home away from home'.

The keynote topic of the Seminar was 'empowerment' and this central concept was addressed by all the speakers in diverse ways. At its core, empowerment was seen as a responsibility that each individual undertook to fulfil in relation to themselves and their own aspirations & talents. This radical & modern self-focus immediately positioned us positively - not as victims of socio-cultural inequity, formed by self-sacrifice & oppression, but as people with dreams to fulfil, and specific individual gifts that we should position ourselves in order to bring to bear in the wider world.

Entrepreneurship is a hot button topic these days, and indeed the term is used so much that it may appear clichéd, but, despite its widespread usage, it is at its core a truly radical undertaking, and what is most interesting about it is that it offers major growth potential for people who desire independence and scope for change and progress in their professional lives.

The rigid hierarchical structures of many traditional career pathways (which seemed to our parents' generation to offer security and status) are now increasingly being seen as restrictive and frustrating, resulting in mechanistic and mundane activities in which employees perform assigned duties with little opportunity for creativity or self-expression. Expectations (often outdated) bear down on us; and we often even unknowingly restrict each other as well as ourselves, with negative mindsets and socio-cultural assumptions about our 'place' in the world, or what we 'should' and 'should not' be doing with our lives.

For women in particular, whose gendered responsibilities as wives and mothers and daughters often confine them into the domestic sphere, the sacrifice of self that old-fashioned ways of thinking required and imposed on our lives can be exchanged for a more vibrant and liberating concept of what our lives can offer us. We can start businesses and work from home, as well as create awareness to change the cultures of companies to accommodate our needs and requirements, because of the economic, social and moral value our activities can bring to our society.

Women's capacity for empathy, communicative skills, relational expertise, capacity to organise people, motivation to create workable solutions for a group, and ability to see the advantages of collaboration and co-operation rather than mere egotistical competitiveness, often qualify them as great business people: entrepreneurs who can sustain as well as create structures which are capable of long-term growth.

Working for ourselves as entrepreneurs means taking steps out of our comfort zones: out of the cocoons and nests of lives that are created and provided for us. It takes courage, and it takes strength. And, like many cultural changes, it is often inspired by a desire for something better than what is currently available, which appears to us flat or lacklustre because it has been created by someone else or in another era to serve someone else's preferences or demands.

What opportunities we have today to identify and implement solutions to problems that beset so many industries and enterprises! There are opportunities for improvement evident in education, in industry, in management of hierarchical institutions that need to adapt to contemporary conditions, in the media, in politics, in financial groups, in corporations.

This matching up of gaps in the existing systems with the interests and skills we can offer, some yet to be discovered, and existing perhaps only as a dissatisfaction with the inefficient and wasteful ways things are currently done, is an exhilaration that until quite recently was only experienced by a few singular women.

Now, in 2015, our collective expectations of ourselves have grown, and great benefits can flow from this rise of greater sense of possibility. And, because women are largely responsible for the social and familial culture in the home, and in broader social structures as well, these empowering opportunities will bring benefit to all those who each woman takes responsibility for.

Entrepreneurship is both practical and visionary; it is about stepping out of previous beliefs, often unquestioningly adopted in our early years through family and education and other forms of enculturation - into new territory. It offers freedom from the culture of constraint and complaint that many women have been forced to endure, to which they often cannot see an alternative. Instead of saying, 'why am I not given what I want?', entrepreneurs empower themselves by engaging in doing what they can, and developing and refining their processes and practices through trial and error.

Entrepreneurship is a progressive journey, for which every person is equipped: by a desire for a better life, for freedom and autonomy and independence; in a world where official and authorised structures are often failing to deliver or provide any opportunity or sustenance for human happiness.

There were 3 full days of seminar presentations from the 25th to the 27th. Some of these were lecture-style, and packed with statistics and charts and data, and some were interactive and full of informative activities & exercises which gave insight into the processes of personal & professional development required to start and maintain an independent business enterprise.

The topics of: Core Competency For Women, Women In Leadership, Work/Life Balance, Challenges & Opportunities For Women, Business Model Generation, Gender Equality, Women Empowerment, Women In Business, & the Importance of Decisiveness In Entrepreneurship were all opened up for discussion, and an open atmosphere of sharing & interaction was encouraged by all presenters.

It was eye-opening to see the positive attributes & benefits of entrepreneurship applied to women, and to have our personal and often socially-generated stereotypes challenged and modified in the discussions which followed the presentations.

Women's multi-faceted responsibilities in the spheres of domestic and business life were addressed, and the challenges and stresses of empowerment examined with honesty and openness, with presenters using anecdotes and insights drawn from their personal experience of life and in building their own businesses to illustrate their arguments.

The hospitality of our hosts, academics & staff of SSM College, was warm and generous. WIM members were domiciled in the guesthouse in student accommodation: simple, clean and comfortable.

This was a welcome and refreshing change from the international 5-star hotels and their exorbitant costs at which many entrepreneurship conventions are held in other parts of the world. The costs were low, which made it accessible to many, and the value of the experience was enriched by the focus on substance rather than image or superficial stylistic considerations.

The food provided to us was delicious, healthy & plentiful. Idli, curd rice, dhosai, sambal, chutney, buttermilk, and other fare representing the wonderful diversity of local South Indian dishes, was a revelation. We loved the delectable bites & snack food like cauliflower bhaji and vaddai which were served with tea and coffee and pure green tea laced with fresh lime and honey in the tea breaks between lecture presentations.

Our host ensured that, in addition to the academic programme, and industrial visits to local textile factories, we attended ceremonies at many of the local temples, were garlanded with fragrant fresh flowers, and also had the opportunity to see ghee sweets being handmade, and visit beautiful saree and textile & wholesale linen emporiums.

Huge beautiful Brahmini bullocks with curved horns carried carts full of goods through the narrow streets, and the respect and courtesy of everyday citizens was much appreciated as we took in the sights. One of the highlights of our tour was the visit to the Shiva/Lakshmi temple situated at the meeting of three rivers, full of statues of Lord Ganesh, remover of obstacles.

The Chairman organised for us to experience a morning Yoga practice, at an ashram which was founded by his father, where we were instructed by a patient teacher and shown the devotional paintings which we see in Sri Lanka designed for Tamil festivals, created by a teacher on the floor of the room where we laid out our mats to do our stretches.

Another highlight was the after-dinner informal singalong we had in the college guesthouse, with some of the students, where - to our delight - our host showed himself familiar with the lyrics & music of the famous Sri Lankan song 'Surangani'.

It was a relatively short trip by plane and bus from Colombo to Trichy, but in many ways the WIM members felt we had crossed and surmounted many obstacles and barriers, to have been able to attend this professional Workshop. The commitment and dedication required in entrepreneurship, with its risks and rewards, was renewed by this shared experience.

We were glad and proud that our WIM group comprised both senior and established professional women, with a wealth of wisdom and experience between them, as the SSM lecturers & presenters pointed out, and also younger women just entering the workforce or finishing their school studies.

We returned to Sri Lanka with new eyes, new concepts of ourselves and others, and new ideas, to implement in our corporations and business enterprises, having experienced 4 life-changing and life-renewing days, which offered us all a real life experience of the concept of women's empowerment.