CNBC TV18 launches new show ‘What Women Really Want’

CNBC-TV18 launches a new series ‘What Women Really Want’, a show that looks at how women today are negotiating the interplay between power, money and balance. The series explores if attitudes towards working women have really changed or if diversity councils and the like are just tokenisms to mollify women and keep the old-boys-club intact? Is the 21^st century corporation really thinking of how it needs to change so that there are more than just 3% women CEOs in the Fortune 500? Because like Christian Lagarde of the IMF famously said, “If Lehman Brothers had been ‘Lehman Sisters’, today’s economic crisis clearly would look quite different.” 

All provocative questions and we’ve got equally provocative answers from business leaders, both men and women that we spoke to: Zia Mody, Co-founder, AZB Partners admits that at 56 she can do little but internalize the guilt of missing out on her children’s growing up years, Rajshree Pathy, Chairperson, Rajshree Sugars asks why an ambitious man is cheered on while a lady with the same flair is thought to be a social climber. Global HR head at Tata Sons, Satish Pradhan believes that one will start seeing more women in top management only when managers move beyond stereotypes and give women the work that their aptitude deserves and Karen Quintos, Senior VP & CMO, Dell says that ‘having it all’ is a possibility only if corporations stop placing the ‘motherhood penalty’ on women and leverage technology to create truly flexible work places that work for both women and men!

As the name suggests, the series aims to open a dialogue between successful women CEOs and mid-career professionals struggling with workplace dynamics. CNBC-TV18’s Executive Editor Shereen Bhan talks to women achievers from all walks of life, from Chitra Ramakrishna, Joint MD, NSE, Rupa Kudva, MD & CEO, Crisil, Tessy Thomas of ISRO and India’s first woman Air Marshal, Padmavathy Bandopadhyay on what it takes to make it to the top. The show presents what some of the world’s most respected corporations, P&G, PepsiCo, Intel, HCL, Deloitte are doing to create equal opportunity platforms and what the latest academic research from Harvard Business Review, McKinsey and Catalyst reveals about what women can do to move up the corporate ladder. 

Commenting on the special series, Shereen Bhan says, “Over the past 2 decades, there has been a 360 degree change in the attitude of Indian women. We are seeing more women in leadership positions, and taking on various roles that were earlier ‘suitable only to men.’ While there has been a definite change in the dynamics of the corporate world, the issues and concerns faced by women still remain prominent. ‘What Women Really Want’ is our way of being perceptive about these issues and finding a resolution. We have interacted with many corporate super achievers who are women, in our show and it was quite an insightful experience - both intimidating and inspiring.”