I would like to dedicate this post to all the women who believe in themselves and enrich themselves, including my dear classmates in UCD Smurfit Business School.
We need more women to step up to the forefront because despite the hullaballoo, men are still dominating the leadership spheres of both for profit and not-for profit organizations as well as communities, nations and countries.
But why is so important for us to have women leaders?
And no, it’s not about men being better than women, or women being better than men. It’s about working together, in synergy, using our strengths to make a better world.
When thinking of the role of women, I am reminded of the story of Mary, the blessed mother of Jesus, peace be upon him, whom I have named my daughter after. Despite the double standards and persecution that religious groups have put on women for the past centuries, Mary, may God bless her more, is probably the epitome of a woman’s great contribution to humanity.
Her parents, when she was still in the womb, decided to dedicate her to the service of God. In their mind, they had imagined dedicating a little boy in the service of God. Of course at that time, there was no way for Mary’s parents to know that she was a girl until she was born. As Mary’s mother delivered the small baby, she was in for a surprise because in her hands was a baby girl! “O Lord, it is a girl!”
How could she devote a girl to the service of God? Would that even be thinkable? Doable? Nobody had ever done it before! Only boys are great leaders and spend their lives in God’s service! Yet because of her earlier promise, that she would dedicate her child to the service of her Lord, she did just that.
And that message from years ago is still valid today, that whoever we are, if we’ve made a commitment to succeed, whether we are a man or a woman, we can all be valuable contributors to improve and change the world.
– Nur Zahirah M Sukran, FT MBA 2012/13