A Leading Light in Women Leadership
Women around the world have come a long way from the days when they engaged in fierce struggles to gain the right to vote. Today many women have broken the glass ceiling in corporate boardrooms, the service and development sectors, media, arts and so on. But the fact remains that they live in an inequitable world. How many women in our part of the globe really have the freedom of choice — do they have the right to move around freely, dress the way they want, spend their earnings in a way they see fit, or even to determine their family size? And what about gender discrimination at every level — be it at the workplace, home or even on the streets. But there are nevertheless minorities who see the brighter side of an otherwise dark picture. Sara Zaker is one of them.
As a woman professional she is embodiment of women in Bangladesh and even international arena who have successfully crossed all the hurdles in their lives. Awarded the Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in 2017, for her campaigns and projects related to both male and female rights, women health, family planning and environmental issues, Sra Zaker seems to exude both sincerity and confidence. In a recent conversation with Colors she speaks about her identity as a woman leader as well as shares her views on women empowerment.
As managing director of Asiatic 360, Sara Zaker oversees over hundreds of professionals who provide advertising, marketing and media-based services to the country’s media industry.
In the extensive interview a number of topics have been touched upon including, among others, her best leadership advice, the future of the industry besides her evaluation on the pros and cons of the corporate culture and the ups and downs in her life.
In the eve of the conversation, Sara Zaker gave the three best pieces of advice for leaders and business professionals that would empower them for greater causes.
“First, I’d say focus heavily on the human element. Things machines may not ever do. Reading people, influencing people and leading people.”
“Second, focus on long term investments, like investments in emerging technology and platforms, but more important, in retooling and reskilling the workforce.”
And the third piece of advice is, as a leader one should consider focusing on getting some small things of symbolic value done to build trust, only then the harder things one wants to get done become easier to accomplish.
This year’s theme of International Women’s Day is women in the changing world of work would fail to lend itself to progress and emancipation if the implications of globalization are not taken into consideration.
“We have to change, and the only time for change is now. Change cannot occur without audacity pursuing and being true to your goals. Everyone is capable of action and inspiring others, which begins with friends and families, then next of kin and then to a group of people associated with your social community. This is how social changes are made,” Sara suggests. For her “to be bold is to take a stand and let others know you are no more taking unfair deals.” Challenges will be inevitably met and every decision must be made wisely in order to be constructive, she feels. “I believe we must work with teenage girls more, as they are at that tender age when core values are built and have their identities explored.” Sara hastens to add.
While discussing about the necessity of skills towards true empowerment, she argued, “It does not really matter how many skills you have; it all comes down to being a professional. Any job boils down to a serious commitment and responsibility.” Sara further emphasizes, “My responsibility is to address people while also speaking my mind. I consider myself lucky to be an activist with two worlds in my hands. As an organization leader I juggle my skills very carefully. I import the skills and strategies from the very best, and in turn I fall back on my heritage and try to disseminate it to inspire others.”
Sara’s concern for her fellow travelers are twofold. She feels that the world has changed, so have the people and our views have been changed as well. “I’ve had to familiarize myself with digitization in order to keep pace with the world of today,” she reveals. She firmly places herself between the changes which are happening now and the different logic of the older times into which she was born.
We are the second generation entrepreneurs who are engaging women in production but if you look at the NGOs and other organizations working in the field of women’s empowerment, the changes they brought about have been phenomenal. Women have more financial autonomy within their communities which allow them to contribute to their families. It gives them more agencies over decision making and lending their positions additional power,” she opines. This, she feels, would finally bringing about the ultimate dream of women’s empowerment into a reality.
She laid it all out in two steps, “First, creating an environment of continuous learning is crucial, so talents are allowed to develop their skills, gain new insights. We’ve been doing that at Asiatic through initiatives like our investment in various skill developing opportunities and commitment to the leadership development and to fostering the culture we want for our people.”
How do you do one goes about it? For Sara and others at her organization, it’s about fostering an inclusive culture where there is diversity of thoughts and everyone is able to have an honest conversation as well as rewarding, constructive debate. “It’s also about adjusting to keep up with the needs of the talents.” She points out.
Describing the work environment and culture of Asiatic for women professionals, Zaker clarifies, “We’ve always relied on a culture of collaboration. About a year ago at Asiatic, we introduced the concept of a culture of courage. It’s a culture built on and around inclusiveness and entrepreneurship. It’s very important for creative people to thrive.”
“It also fosters a fail fast and don’t fear failure mentality, which can be one of the biggest impediments to success,” she adds.
Although Sara is never pessimistic about the future, she also has a clear idea about reality. The number of women professionals in the decision making positions continues to be too low. “We need to move from novelty to norm when it comes to women being appointed to Boards or land higher positions. But there is too much focus on statistics which is often self-defeating; the message of acceptance — of having more women into leadership roles — needs to come from the top,” Sara points out.
As for her, the skills she learned early on from theatre — through days of teamwork and healthy competitiveness coupled with risk taking — have driven her toward this unique career path. It helped her adapt to sudden shifts and turns along the way.
Sara continues to rely on her experiences in theater which she feels has been successfully brought to bear on her work in the advertising arena. “I utilize my experience in the theatre to make sure that I am able to confidently run my business,” she says. Sara Zaker, the preeminent actress and an epitome of success in the sectors she has so far engaged in, likes to see people at their heights of success. But one can never swerve from the hard works one needs to do. She sums it all up in a nutshell — “you don’t disserve any shots you don’t take.”
By Mustahsin Labib
