‘30 Women in Power – Their Voices, Their Stories’: A True Inspiration

There is no internet at the office today. I decided to read ’30 Women in Power – Their Voices, Their Stories’, a compilation of stories of 30 women in power. The stories quickly recap the early lives of 30 women achievers and the struggles they face to achieve the present positions. Significantly, it addressed a frequently raised question of how these 30 women balance their personal and professional lives. It also answered if there is a glass-ceiling at the corporate offices, which act as a hurdle for the women to achieve high positions. The book has gone one step ahead, explaining how to cross such glass-ceiling, if it exists.

I found the book highly relevant to every woman who dreams of her career. It equally serves those women who are already achievers. Edited by Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairman of HSBC India, the book is well-articulated and designed to target career-oriented women of India. Ms. Kidwai’s business intelligence is evident on every page of the book. The book has not used heavy jargons or tried to present the vocabulary skill of the writer. Instead, it is clearly on its path to convey the much-needed inspiration for working women in India.

At the end of every chapter, the key success factors are noted separately as bullet points. Reading these bullet points reinforce the concepts in the readers' mind. Also, few sections in the chapters are highlighted, a practice I felt reflect the systematic nature of the corporate world. Not to mention, the monochromatic themes used in the book is adorable.

The people listed in the book are those who hail from the privileged class and those who currently work in corporate companies. Initially, I felt the editor should have included women who come from the underprivileged background too. There are several examples of women from not-so-privileged background managed to succeed. A woman of this sort, who stays vivid in my mind is Liz Murray. I recently watched the movie ‘Homeless to Harvard’, a biopic of Liz Murray. I suggest the movie to people who raise the argument that the wrong upbringing or the fateful events that happened in the childhood of a person is the reason for their present lack of success. I agree that the unfortunate events happened during our childhood make an impact on our behaviors. But, I believe, it's wrong to say 'those unfortunate events are the reason why I am a failure now'. Perhaps, I will get back to this topic in another post.

Moving back to '30 Women in Power – Their Voices, Their Stories', although initially I felt Ms. Kidwai could have included women from the underprivileged background in the book, I realized that the target audience of the book is different. The book speaks more about surviving successfully through their careers than about beating severe odds of livelihood. To say, there are women who tend to resign jobs after marriage and maternity leaves. Taking charge of family responsibility is a reason pointed out for the resignation. This book tells such women how to balance personal and professional lives. Elegantly, it demonstrates the success of 30 women and tells readers ‘if these 30 women could do this, you can also do it.’ I appreciate Ms. Kidwai’s precise target indication.

At this stage (I have few more stories to read in the book), I am totally in love with ’30 Women in Power – Their Voices, Their Stories’. It is the true inspiration for myself and every other girl who dream high.