TO have more women in leadership roles, it is incumbent on the leaders to encourage and give them the opportunities.
These were the sentiments of KPMG partner, Lisa Apted who spoke at the first Women in Leadership 2020 series in Suva today.
“Quite often females underestimate their ability and so if you say who would step up to do this the male is more likely to put their hand up or to overestimate what they can do while the female under estimates,” she said.
“As leaders our job is to pick people out where we see potential and challenge them slowly because not everybody is ready for a big leap, some people need to be coaxed.
“And it’s a different style for different people, people are encouraged in different ways.
“So you need to find what works for the individual that you are actually encouraging, being able to spot potential that’s important that’s what a leader’s job is to see what people can be.”
She said the challenge of trying to balance everything was what limited women from taking on leadership roles as they were frightened to fail or to do wrong.
Ms Apted added when a women was challenged in their professional and personal life, the latter would usually take priority.
One hundred and thirteen individuals from various sectors attended the first ever series for 2020.
